Abstract: The inference of cosmological parameters requires the construction of a likelihood function that acts as an interface between theory and observational data. Using the CMB experiment Planck as a worked example, I provide an overview of the challenges associated …
Franz Elsner (UCL) "Parameter estimation in cosmology – The Planck likelihood" Read More »
Abstract: Dark matter constitutes 85% of the matter in the universe, yet despite its abundance, very little is known about it. One popular theory is that dark matter is made of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles, or WIMPs. Due to the …
Shawn Westerdale (PRINCETON) "Detecting Dark Matter with DarkSide-50" Read More »
Abstract: DM-Ice is a phased program towards the first direct detection search for dark matter in the Southern Hemisphere with a quarter ton scale NaI(Tl) crystal array. It will provide an understanding of the modulation signal reported by DAMA by …
Walter Pettus (YALE/WISCONSIN) "The DM-Ice Dark Matter Experiment" Read More »
Abstract: The Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment is designed to measure the neutrino mixing angle with unprecedented precision. The experiment utilizes multiple pairs of identical antineutrino detectors (ADs) at different baselines from three pairs of reactor cores to minimize systematic …
Gaosong Li (Shanghai Jiao Tong University) – "Daya Bay Experiment" Read More »
Abstract: After a two-year shutdown, the LHC restarted proton-proton collisions in 2015 with an increase in center-of-mass energy to 13 TeV. I describe some early results with data from the first year of running and plans for the significantly larger …
Frank Golf (UCSB) "Searching for New Physics with the Large Hadron Collider" Read More »
Abstract: Dark matter halos surrounding galaxies are expected to contain copious substructure, in the form of gravitationally bound subhalos. Local Group observations suggest that our Galaxy has a deficit of substructure (the Missing Satellites Problem), possibly indicating new physics in …
We will provide an overview of LIGO's first event. The signal is consistent with the merger of two black holes of ~30 Msun at a distance of ~400 Mpc. We will discuss some aspects of the detection, including parameter estimation, …
Abstract: From 2009 to 2014, the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) used the SDSS telescope to obtain spectra of 1.5 million galaxies to get very accurate measurements of the Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) scale at redshift z ~0.5. At the same …
Andreu Font-Ribera (LBNL) "Studying the Expansion of the Universe with Quasar Spectra" Read More »
Abstract: In the Standard Model, the Higgs has the highest probability to decay to b-quarks, yet this is one of the most challenging channels to observe at the LHC. I will explain the importance of measuring the coupling to the …
Heather Gray (CERN) " Chasing Beauty: Probing the Higgs Using B-Quarks Read More »
Abstract: The evidence for the existence of dark matter in the universe is overwhelming; yet its exact nature, its mass(es) and coupling constants, are completely unknown. If kinematically accessible at colliders, these particles are expected to be produced directly or …
Mariarosaria D'Alfonso (CERN) "New Physics at LHC: Energy and Precision Frontiers" Read More »