LBNL Physics Division Research Progress Meetings

Speaker: Kehang Bai (University of Oregon) - Title: Exploring the Dark Sector with Low-Mass, Long-Lived Dark Photons and the ATLAS Silicon Tracker
2025-12-09 16:00 - 17:00 UTC
Research Progress Meeting
Date: December 9, 2025
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Kehang Bai (University of Oregon)
Title: Exploring the Dark Sector with Low-Mass, Long-Lived Dark Photons and the ATLAS Silicon Tracker
Abstract: The rich phenomenology of dark sector models offers exciting opportunities for discovering new physics at the Large Hadron Collider. In this talk, I will present the first ATLAS search for low-mass, long-lived dark photons with displaced vertices in the silicon tracker. This novel signature expands sensitivity to regions of parameter space beyond conventional resonance searches. I will highlight the experimental challenges of searching for long-lived particles in the low-mass regime and emphasize the importance of detailed detector understanding. Finally, I will discuss key aspects of the ATLAS Inner Tracker upgrade for the upcoming high-luminosity era of the Large Hadron Collider.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/95679892182?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 956 7989 2182
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Alexis Mulski (Harvard) - Title: Looking for Unusual Ionization in High-Momentum Particles with the ATLAS Detector at the LHC
2025-12-11 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: December 11, 2025
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Alexis Mulski, Harvard University
Title: Looking for Unusual Ionization in High-Momentum Particles with the ATLAS Detector at the LHC
Abstract: What if we could measure the mass of every high momentum charged particle in the ATLAS detector? This talk details the tools in development to make that a reality for tracks associated with a large ionization energy loss (dE/dx). I will place particular emphasis on a new dE/dx measurement from gaseous drift tubes in the ATLAS Muon Spectrometer, born from a detailed understanding of detector hardware and readout electronics. I will present this measurement alongside other Muon-Spectrometer-based tools that aid us in the hunt for long-lived massive and/or di-charged particles, including dedicated reconstruction techniques. I will also discuss the progress of the New Small Wheel upgrade of the ATLAS Muon Spectrometer, and outline the commissioning of the MicroMegas detector trigger in view of the upcoming High-Luminosity LHC era.
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Elise Hinkle (University of Chicago) - Title: More than Just a Prototype: How the 2x2 Demonstrator is Essential to DUNE’s Success
2025-12-16 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: December 16, 2025
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Elise Hinkle (University of Chicago)
Title: More than Just a Prototype: How the 2×2 Demonstrator is Essential to DUNE’s Success
Abstract: The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is an upcoming long-baseline neutrino experiment with a multitude of physics goals including determining the neutrino mass ordering and searching for CP violation in the lepton sector. In 2024, the DUNE collaboration collected its first neutrino beam data using the 2×2 Demonstrator, a prototype for DUNE’s liquid argon near detector (ND-LAr) located in the Neutrinos at the Main Injector (NuMI) beamline at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab). This talk will explore how these 2×2 data are critical in validating key ND-LAr design choices, such as the use of liquid argon time-projection chamber (LArTPC) technology, optically isolated modules, and pixelated charge readout. Furthermore, this talk will explain how these 2×2 data are essential in fulfilling ND-LAr’s purpose of reducing beam, detector, and cross section systematic uncertainties in DUNE oscillation measurements.

Join Zoom Meeting
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Meeting ID: 956 7989 2182
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Livio Calivers (University of Bern) - Title: Light Detection for Modular Liquid Argon Neutrino Detectors: From Concept to Beam Data in the DUNE Near Detector
2026-01-08 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: January 8, 2026
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Livio Calivers, University of Bern
Title: Light Detection for Modular Liquid Argon Neutrino Detectors: From Concept to Beam Data in the DUNE Near Detector
Abstract: The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) aims to perform precision measurements of neutrino oscillations, which require stringent control of systematic uncertainties at the Near Detector. A major challenge arises from the severe interaction pile-up in liquid-argon time projection chambers operating near the origin of the intense neutrino beam. This talk describes how fast scintillation-light detection is exploited to enhance event reconstruction and interaction timing in the modular Liquid Argon Near Detector (ND-LAr). The design of the ArCLight system is presented—a fully dielectric, SiPM-based light detector integrated directly into the TPC drift field, providing efficient photon collection with minimal inactive material. Results from the DUNE 2×2 Demonstrator operated in the NuMI beam at Fermilab include the observation of neutrino interactions and a demonstrated sub-4 ns timing resolution, sufficient to resolve the accelerator bunch structure and enable in-spill interaction separation.
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Matthias Vigl (Technical University of Munich) - Title: Machine-Learning Scaling Laws for LHC Physics: How Scale Unlocks Breakthrough Gains in Physics Sensitivity
2026-01-13 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: January 13, 2026
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Matthias Vigl (Technical University of Munich)
Title: Machine-Learning Scaling Laws for LHC Physics: How Scale Unlocks Breakthrough Gains in Physics Sensitivity
Abstract: High Energy Physics and deep learning have historically taken different routes to data processing: in collider physics, performance has been driven by deep, hand-engineered pipelines that encode decades of domain knowledge, while modern machine learning has advanced primarily through scale, leveraging large datasets and increasingly generic model architectures. While machine learning has long been embedded in the HEP analysis pipeline, the rate of improvement has remained slower than the rapid, scale-driven progress observed in industry.
This talk contrasts physics-driven and scale-driven approaches to data processing and shows how foundation-model principles (scaling laws, transfer learning, and end-to-end optimization) can be applied to HEP analyses. Compute-optimal scaling laws are derived for the state-of-the-art ATLAS jet flavor tagger and validated by training models two orders of magnitude beyond previous compute regimes, yielding predictable performance improvements in line with industry-scale models. When translated into physics sensitivity for flagship ATLAS analyses such as HH(4b) at the High-Luminosity LHC, these gains correspond to improvements equivalent to multiple years of data taking, motivating a shift toward large-scale ML model training and deployment within LHC experiments.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/95679892182?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 956 7989 2182
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Speaker: Daniel Kodroff (LBNL) - Title: New Results on Solar Neutrinos and Light Dark Matter Searches with the LUX-ZEPLIN Experiment
2026-01-22 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: January 22, 2026
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Daniel Kodroff, LBNL
Title: New Results on Solar Neutrinos and Light Dark Matter Searches with the LUX-ZEPLIN Experiment
Abstract: LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) is a direct detection dark matter experiment led by Berkeley Lab. Located nearly a mile underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in South Dakota, USA, LZ employs a 7 tonne active volume of liquid xenon in a dual-phase time projection chamber (TPC). In this talk, I will discuss the status of the experiment and present recent results on searches for dark matter candidates and coherent elastic neutrino nucleus scattering (CEvNS) from Boron-8 solar neutrinos. I will then discuss the implications of these measurements and the experiment’s future prospects.
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Vladimir Tishchenko (Brookhaven National Laboratory) - Title: The Muon g-2 Experiment: A Precision Test of the Standard Model
2026-01-29 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: January 29, 2026
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Vladimir Tishchenko, Brookhaven National Laboratory
Title: The Muon g-2 Experiment: A Precision Test of the Standard Model
Abstract: The anomalous magnetic moment of the muon, aμ, is among the most precisely measured quantities in particle physics and a powerful probe of physics within and beyond the Standard Model. The Muon g-2 Experiment at Fermilab was motivated by a long-standing ~3.5σ discrepancy between theory and experiment and aimed to improve the experimental precision by a factor of four. In 2025, the collaboration reported its final result based on six years of data, reaching a precision of 127 parts per billion. This talk will summarize the experimental method, key systematic challenges, and the final measurement, and discuss its implications for ongoing efforts at the precision frontier.
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]
