Speaker: Stefania Gori (UCSC)-Title: New meson probes of axion-like-particles
2023-05-02 16:00 - 17:00 UTC
This is an In-Person [HYBRID] Event
Date: MAY 2, 2023
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5-5132
Speaker: Stefania Gori (UCSC)
Title: New meson probes of axion-like-particles
Abstract:

Meson factories are at the cutting edge of the intensity frontier, with an unprecedented number of pions, Kaons, and B mesons that will be produced in the coming years. In addition to precise measurements of Standard Model processes, these experiments have a unique opportunity to search for dark sector particles in the sub-GeV mass range. In this talk, we will first give an overview of new opportunities to search for axion-like particles (ALPs) in light meson decays. Such ALPs can be motivated by a solution to the hierarchy problem, the strong CP problem, the flavor puzzle, and combinations of these with DM physics. Second, we revisit the theory and constraints on ALPs interacting with leptons, pointing out the relevance of charged current meson and W decays to ALPs. This is particularly prominent in models where the ALP couples in an isospin-violating way. Finally, we highlight the role of the future PIONEER experiment in probing these new charged current pion decays to ALPs.

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NO RPM TODAY @Thursday May 4, 2023
2023-05-04 16:00 - 17:00

NO RPM TODAY@ Thursday, May 11, 2023
2023-05-11 16:00 - 17:00

Speaker: Frank Qu (Cambridge University) - Title: Cosmology from high-precision CMB lensing measurements with the Atacama Cosmology Telescope
2023-05-18 16:00 - 17:00
This is an In-Person [HYBRID] Event
Date: MAY 18, 2023
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5-5132
SPEAKER: Frank Qu (Cambridge University)
TITLE: Cosmology from high-precision CMB lensing measurements with the Atacama Cosmology Telescope
ABSTRACT:
The cosmic microwave background provides a unique backlight for illuminating the growth of structures in our universe. Measuring the arcminute-scale lensing deflections experienced by the CMB photons as they travel to our telescopes enables the mapping of the matter distribution to very high redshifts. This lensing signal provides a clean window for constraining fundamental physics, such as the sum of neutrino masses, and enables powerful tests of the standard cosmological model via comparison of high-precision measurements of structure growth at late times with early-time predictions.

In this talk, I will present new CMB lensing measurements derived from data release 6 of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope. Our work provides a state-of-the-art lensing power spectrum measurement and an associated signal-dominated lensing mass map that enable a host of cosmological and astrophysical science goals. I will first discuss the novel methods used to tackle key systematics affecting precision CMB lensing. I will then explore the implications of our measurements for tests of cosmic structure growth and the S8 tension.
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[SPECIAL RPM] Speaker: Marcel Vos (IFIC (UV/CSIC) Valencia)
2023-05-22 14:00 - 15:00
This is an In-Person [HYBRID] Event
Date: MAY 22, 2023
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5-5132
Speaker: Marcel Vos (IFIC (UV/CSIC) Valencia)
Title: “The third-generation quarks and the Higgs boson – from the LHC to the next large-scale facility in HEP”
Abstract: In this seminar I discuss a number of selected topics in studies of the bottom and top quarks. A few recent highlights of the top quark physics program of the ATLAS and CMS experiments at the LHC are presented. These results continue to improve the precision that can be achieved at a hadron collider and expand the energy frontier beyond several TeV. An extensive search program open ups increasingly rare top quark production processes, providing access to couplings that had not been tested directly so far. To provide a broader perspective, current results are compared to the prospects of the High Luminosity phase of the LHC and of a future electron-positron collider. The seminar finalizes with a discussion of a proposal to use the interactions of the bottom (and top) quarks with the Higgs boson to test the evolution of particle masses with energy predicted by the Standard Model.

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Speaker: Eric Torrence (University of Oregon)- Title: Precision Luminosity with the ATLAS Experiment
2023-05-25 16:00 - 17:00
This is an In-Person [HYBRID] Event
Date: MAY 25, 2023
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5-5132
SPEAKER: Eric Torrence (University of Oregon)
TITLE: Precision Luminosity with the ATLAS Experiment

ABSTRACT: Abstract: A precise measurement of the integrated luminosity is a key component of the ATLAS physics program at the CERN LHC. This measurement is based on an absolute calibration of the LUCID detector using dedicated van der Meer beam-separation scans, and extrapolated to physics conditions with a set of complimentary measurements from the ATLAS inner detector and calorimeter systems. Evaluated for all physics data recorded during the LHC Run2 data taking (from 2015-18), the uncertainty on the integrated luminosity delivered to ATLAS has achieved a relative precision of 0.8%.
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NO RPM TALK TODAY
2023-06-01 16:00 - 17:00

Speaker: Frances Houle ( LBNL)-Title: A Modern Understanding of Ethics in Physics
2023-06-08 16:00 - 17:00
This is an In-Person [HYBRID] Event
Date: JUNE 8, 2023
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5-5132
SPEAKER: Frances Houle (LBNL)
TITLE: A Modern Understanding of Ethics in Physics

ABSTRACT: What are considered ethical principles and ethical behavior in physics have evolved considerably in the past 20 years. In this talk I will describe the history and changes in thinking, as well as the role of the American Physical Society in the process. The community has come to appreciate the crucial importance of professional pressures in unethical behavior, leading to newly focused thinking about how physics and other scientific professions might aspects of their cultures and improve ethics awareness and education.
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Speaker: Frank Tackmann-Title: "Theory uncertainties and correlations in perturbative predictions "
2023-06-15 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting

Date: June 15, 2023
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Frank Tackmann
Title: Theory uncertainties and correlations in perturbative predictions

Abstract: Theoretical predictions that are used in interpreting experimental
measurements require reliable uncertainties and correlations.
However, the prevalent method to estimate uncertainties in perturbative
predictions in high-energy physics, based on varying unphysical scales, lacks
both reliability and the ability to correctly treat correlations.
This is a severe limitation in precision studies where theory uncertainties
are of comparable size to experimental ones.
I will highlight a couple of such examples, including determining
Higgs couplings to bottom and charm from the Higgs pT spectrum, a recent
determination of the strong coupling from the Drell-Yan pT spectrum by ATLAS,
and the measurement of the W-boson mass at hadron colliders.
I will give a conceptual overview of theory uncertainties and our current
estimation methods at a non-technical level accessible to non-experts.
Finally, I will discuss the development of a new concept of theory nuisance
parameters, which promises to overcome (most of) the limitations of scale
variations.

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Speaker: Kerstin Tackmann-Title: Higgs measurements at ATLAS
2023-06-22 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting

Date: June 22, 2023
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Kerstin Tackmann
Title: Higgs measurements at ATLAS

Abstract: In summer 2012, the ATLAS and CMS experiments at the Large Hadron Collider
announced the discovery of a new particle, with properties consistent with
those expected from the Standard Model Higgs boson. Since then, its properties
and its interactions with other particles have been studied by both experiments
using the data that have been collected up to 2018, increasing the number of
Higgs bosons produced by a factor of 36. This talk gives an overview of recent
results from the ATLAS experiment, focusing on the results obtained on that
dataset and mentioning briefly new results obtained using the data collected
in 2022. To date, all measurements have been found to be consistent with the
predictions of the Standard Model of particle physics.

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Speaker: Sinead Griffin ( LBL)- Title: Party like it's LK99?
2023-08-15 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: August 15, 2023
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Sinead Griffin (LBL)
Title: Party like it’s LK99?

Abstract: A recent report of room temperature superconductivity at ambient pressure in Cu-substituted apatite (`LK99′) has invigorated interest in the understanding of what systems and mechanisms allow for high-temperature superconductivity. In this talk, I will describe my recent work on identifying the origins of correlated isolated flat bands at the Fermi level in lk99, a common signature of high transition temperatures in already-established families of superconductors. I elucidate the origins of these isolated bands as arising from a structural distortion induced by the Cu ions and a chiral charge density wave from the Pb lone pairs. These results suggest that a minimal two-band model can encompass much of the low-energy physics in this system. Finally, I discuss the implications of my results on possible superconductivity in Cu-doped apatite.
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Speaker: Paul Stankus (Brookhaven National Laboratory) - Title: Quantum-Enhanced Astronomy For Both Fun and Profit
2023-09-07 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: September 7, 2023
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Paul Stankus (Brookhaven National Laboratory)
Title: Quantum-Enhanced Astronomy for Both Fun and Profit

Abstract: Quantum devices are finding their way to improving many kinds of technologies, at an increasing pace. We will review ideas for how astronomical measurements, particularly using interferometers, can be improved — in some cases greatly so — through the new application of quantum devices such as quantum memories, single-photon sources, quantum repeaters, quantum teleportation, and more. Then we will take a look at active experimental work in this area and prospects for near-future instruments. Lastly, we will discuss interesting astrophysical observations that could be enabled by quantum enhancement, including distance ladder measurements, exoplanet spectra, and even low-frequency gravitational waves, among others.
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Speaker: Uros Seljak (LBNL) - Title: AI for Physics, Physics for AI
2023-09-14 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: September 14, 2023
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Uros Seljak (LBNL)
Title: AI for Physics, Physics for AI

Abstract: Artificial Intelligence (Machine Learning) is revolutionizing many aspects of our life, but its success stories in physics and astronomy are rare and limited to a few subfields only. I will argue that this is because physics applications require development of physics specific AI methods, rather than using off the shelf methods from the AI community. A few examples of physics specific nature of the data are large dimensionality of the data, stochastic nature of the data, and symmetries. I will argue that learning the data structures first using generative learning approaches such as Normalizing Flows enables not only better learning, but also provides additional information on robustness, such as anomaly detection. These methods applied to cosmology data show the promise of up to an order of magnitude improvement relative to traditional methods. Physics ideas have also influenced the development of AI, and many of these have been based on stochastic processes and sampling. I will discuss recently developed MicroCanonical Hamiltonian and Langevin Monte Carlo, which are a new class of sampling methods that outperform previous state of the art such as Hamiltonian Monte Carlo, in some cases by orders of magnitude. These new sampling methods will in turn enable solutions of physics problems that were not possible before, in a wide range of fields from cosmology to lattice QCD.
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Speaker: Naoko Kurahashi Neilson (Drexel) - Title: Neutrino Astronomy, From Dream to Reality
2023-09-21 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: September 21, 2023
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Naoko Kurahashi Neilson (Drexel)
Title: Neutrino Astronomy, From Dream to Reality

Abstract: The Universe has been studied using light since the dawn of astronomy, when starlight captured the human eye. The IceCube Neutrino Observatory, located at the geographic South Pole, observes the Universe in a different and unique way: in high-energy neutrinos. IceCube’s discovery in 2013 of a diffuse celestial neutrino radiation started an era of neutrino astronomy. Searches for astronomical sources responsible for creating these neutrinos have covered broad source types while combating background event rates that are 6 orders of magnitude higher. This year, the first observation of our own Milky Way galaxy in neutrinos was announced in June. This talk will cover how this observation was made, other milestone observations by IceCube, and the state of neutrino astronomy.
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Speaker: Jia Liu (Kavli IPMU University of Tokyo) - Title: Neutrinos, baryons, cosmic web, and COVID19
2023-09-26 16:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: September 26, 2023
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Jia Liu (Kavli IPMU University of Tokyo)
Title: Neutrinos, baryons, cosmic web, and COVID19

Abstract: This won’t be your usual seminar, but rather a report back since I left Berkeley two years ago. Despite barely having made it to campus or the lab due to mat leave + COVID, I managed to work with many Berkeley people on various projects, almost all of which happened serendipitously. I will touch upon the topics mentioned in the title. I will also discuss prospects for Stage IV cosmology, in terms of joint simulations and analysis with CMB and LSS surveys.
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Speaker: Chris Polly (Fermilab) - Title: New results from the Fermilab Muon g-2 Experiment
2023-09-28 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: September 28, 2023
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Chris Polly (Fermilab)
Title: New results from the Fermilab Muon g-2 Experiment

Abstract: The Muon g-2 collaboration recently published their latest results for the determination of the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon. This result is a factor of two more precise than prior experiments and is in good agreement with past determinations. A description of the experimental result, future plans, and a discussion of the theory will be presented.
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Speaker: Jure Zupan (University of Cincinnati) - Title: From quarks and gluons to hadrons
2023-10-05 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: October 5, 2023
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Jure Zupan (University of Cincinnati)
Title: From quarks and gluons to hadrons

Abstract: Monte Carlo event generators for particle collisions are composed of three block, the calculations of hard matrix elements, parton shower, and hadronization. While the first two are theoretically under good control and systematically improvable using perturbative techniques, hadronization relies on the use of phenomenological models. I will review the first attempts to use Machine Learning architectures to describe hadronization, with the ultimate goal to train directly on data. The first practical side product of this effort is an algorithm for faster evaluation of uncertainties associated with the Lund string model implemented in Pythia.
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Speaker: Luke Kelley (UC Berkeley) - Title: Nanohertz Gravitational Waves: Exploring the most massive black holes in the Universe
2023-10-12 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: October 12, 2023
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Luke Kelley (UC Berkeley)
Title: Nanohertz Gravitational Waves: Exploring the most massive black holes in the Universe

Abstract: Earlier this year NANOGrav, along with other pulsar timing arrays, announced strong evidence for a stochastic gravitational wave (GW) background at nanohertz frequencies. For decades, such a signal has been predicted from binaries of supermassive black holes (SMBHs). I will present NANOGrav’s recent data and our interpretation of the signal as produced by SMBH binaries. I will show that these GWs encode a wealth of new information about SMBH formation and evolution. Now, the race is on for the next expected measurements: detection of anisotropy in the GW background, and individual loud binaries. These measurements would confirm the origin of the GWs, provide a crucial testbed for the future LISA mission, and open a new multi-messenger window into the Universe.
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Speaker: Joshua Batson (Anthropic AI) - Title: More is Different: Generalization in Large (Language) Models
2023-10-19 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: October 19, 2023
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Joshua Batson (Anthropic AI)
Title: More is Different: Generalization in Large (Language) Models

Abstract: Specialized machine learning models have been successfully applied in science and industry for decades. In recent years, a new paradigm has emerged: very large models trained on highly diverse training data have demonstrated remarkable capabilities across hundreds of tasks. Many billions of dollars have since been invested in training and deploying such models. In this talk, I will review some of these developments with a focus on the phenomenon of generalization: as models scale, what changes? What do we know about the internal functioning of these models and how that emerges during training? What does this portend for the future? I will finally speculate, with audience participation, on three potential relationships with physics: the ‘physics’ of model training, the use of models as scientific assistants, and the direct use of models to study physical phenomena.
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Speaker: Kelly Stifter (Fermilab) - Title: Leveraging quantum sensors to shine new light on searches for low-mass dark matter
2023-10-26 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: October 26, 2023
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Kelly Stifter (Fermilab)
Title: Leveraging quantum sensors to shine new light on searches for low-mass dark matter

Abstract: While dark matter accounts for approximately 85% of the mass in the universe, its physical nature remains one of the most pressing open questions in the field of physics. Three decades of experiments have been searching for dark matter interactions over a wide range of candidate dark matter masses and all have come up empty-handed. Nevertheless, there remain large swaths of unexplored, well-motivated particle dark matter models that are currently inaccessible through existing detector technologies. One path to probe these remaining particle dark matter models is through the use of low-threshold quantum sensors. In this talk, I will review the landscape of dark matter direct detection, outline the potential role of quantum sensors in particle detection, and detail the early results from a calibration system critical to realizing these individual devices as fully-fledged experiments.
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Speakers: Career Panel (LBNL) - Title: How to land a faculty position: A panel discussion with career scientists in the physics division
2023-11-07 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: November 7, 2023
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: B50 Auditorium [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speakers: Career Panel
Title: How to land a faculty position: A panel discussion with career scientists in the physics division
Abstract: In this panel discussion postdocs and students will have the opportunity to ask career division members about how the faculty hiring process typically works in labs and universities and how to put together a winning faculty application. This year’s panelists will be

Natalie Roe (Associate Lab Director)
Dean Robinson (Theory)
Marjorie Shapiro (ATLAS)
Simone Ferraro (Cosmology)
Kevin Lesko (LZ)

Together they have about a century worth of experience with hiring panels, in a variety of fields and settings (universities + laboratories). Most of the time will be reserved for interactions with the audience, so bring along all your questions about finding permanent positions in academia.
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Speaker: Aleksandra Kusiak (Columbia) - Title: Probing the Ionized Gas Thermodynamics in Distant Galaxies with the Sunyaev-Zel’dovich Effect
2023-11-14 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: November 14, 2023
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Aleksandra Kusiak (Columbia)
Title: Probing the Ionized Gas Thermodynamics in Distant Galaxies with the Sunyaev-Zel’dovich Effect

Abstract: The Sunyaev-Zel’dovich Effect—the Doppler boost of low-energy Cosmic Microwave Background photons scattering off free electrons in galaxies and clusters in the late Universe—is an excellent probe of ionized gas residing in distant galaxies. Its two main constituents are the kinematic SZ effect (kSZ), where electrons have a non-zero line-of-sight (LOS) velocity and which probes the electron momentum, and the thermal SZ effect (tSZ), where electrons have high energies due to their temperature, and which probes the electron integrated pressure. These two effects provide complementary information necessary to constrain the thermodynamic profile of gas residing in distant galaxies, which can be further used to understand feedback processes, a necessary ingredient to describe the evolution of the large-scale structure in our Universe and galaxy formation. Both tSZ and kSZ can be measured in cross-correlation with large-scale structure, e.g., galaxies.
In this talk, I will discuss my past and ongoing measurements of the SZ-galaxy cross-correlations with unWISE galaxies, including the projected-fields kSZ. unWISE is a galaxy catalog containing over 500 million galaxies on the full sky and consists of three subsamples of mean redshifts z=0.5, 1.1, 1.5, whose halo occupation distribution I have already constrained. If time permits, I will also present my ongoing work on mitigating foregrounds in the SZ cross-correlations, particularly the Cosmic Infrared Background (CIB).
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Speaker: Roohi Dalal (Princeton) - Title: New Cosmology Constraints from the Hyper Suprime-Cam Year 3 Data Release
2023-11-21 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: November 21, 2023
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Roohi Dalal (Princeton)
Title: New Cosmology Constraints from the Hyper Suprime-Cam Year 3 Data Release

Abstract: The Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) survey is the deepest present-day weak lensing experiment, going to ~26 mag with exquisite image quality. This combination of depth and image quality achieved by HSC allows us to probe cosmology using weak gravitational lensing up to high redshifts, and these analyses serve as important preparatory studies for the next generation of weak lensing surveys, particularly the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. I will discuss our constraints on cosmological parameters using weak lensing cosmic shear power spectra measured from the Year 3 shear catalog of HSC, covering 416 square degrees of the northern sky. I will describe our cosmological analysis, including the steps we take to prevent confirmation bias as well as our modeling of various systematic effects. The quantity best constrained by our analysis is the parameter S8, which describes the clumpiness of the matter distribution in the universe. From our analysis, and other weak lensing analyses with different surveys, there is a 2-3 sigma detection of a tension in the S8 measurements from weak lensing and those from the cosmic microwave background. While this could suggest that our cosmological model is incomplete, I will discuss ongoing and future work that can further shed light on this tension, including an improved modeling of baryonic feedback at small scales.

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Speaker: Lee Hagaman (University of Chicago) – Title: Investigating Short-Baseline Neutrino Anomalies Using MicroBooNE
2023-11-28 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: November 28, 2023
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Lee Hagaman (University of Chicago)
Title: Investigating Short-Baseline Neutrino Anomalies Using MicroBooNE

Abstract: The MicroBooNE experiment is a liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) in the Booster Neutrino Beam at Fermilab. One of its primary goals is to address the 4.8 sigma MiniBooNE Low Energy Excess (LEE). Leveraging the unique capabilities of LArTPC technology to identify hadronic activity and separate photon and electron showers, MicroBooNE has achieved a search for an electron neutrino excess (potentially due to a sterile neutrino), as well as a search for a single photon excess from neutral current Delta radiative decays. In this talk, we will present a comprehensive overview of these results, as well as recent advancements toward new searches for single photons and electron-positron pairs as explanations of the MiniBooNE LEE. These include a more sensitive search for Delta radiative decays, a search for coherent-like single photon production, an inclusive single photon search, and searches for electron-positron pairs from dark sector models.

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Speaker: Michael MacKenzie (Northwestern University) - Title: Searches for Charged Lepton Flavor Violation at CMS and Mu2e
2023-11-30 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: November 30, 2023
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Michael MacKenzie (Northwestern University)
Title: Searches for Charged Lepton Flavor Violation at CMS and Mu2e

Abstract: Neutrino oscillations have shown that lepton flavor is not a conserved quantity. Charged lepton flavor violation (CLFV) is suppressed by the small neutrino masses well below what is experimentally observable, though new physics models predict higher rates of CLFV. I will discuss a current search at the CMS experiment for the CLFV decay of the Z boson, focusing on the search for Z→e µ. I will also discuss the upcoming search for CLFV µ− → e− conversion at the Mu2e experiment at FNAL. The Mu2e experiment aims to improve the sensitivity to µ− → e− conversion by a factor of 10,000. I will present the expected µ− → e− conversion sensitivity during Run 1 at Mu2e.
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Speaker: Michael Williams (University of Michigan) - Title: Searches for Particle Dark Matter with LZ and TESSERACT
2023-12-05 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: December 5, 2023
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Michael Williams (University of Michigan)
Title: Searches for Particle Dark Matter with LZ and TESSERACT

Abstract: The search for particle dark matter is one of the primary challenges in modern physics. Direct detection experiments typically rely on measuring signals produced when dark matter particles recoil off a detector target. In this talk, I will first discuss the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment, which uses a dual-phase xenon time projection chamber to look for WIMP dark matter that recoils off the xenon nucleus. I will discuss LZ detector construction, first WIMP search results, and limits on effective field theory (EFT) searches of dark matter. I will then discuss the search for low-mass dark matter with TESSERACT; this encompasses interactions with two types of novel, ultra-sensitive detectors – SPICE and HeRALD. Both SPICE and HeRALD use transition edge sensors (TESs) for cryogenic readout, while using different targets: polar crystals and superfluid helium-4, respectively. I will describe the development and first measurements of new Iridium-Platinum (IrPt) TESs and the commissioning of the new HeRALD detector at LBNL.

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Meeting ID: 956 7989 2182
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Speaker: Gerrit Farren (Cambridge) - Title: The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Probing the large scale structure with ACT DR6 CMB lensing and cross-correlation with unWISE
2023-12-07 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: December 7, 2023
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Gerrit Farren (Cambridge)
Title: The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Probing the large scale structure with ACT DR6 CMB lensing and cross-correlation with unWISE

Abstract: I will present work on probing the large scale structure of the universe using CMB lensing from the upcoming Data Release 6 of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) and cross-correlations with galaxies from the unWISE galaxy catalog. My talk will focus on how our highly competitive constraints from CMB lensing cross-correlations can provide insight into the widely discussed “S8/sigma8 tension”. For this purpose I will briefly introduce the high fidelity CMB lensing reconstruction obtained by the ACT Collaboration and results from the analysis of the lensing auto-correlation. I will discuss results from the cross-correlation between ACT CMB lensing and unWISE galaxies, highlighting improvements to the analysis pipeline compared to previous work on the cross-correlation between Planck CMB lensing and unWISE by some of my collaborators (Krolewski et al. 2021). I will also touch on our recent work to extend such cross-correlation analyses beyond two-point correlations using the first detection of the galaxy-galaxy-CMB lensing bispectrum.
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Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

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Speaker: Christina Wang (Cal Tech) - Title: Search for New Physics with CMS and Quantum Sensors
2023-12-12 13:00 - 14:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: December 12, 2023
Time: 1:00- 2:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Christina Wang (Cal Tech)
Title: Search for New Physics with CMS and Quantum Sensors

Abstract:
I will present two new highly complementary approaches to search for physics beyond the Standard Model. The searches are enabled by a first-of-its kind reconstruction technique to search for long-lived particles (LLPs) using the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) and by new advances in quantum sensing technology to search for axions.
I will first discuss a search for physics beyond the Standard Model by searching for LLPs using a novel technique to reconstruct decays of LLPs in the CMS muon detectors. The innovative LLP reconstruction technique has been shown to be sensitive to a broad range of LLP decay modes and to LLP masses below GeV. The search yields competitive sensitivity for proper lifetime from 0.1m to 1000m with the full Run2 dataset recorded at the LHC.
In the second part of the talk, I will discuss searching for axions with a low noise quantum sensor, SNSPDs (superconducting nanowire single photon detectors). The BREAD (Broadband Reflector Experiment for Axion Detection) experiment searches for axions or dark photons using a parabolic mirror to focus axion-converted photons to the SNSPDs. The SNSPDs allow us to be sensitive to 0.04 – 1 eV axions and dark photons, due to their sensitivity to 0.04 – 1 eV photons. In this talk, I will present the progress towards a first stage dark photon pilot experiment with a focus on SNSPD characterization.

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Meeting ID: 956 7989 2182
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Speaker: Deion Fellers (University of Oregon) - Title: FASER’s Search for Dark Photons and Neutrinos
2023-12-14 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: December 14, 2023
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Deion Fellers (University of Oregon)
Title: FASER’s Search for Dark Photons and Neutrinos

Abstract: FASER is an experiment at the LHC that is designed to search for light, weakly-interacting particles produced in the far-forward direction from proton-proton collisions at the ATLAS interaction point (IP1). The detector is positioned 480 m downstream of IP1 and aligned with the beam collision axis, where particles must traverse LHC magnets and approximately 100 m of rock and concrete before reaching FASER. The novel location of the experiment provides both a low background environment and a high-intensity flux of long-lived particles. This talk will provide an overview of the FASER detector and present our first physics results, where we used a dataset collected at center-of-mass energy √s =13.6 TeV in 2022, during LHC Run 3, to directly observe neutrino interactions at a particle collider experiment for the first time and also to probe previously unconstrained phase space of the dark photon with couplings ϵ∼10−5−10−4 and masses ∼10 MeV – 100 MeV.
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Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

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Speaker: Emily Perry (UCL) - Title: Towards the discovery of galactic dark matter: the LZ experiment and beyond
2023-12-19 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: December 19, 2023
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Emily Perry (UCL)
Title: Towards the discovery of galactic dark matter: the LZ experiment and beyond

Abstract:
The discovery of the nature of dark matter is internationally recognised as one of the highest priorities in science. Its discovery would bring forward a new era in physics and astronomy, simultaneously solving the near 100 year old missing mass problem and delivering the first evidence of physics Beyond the Standard Model (BSM). Dual phase xenon (Xe) time projection chambers (TPCs) have been dominating the search for dark matter for the past 10 years. Now not only targeting WIMPs of mass > 3 GeV/c2, but due to their scalability and advanced technologies, boast world leading sensitivity to other BSM-physics and rare or exotic neutrino physics.
The LUX ZEPLIN (LZ) dark experiment operates at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in South Dakota and is the most sensitive and largest of all Xe TPCs ever constructed. In its first science run of only 60-livedays the experiment has set the world-leading constraints on the existence of WIMPs down to a mass of 9 GeV/c2. This seminar will highlight some of the key work that has led to this result with focus on some of my specific contributions. Giving an exciting glimpse of what the future holds for LZ, I will present the innovative work that is being done on the ramp up to the next science results. I will also discuss both the short and long term future of LZ and the path to an historic dark matter discovery.

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Meeting ID: 956 7989 2182
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