Speaker: Zhen Liu (University of Minnesota) - Title: The Next Leap: Physics Landscape of Future Colliders
2024-02-22 16:00 - 17:00 UTC
Research Progress Meeting
Date: February 22, 2024
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Zhen Liu (University of Minnesota)
Title: The Next Leap: Physics Landscape of Future Colliders
Abstract: The future direction of High Energy Physics (HEP) is a critical topic, especially considering the large scale and extensive preparation required for upcoming projects. We are at a point filled with opportunities for HEP, featuring a variety of promising paths that highlight its potential for major discoveries. As the introductory talk in our series on future colliders, this presentation aims to examine the potential of these future projects in a clear and comparative manner. I will overview the current landscape and the expected progress in high-energy physics experiments, spotlighting recent initiatives that have resulted in significant achievements in particle physics. The goal of this talk is to outline the broad possibilities that lie ahead for HEP, stressing the importance of innovative approaches necessary to advance this exciting area of science.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]

Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Brendan Crill (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) - Title: Sensitivity limits to cosmological constraints on early Universe physics: lessons from Planck for future measurements
2024-02-27 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: February 27, 2024
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Brendan Crill (Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
Title: Sensitivity limits to cosmological constraints on early Universe physics: lessons from Planck for future measurements
Abstract:
The past several decades have seen enormous breakthroughs in the understanding of fundamental physics of the Universe through observations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and large scale structure. A synergy of rapid advances in technology, data analysis capabilities, and theory has led to an abundance of measurements, which in turn has seen the success of the Lambda-CDM model seeded by early-Universe inflation. This theory explains observations very few free parameters has emerged at explaining the observed structure of the universe.
Further refinements to this model and further characterization of observables in the CMB are a high priority for a deeper understanding of the nature of the physics of inflation and the evolution of structure across cosmic time. This will come about through measurements of non-Gaussianity, lensing, and the imprint of tensor modes in large-scale CMB polarization among other observables.
To achieve these refinements, projects have focused on improvements in raw sensitivity via new and more powerful detectors arrays with vastly more elements.
However, the success of earlier measurements has only come about through understanding and correction of systematic errors, understanding astrophysical foregrounds: more powerful instruments with better sensitivity are likely to uncover new challenges.
Here I describe lessons learned from the Planck mission at handling unforeseen instrumental and observational challenges and discuss prospects for fulfilling the sensitivity promise offered by large-scale structure projects such as SPHEREx and future CMB measurements.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/95679892182?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 956 7989 2182
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Petra Merkel (Fermilab) - Title: Detectors for Future Colliders
2024-02-29 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: February 29, 2024
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Petra Merkel (Fermilab)
Title: Detectors for Future Colliders
Abstract: I will present detector capabilities that need to be developed in order to address physics requirements at future collider experiments. In addition to laying out common detector technologies that will be useful at various collider experiments, I will also summarize differences and special requirements at the different collider options. Furthermore, I will give a brief overview of the state of the art of the R&D in some of the most crucial areas where technology development is needed in detector instrumentation.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]

Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Roy Aleksan (CEA-Saclay) - Title: Status of the Future Circular Collider (FCC)
2024-03-05 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: March 5, 2024
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Roy Aleksan (CEA-Saclay)
Title: Status of the Future Circular Collider (FCC)
Abstract:
While the LHC is continuing its outstanding program, one needs to decide what the next large accelerator project in particle physics will be. There is a general global consensus that an e+e- collider is the next priority. In accordance with the 2020 European Strategy Update, the technical and financial feasibility of a circular high energy hadron collider at CERN with a centre-of-mass energy of at least 100 TeV and with an electron-positron Higgs and electroweak factory as a possible first stage has been launched in Europe. In the present talk, we shall discuss the status of this endeavor including the physics motivation, the corresponding technical implications for the detectors as well as the status of the study of the accelerator complex with special emphasis on the e+e- collider.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/95679892182?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 956 7989 2182
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Cameron Geddes (LBL Accelerator Division) - Title: Accelerators for Future Colliders
2024-03-07 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: March 7, 2024
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Cameron Geddes (LBL Accelerator Division)
Title: Accelerators for Future Colliders
Abstract: Particle physics motivates next generations of colliders ranging from a fraction of a TeV for precision Higgs physics to the 10 TeV parton Center of Mass (pCM) scale for both broad new physics and deep characterization of the Higgs sector. Designs for Higgs factory colliders are being formalized with the aim of a project late in the decade. The 10 TeV pCm range will place radical new demands on accelerator capability, efficiency, and cost. At the same time, accelerator science is advancing rapidly with a set of new technologies under development that make it feasible to address this frontier. These technologies, including high field magnets for proton machines, muon colliders incorporating cooling, and high gradient linear wakefield lepton colliders all require development in order to allow us to make a confident, informed decision on the path forward. These colliders, a combination of general and targeted R&D, and interactions with the detector and particle physics community to develop them will be discussed.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]

Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Colin Hill (Columbia) - Title: Uncovering Physics Beyond the Standard Model in the Cosmic Microwave Background
2024-03-12 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: March 12, 2024
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Colin Hill (Columbia)
Title: Uncovering Physics Beyond the Standard Model in the Cosmic Microwave Background
Abstract:
The cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy remains the cleanest, most powerful probe of fundamental physics in the cosmos. Measurements of the small-scale CMB temperature and polarization fields are set to undergo transformative improvements in the coming decade, culminating in the CMB-S4 experiment, which will open new windows into physics beyond the standard models (BSM) of particle physics and cosmology. I will first discuss my ongoing work in the Atacama Cosmology Telescope collaboration focused on cosmological parameter constraints from high-resolution CMB power spectra, with a particular emphasis on constraining BSM physics operating just prior to recombination, including new relativistic particles and new pseudo-scalar fields. I will describe high-precision end-to-end tests of our entire analysis pipeline on realistic, non-Gaussian sky simulations containing all relevant Galactic and extragalactic foregrounds, tightly coupled to a detailed instrument model. I will then turn to novel searches for BSM physics in CMB secondary anisotropies, as could be imprinted by the screening of CMB photons by massive dark photons or axion-like particles. I will show the first results of searches for these signals in CMB data, enabled by my group’s state-of-the-art needlet internal linear combination code. Finally, I will discuss new analysis methodologies for more optimally cleaning non-Gaussian foregrounds in CMB maps, with applications to both primordial B-mode searches and small-scale secondary anisotropy measurements. I will conclude with a look ahead to the prospects for BSM physics from the Simons Observatory and CMB-S4.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/95679892182?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 956 7989 2182
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Matthias Hohenberger (LLNL) - Title: Demonstrating fusion ignition in the laboratory for the first time
2024-03-14 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: March 14, 2024
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Matthias Hohenberger (LLNL)
Title: Demonstrating fusion ignition in the laboratory for the first time
Abstract: At approximately 1 am on December 5th, 2022, a fusion experiment at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory achieved, for the first time, a target gain exceeding 1. By imploding a small capsule containing deuterium-tritium fuel with 2.05 MJ of laser light, the resulting fusion reactions released a total energy of 3.15 MJ of nuclear fusion yield, thus exceeding the initial input energy. This was the first time for a laboratory experiment to meet the 1997 definition by the National Academy of Sciences of fusion ignition, an accomplishment six decades in the making. It is the result of focused work by a multi-lab team and required significant advances in high-energy-density physics, as well as laser, target, and diagnostics capabilities. This talk will discuss this momentous result, the steps that went into achieving it, and the implications of this achievement for Inertial Fusion Energy.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]

Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Christian Reichardt (Melbourne) - Title: Observing the oldest light in the Universe from the South Pole: Gravitational waves, Neutrinos and more!
2024-03-19 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: March 19, 2024
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Christian Reichardt (Melbourne)
Title: Observing the oldest light in the Universe from the South Pole: Gravitational waves, Neutrinos and more!
Abstract:
The cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation is the oldest light we can see. Since it bears the imprint of the universe just after the Big Bang (at a mere 0.003% of the universe’s age today), observations of the CMB are a crucial tool in our quest to understand how the Universe began and what its future holds. The South Pole is one of the best sites on Earth for these observations, and is the home of the South Pole Telescope (as well as CMB-S4 in the future). In this talk, I will present the latest CMB power spectra measurements from the SPT-3G instrument on the South Pole Telescope, and the resulting constraints on cosmology.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/95679892182?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 956 7989 2182
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Tom Shutt (SLAC) - Title: GammaTPC: A novel next generation Compton telescope
2024-03-21 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: March 21, 2024
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Tom Shutt (SLAC)
Title: GammaTPC: A novel next generation Compton telescope
Abstract: I will talk about GammaTPC, a new instrument concept for measuring astrophysical gamma rays in the MeV energy range. This part of the sky is a largely unexplored mostly due to the difficulty of measuring MeV photons, but the potential payoff is large, particularly in the upcoming era of multi-messenger transient astrophysics. GammaTPC attacks this difficulty using liquid argon time projection chamber (TPC) technology, which appears to have important advantages over several other techniques that are being pursued. A core part GammaTPC is GAMPix, a new charge readout scheme that enables fine grained readout over large area at very low power, and has other potential applications including neutrino physics. There are a few other amusing challenges to fielding a liquid noble TPC in low Earth orbit.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]

Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Raphael Flauger (UC San Diego) - Title: Deciphering the Beginning
2024-03-26 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: March 26, 2024
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Raphael Flauger (UC San Diego)
Title: Deciphering the Beginning
Abstract:
The cosmic microwave background (CMB) contains a wealth of information about cosmology as well as high-energy physics. It tells us about the composition and geometry of the universe, the properties of neutrinos, dark matter, and even the conditions in our universe long before the cosmic microwave background was emitted. After a brief introduction, I will discuss what we may hope to learn about the very early universe from upcoming CMB experiments that search for the imprint of primordial gravitational waves. One of the key challenges of this endeavor is the polarized emission from our galaxy. I will discuss our recent efforts to model and better understand the emission with the help of MHD simulations.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/95679892182?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 956 7989 2182
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Chiara Salemi (SLAC) - Title: Seeing the invisible: the search for axion dark matter
2024-03-28 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: March 28, 2024
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Chiara Salemi (SLAC)
Title: Seeing the invisible: the search for axion dark matter
Abstract: The presence of dark matter provides some of the most persuasive evidence for the existence of physics beyond the Standard Model. One compelling dark matter candidate is the axion, a light boson that was originally postulated as a solution to another outstanding issue, the strong CP problem in QCD. This talk covers two experimental programs to search for axion dark matter with advanced quantum sensors: DMRadio and BREAD. DMRadio searches for low-mass (long-wavelength) axions using a lumped-element detection method, while BREAD searches for relatively high-mass (short-wavelength) axions using a reflector. I will discuss the status and upcoming plans for these two programs, with a focus on the quantum sensors that enable these kinds of searches.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]

Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Boryana Hadzhiyska (UC Berkeley) - Title: Solving big-scale problems with small-scale models in the era of CMB-S4
2024-04-02 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: April 2, 2024
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Boryana Hadzhiyska (UC Berkeley)
Title: Solving big-scale problems with small-scale models in the era of CMB-S4
Abstract: In this talk, I will focus on some of the new opportunities and new challenges that CMB-S4, the next-generation cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiment, presents, and I will offer a viable path forward to meeting and exceeding the goals we have set up for it. The CMB has played a huge role in shaping our understanding of the history, evolution and contents of our Universe. From our observations of the CMB, we have attained a good grasp of about 13.8 billion years of cosmic history, but our direct and indirect observations are limited to a much smaller range in energy scale, which leaves unresolved some of the biggest puzzles such as the mechanism that seeded the primordial fluctuations and the nature of the dark sector. I will discuss how we can leverage observations of the CMB to learn about these much earlier periods of cosmic history and also, how the CMB provides complementary probes of the lower-redshift universe. On large scales, the B-mode polarization signal can reveal the origin of primordial fluctuations, whereas the small-scale signal holds information about the presence of non-standard light relics and the sum of the neutrino masses. However, measuring the primordial signal is a non-trivial task, as on its way to us, the signal has picked up contributions from lensing and astrophysical sources, known as foregrounds. The best way to design accurate approaches for mitigating these foregrounds is via realistic all-sky simulations. I will present new techniques for painting foregrounds onto large-volume simulations, using physically motivated models that close the loop between simulations and observations. In addition, I will discuss ways of optimizing the CMB lensing reconstruction techniques, which is crucial for improving our constraints on primordial quantities such as the number of light relics and the tensor-to-scalar ratio as well as the sum of neutrino masses. Finally, I will argue that synergies between CMB secondaries and large-scale structure surveys can place tight constraints on cosmology and astrophysics. The measurement precision of CMB-S4 will be unmatched, but in order to make the most out of it, we need a big step-up in our analysis and theory tools, including the development of realistic all-sky simulations as well as techniques for optimal extraction of the small-scale cosmological signal.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/95679892182?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 956 7989 2182
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Joshua Combes (JILA) - Title: Game of Qubits: winter is coming
2024-04-04 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: April 4, 2024
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Joshua Combes (JILA)
Title: Game of Qubits: winter is coming
Abstract: The ‘Quantum Winter’ is a term that paints a scenario where the progress in quantum computing might significantly slow down, accompanied by a decrease in both public and private investment, and mounting skepticism regarding the field’s potential and future accomplishments. This concept echoes the historical ‘AI Winters,’ periods of contraction in artificial intelligence research. In this presentation, I will first evaluate our current milestones in quantum hardware development, setting the stage for an understanding of why there’s a growing concern about an impending Quantum Winter. Following this, I’ll share my forecasts, pinpointing specific years when we might anticipate this cooldown to manifest. To conclude, I’ll turn the lens inward, contemplating proactive strategies and responses we, as a research community, should consider to navigate and possibly mitigate the impact of this predicted quantum chill. This talk aims not only to forecast but to fortify our resolve in advancing quantum computing through potential adversities.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]

Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Michel Piat (APC-IN2P3) - Title: The Q&U Bolometric Interferometer for Cosmology (QUBIC): status and perspectives
2024-04-09 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: April 9, 2024
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Michel Piat (APC-IN2P3)
Title: The Q&U Bolometric Interferometer for Cosmology (QUBIC): status and perspectives
Abstract: QUBIC (Q & U Bolometric Interferometer for Cosmology) is an international ground-based experiment dedicated in the measurement of the polarized fluctuations of the millimeter sky and especially the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). It is based on bolometric interferometry, an original detection technique which combine the immunity to systematic effects of an interferometer with the sensitivity of low temperature incoherent detectors. QUBIC is currently in commissioning in Argentina, at the Alto Chorrillos mountain site at 5000m a.s.l. near San Antonio de los Cobres, in the Salta province. After a description of the QUBIC instrument, I will present the last results of the first characterization phases with a focus on the detectors and readout system based on NbSi Transition Edge Sensors (TESs) cooled to 320mK. The perspective of spectro-imaging will also be described allowing for better foreground mitigation. This feature will soon be tested with QUBIC and could represent a significant breakthrough in CMB polarimetry.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/95679892182?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 956 7989 2182
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Slavomira Stefkova (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) - Title: Glimpse of a Rare B Decay with Two Invisible Neutrinos at Belle II
2024-04-11 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: April 11, 2024
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Slavomira Stefkova (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology)
Title: Glimpse of a Rare B Decay with Two Invisible Neutrinos at Belle II
Abstract: The decay of B+→K+νν̄ is mediated by flavor-changing neutral current. In the Standard Model, the rate for this elusive process is predicted to be 6×10^-6, while enhancements are foreseen in many New Physics models. Searching for B+→K+νν̄ decays is, however, experimentally challenging as this decay is not only rare but also contains two neutrinos, leaving no signature in the detector. In this talk, I will show you details of the newest measurement of the rate of B+→K+νν̄ decays, which is based on 362 fb^-1 of SuperKEKB electron-positron collision data collected at the Upsilon(4S) resonance by the Belle II experiment in Tsukuba, Japan. Using two different but complementary reconstruction techniques, we found, for the first time, evidence for the B+→K+νν̄ process. At the end of my talk, I will highlight other future opportunities in B-decays with invisible signatures.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]

Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Julien Guy (LBNL) - Title: The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument First Year Results: Cosmic Expansion History with Baryon Acoustic Oscillations
2024-04-16 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: April 16, 2024
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Julien Guy (LBNL)
Title: The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument First Year Results: Cosmic Expansion History with Baryon Acoustic Oscillations
Abstract: The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) collaboration is conducting a 5 year redshift survey of 40 million extra-galactic sources over 14,000 square degrees of the northern sky. One of its primary goals is to measure the cosmic expansion history with baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO). I will present the measurement of BAO in galaxy, quasar and Lyman-alpha forest tracers from the first year of observation. With 5.7 million galaxy and quasar redshifts in the range 0.1 < z < 2.1, and 420,000 Lyman-alpha forest quasars at higher redshift, the aggregate precision on BAO is of 0.52% at z<2.1 and 1.1% at an effective redshift z=2.3, surpassing in a year two decades of observations with the SDSS. I will present some of the numerous validation tests performed with simulations and blinded data. I will then highlight the main cosmological results, with improved constraints on the dark energy equation of state, the Hubble parameter, spatial curvature, and the sum of neutrino masses.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/95679892182?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 956 7989 2182
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Caterina Vernieri (SLAC) - Title: Delving into the Unknown: The Higgs Boson at Future Colliders
2024-04-25 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: April 25, 2024
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Caterina Vernieri (SLAC)
Title: Delving into the Unknown: The Higgs Boson at Future Colliders
Abstract: The Higgs boson was discovered in 2012 by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at the world’s most powerful particle collider, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Geneva, Switzerland. This particle plays a unique role in fundamental physics. It gives all of the known elementary particles, including itself, their masses. While we now have a strong evidence that the Higgs field is indeed the unique source of mass for the known elementary particles, the next step is to search for new interactions that could also explain why the Higgs field has the properties required by the Standard Model of particle physics. We have no clear roadmap to this new theory but the Higgs boson plays a crucial role in this quest. The goal of a next-generation e+e- collider is to carry out precision measurements to per-cent level of the Higgs boson properties that are not accessible at the LHC. In this talk we present the challenges and possibilities for the next e+e- collider and recent progress. The exploitation of the complementarity between LHC and future colliders will be the key to understanding fundamentally the Higgs boson.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]

Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speakers: Career Panel (Industry) - Title: How to start a career in industry: A panel discussion with physicists who work in industry
2024-04-30 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: April 30, 2024
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: 50-4-Auditorium [In-Person and HYBRID]
Panelists:

Marat Freytsis (Anthropic)
Riccardo Manenti (Rigetti)
Ronald Goossens (ASML)
Kathy Copic (Fieldwork Partners)
Mark Dishner (Lam Research)
Ana Ovcharova (Ionq)

Title: How to start a career in industry: A panel discussion with physicists who work in industry
Abstract: In this panel discussion postdocs and students will have the opportunity to ask questions about how to approach a career in industry. How do you make the right connections? How to craft a compelling application? What does work-life balance look like in industry? etc etc
Most of the time will be reserved for interactions with the audience, so bring along all your questions about finding positions in industry.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/95679892182?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 956 7989 2182
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Maria Vincenzi (Duke University) - Title: Cosmological results from the Dark Energy Survey Supernova program
2024-05-09 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: May 9, 2024
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Maria Vincenzi (Duke University)
Title:Cosmological results from the Dark Energy Survey Supernova program
Abstract: The Dark Energy Survey Supernova sample is the largest and deepest Type Ia Supernova (SN Ia) sample from a single telescope to date. It includes 1600 photometrically identified SNe Ia with high-quality multi-band light curves and spectroscopic redshifts. With a redshift range spanning between 0.1 to 1.2 and a well-defined selection function, this SN sample constitutes an ideal dataset for cosmology. In my talk, I will present the cosmological results from this unique sample and show that DES SNe, combined with publicly available low-z SN samples, provides excellent constraints on the Dark Energy equation of state from SN Ia.
Looking towards the future, I will discuss how future optical ground-based surveys like Rubin, and space-based near-infrared observatories like the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, will revolutionise SN Ia cosmology and potentially answer some of the most pressing questions of modern cosmology.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]

Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Deborah Harris (York/FNAL) - Title: Precision Neutrino Oscillation Measurements: Are we there yet?
2024-05-28 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: May 28, 2024
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Deborah Harris (York/FNAL)
Title: Precision Neutrino Oscillation Measurements: Are we there yet?
Abstract: Neutrino Oscillations, one of the precious few signatures of beyond the standard model physics, offer an exciting opportunity to study the universe. Neutrino oscillation measurements can give us new insight into what generate particle masses and what might generate the abundance of matter over antineutrino that we currently enjoy. Making precision oscillation measurements is challenging though, in part due to their miniscule probability to interact with matter. The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), currently under construction, aims to make precision measurements of neutrino oscillations across a broad range of neutrino energies, with a goal of not only getting precise oscillation parameters in the new standard “3-neutrino-flavour paradigm” but also to test the framework itself. Making precision oscillation measurements also requires a thorough understanding of the way neutrinos interact in nuclei in order to measure the oscillation probability as a function of neutrino energy. This talk will review recent progress on DUNE as well as a few recent neutrino interaction measurements from MINERvA that are helping to lay the foundations of future oscillation measurements.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/95679892182?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 956 7989 2182
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Emma Tolley (EPFL) - Title: Radio Cosmology: Imaging the Cosmic Dawn
2024-05-30 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: May 30, 2024
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Emma Tolley (EPFL)
Title: Radio Cosmology: Imaging the Cosmic Dawn
Abstract: Radio astronomers are engaged in ambitious new projects to detect faster, fainter, and more distant astrophysical phenomena. The flagship project is the Square Kilometer Array Observatory (SKAO). The SKAO will use thousands of individual radio receivers linked through interferometry to create the world’s largest radio telescope with unprecedented sensitivity, field of view, and survey speed, allowing us to map the neutral hydrogen throughout our Universe from nearby galaxies to the Cosmic Dawn epoch when stars and galaxies first formed. However, as a groundbreaking observational facility, SKA introduces new astrophysical, computational, and data analysis challenges. I present an overview of computational challenges and solutions for the SKAO, new techniques for image synthesis, and applications of AI in 21cm cosmology experiments.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]

Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Rachel Mannino (LLNL) - Title: Dark Matter Searches with the Axion Dark Matter eXperiment (ADMX)
2024-06-06 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: June 6, 2024
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Rachel Mannino (LLNL)
Title: Dark Matter Searches with the Axion Dark Matter eXperiment (ADMX)
Abstract: For decades, we have been collecting indirect astrophysical evidence that ordinary matter only
comprises about 5% of the mass-energy content in the universe with the remaining split between dark
matter and dark energy. Potential dark matter candidates span a wide parameter space, and many
parallel efforts are in progress to detect and identify the nature of dark matter. The Axion Dark Matter
eXperiment (ADMX) searches for the axion, a leading low-mass dark matter candidate and a potential
solution to the strong CP problem, by searching for an axion’s conversion to two microwave photons in a
strong magnetic field. I will present an overview of ADMX’s past and present axion searches using a
single microwave cavity and the planned next generation ADMX-2A and ADMX-EFR (Extended
Frequency Range) detectors.
This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.
LLNL-ABS-864832
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]

Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Brenda Frye (University of Arizona) - Title: Measuring the Hubble-Lemaitre Constant with James Webb Space Telescope Observations of the Lensed Supernova H0pe
2024-06-13 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: June 13, 2024
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Brenda Frye (University of Arizona)
Title: Measuring the Hubble-Lemaitre Constant with James Webb Space Telescope Observations of the Lensed Supernova H0pe
Abstract: A review of cluster lensing in the first two years of James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) observations is presented, focussing on the JWST Guaranteed Time Observations (GTO) program the Prime Extragalactic Areas for Reionization and Lensing Science (PEARLS). These observations range from the spectacle of JWST “first light” images of the distant universe to dense galaxy cluster fields that uncovered unprecedented numbers of giant arcs and image multiplicities. A point-source was discovered in the PEARLS image of the galaxy cluster field PLCK G165.7+67.0 (G165) that is bright and appears in three different locations as a result of strong lensing. Additional JWST observations confirmed this source to be a normal Type Ia supernova (SN) at a redshift of 1.783 that we call “SN H0pe,” making it one of the highest redshift standard candles. In a blinded approach, seven independent lens models were constructed, and time delays between the images were measured in two ways, off of: (1) the light curve, and (2) model fits to the spectra of each of the three SN images. During the unblinding event, a value for H0 was inferred by rescaling the lens-model predicted time delays to match the measured time delays. This is only the second measurement of H0 by the method of a multiply-imaged supernova, and the first by a standard candle. G165 has one of the highest rates of star formation summed up over the background lensed sources, making continued monitoring potentially rewarding for the discovery of additional SNe.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]

Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: David Miller (University of Chicago) - Title: Black Boxes or Interpretable Models? Applications of Machine Learning, Symmetries, and Domain Knowledge to High-Dimensional Problems in Particle Physics.
2024-06-18 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: June 18, 2024
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: David Miller (University of Chicago)
Title: Black Boxes or Interpretable Models? Applications of Machine Learning, Symmetries, and Domain Knowledge to High-Dimensional Problems in Particle Physics.
Abstract: The world of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) has undergone what some scientists refer to as the “3rd Age of AI” due to the confluence of developments in Algorithms, Computing Resources, and Big Data. Particle Physics has benefitted from, and in many ways strengthened and advanced, progress in AI/ML for decades due to its proliferation of enormous data sets, complex instrumentation, and enormous computing infrastructure. However, there exist both known and unknown deficiencies in our ability to explain “why” some AI/ML models yield a certain result. In this talk, I will discuss some of the context and applications of AI/ML in experimental particle physics. I will then focus on a few projects ongoing in my group that we believe target important problems relevant to the use of machine learning, symmetries, and domain knowledge in particle physics.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/95679892182?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 956 7989 2182
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Max Swiatlowski (TRIUMF) - Title: The LHC’s Next Frontier: Searching for Pairs of Higgs Bosons to Understand the Standard Model and Beyond
2024-07-11 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: July 11, 2024
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Max Swiatlowski (TRIUMF)
Title: The LHC’s Next Frontier: Searching for Pairs of Higgs Bosons to Understand the Standard Model and Beyond

Abstract: The discovery of the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider completed the Standard Model, but many fundamental open questions in particle physics remain. One question is particularly simple: how could the Big Bang produce the matter-dominated universe we observe without anti-matter, which should have been produced in equal parts? As the LHC produces collisions faster than ever before, the huge datasets the ATLAS experiment is collecting can provide answers to this question, and others, by enabling the measurement of the extremely rare production of pairs of Higgs bosons. Though difficult to observe, these signatures can directly measure the shape of the Higgs potential: deviations from the Standard Model’s expectations could allow us to understand not just the history of the early universe that created the matter/anti-matter asymmetry, but questions like the future stability of the universe. This talk will focus on the challenges to detecting Higgs boson pairs, and how to interpret them to understand the true shape of the Higgs potential and consequences for physics beyond the Standard Model. The latest results from the ATLAS experiment will be presented, and prospects for future measurements at the High-Luminosity LHC and next-generation colliders will be discussed.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]

Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Elliot Reynolds (LBNL) - Title: Probing the associated production of the Higgs boson and charm quarks at ATLAS
2024-08-29 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: August 29, 2024
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Elliot Reynolds (LBNL)
Title: Probing the associated production of the Higgs boson and charm quarks at ATLAS

Abstract: One of the most extraordinary discoveries about the universe is that the more of it we explain, the simpler the explanations become. The Standard Model (SM) of particle physics is the culmination of this journey, and explains most of our day-to-day world with just a handful of particles. We know, however, that the SM is incomplete, and because aspects of it still seem arbitrary, we suspect a deeper theory may lie beneath. One of the clearest examples of this is the masses of the fermions, which span many orders of magnitude, seem to have largely arbitrary values, and fall into a clear hierarchy, yet none of these facts are explained in the SM. To understand these things, we should explore how the masses of the fermions arise, which is thought to be due to their interactions with the Higgs boson. Measuring these interactions is therefore a major priority at the Large Hadron Collider, where they have already been measured for the third-generation fermions, and almost for the muon. These measurements remain elusive for the first- and second-generation quarks, though the charm quark is likely our best opportunity to remedy this. Measuring the interactions between the Higgs boson and the charm quark is proving highly challenging, however, and new methods will be needed. This talk presents the first inclusive search for the associated production of the Higgs boson and charm quarks, which uses the ATLAS detector. The search represents an unconventional avenue to probe their interaction strength, and introduces a new Higgs boson production measurement. This work also represents the first usage of Gaussian process regression for direct background estimation in a particle physics data analysis.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]

Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Simone Pagan Griso (LBNL) - Title: How a 10 TeV muon collider could be in the particle-physics future
2024-10-03 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: October 3, 2024
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Simone Pagan Griso (LBNL)
Title: How a 10 TeV muon collider could be in the particle-physics future

Abstract: A Muon Collider offers the potential for a scalable path towards the next generation of high-energy frontier particle colliders. A 10 TeV center-of-mass collider would allow us to study the Standard Model of particle physics in regimes qualitatively different from what we have been able to explore so far.
At the same time, the short life-time of the muon poses non-trivial technical challenges on both the accelerator and detector design. The last P5 report recognized the high-gain possible from such a machine and refers to that as “the muon shot”.
While studies towards a muon collider have been done for decades, at various degrees of emphasis, the feasibility studies towards a 10 TeV machine have ramped up and caught more and more attention in the last few years, fueled also by the current technology possibilities and the state of the field.
The compact design also offers the possibility of hosting such a collider on the Fermilab site, which has contributed to increase more and more domestic interest as well.
A recent workshop held at Fermilab also started the discussion of forming a US-based Muon Collider organization,in cooperation with the international Muon Collider Collaboration.
In this seminar I will take the occasion of this recent workshop to give to the local crowd a quick overview of the physics case and the state of the design for the accelerator complex and detectors for such a collider, focusing on the technical opportunities and challenges ahead to make this dream-project a reality.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]

Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Ibles Olcina Samblas (LBNL) - Title: New constraints on WIMP dark matter from the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment
2024-10-10 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: October 10, 2024
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Ibles Olcina Samblas (LBNL)
Title: New constraints on WIMP dark matter from the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment
Abstract: Dark matter detection experiments based on liquid xenon time projection chambers (TPC) have been steadily increasing in sensitivity to the weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) over the past two decades. The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment, employing a two-phase xenon TPC containing 7 tonnes of liquid xenon, leads the way. Recently, the collaboration released new results from a combined analysis using data from the 2022 and 2024 science campaigns, amounting to an exposure of 4.2 tonne-years. No evidence for an excess over expected backgrounds was found across all the test WIMP masses. The resulting limit on the spin-independent WIMP-nucleon cross section is world-leading for masses above 9 GeV/c2, surpassing previous best limits by about a factor of four. In this talk, I will describe the new LZ results—including a new technique to actively tag background electronic recoils from Pb-214 beta decays, the observation of charge-suppressed two-neutrino double electron capture events from Xe-124 decays, and the bias mitigation technique called “salting”—and briefly discuss what is on the horizon for the liquid xenon TPC community.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]

Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Julien Carron (UNIGE) - Title: Delensing the Cosmic Microwave Background
2024-10-22 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: October 22, 2024
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Julien Carron (UNIGE)
Title: Delensing the Cosmic Microwave Background
Abstract: Gravitational lensing of the Cosmic Microwave Background is a very valuable cosmological signal, detected at very high significance by several experiments. At the same time, it has also become an hindrance to some important science goals of CMB experiments, most notably for best constraints on a primordial background of gravitational waves. After reviewing current lensing estimation techniques and recent results, I’ll discuss how removal of the lensing signal (`delensing’) typically helps measuring small parameters that affects the CMB polarization. Very sensitive experiments must rely on novel more powerful algorithms to optimally extract or remove the lensing signal: I will present the approach developed in our group in Geneva, together with its forecast performance for upcoming experiments, notably CMB-S4.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/95679892182?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 956 7989 2182
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Kaja Rotermund (LBNL) - Title: LuSEE-Night – the Dark Ages from the Far Side of the Moon
2024-10-24 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: October 24, 2024
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Kaja Rotermund, LBNL
Title: LuSEE-Night – the Dark Ages from the Far Side of the Moon
Abstract: The “Dark Ages” refers to the cosmic era between the last scattering of the cosmic microwave background and “Cosmic Dawn,” the time when the first stars and galaxies formed. Only cold, non-luminous hydrogen gas existed during the Dark Ages, which emits at 21 cm (f = 1420 MHz). Through the expansion of the universe, this signal has been redshifted to low radio frequencies that are inaccessible from earth due to distortions of our ionosphere and significant terrestrial radio-frequency interference. This era is therefore largely unexplored and remains one of the least constrained frontiers of modern cosmology. LuSEE-Night is a project that aims to make sensitive measurements across two decades in frequency space from the radio-quiet far side of the moon. In doing so, LuSEE-Night will determine the feasibility of conducting radio-frequency astronomy from the lunar surface and acts as a pathfinder for larger missions in the future.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]

Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]
