August 29 -
Title: "TBA"
Abstract:
Presentation: OCNPS 200 @ 3:00 pm
Refreshments: OCNPS Atrium @ 2:30 pm
All interested persons are cordially invited to attend.
September 5 -
Title: "TBA"
Abstract:
Presentation: OCNPS 200 @ 3:00 pm
Refreshments: OCNPS Atrium @ 2:30 pm
All interested persons are cordially invited to attend.
September 12 - Stefan Meinel, University of Arizona
Title: "Hints for physics beyond the Standard Model in decays of beauty quarks"
Abstract: Particle physics seeks to understand the laws governing the universe at the most fundamental level. There are indications that our current best formulation of these laws, the Standard Model, is still incomplete. A promising way of searching for physics beyond the Standard Model with particle collider experiments is the precision study of processes in which quarks change from one flavor to another. Such processes may receive observable quantum corrections from new elementary particles that so far have escaped direct detection. Recent measurements of decays of B mesons, in which a heavy beauty quark changes to a lighter flavor of quark, have revealed tantalizing deviations from Standard-Model predictions, but the interpretation is still unclear. Complementary information on the same underlying quark transitions can be obtained by studying decays of Lambda_b baryons instead of B mesons. To interpret the experimental data, the contributions of the strong interaction need to be calculated numerically using lattice quantum chromodynamics on supercomputers.
Presentation: OCNPS 200 @ 3:00 pm
Refreshments: OCNPS Atrium @ 2:30 pm
All interested persons are cordially invited to attend.
September 19 - Johann Rafelski, The University of Arizona
Title: "Strangeness from Quark-Gluon Plasma"
Abstract: Quark-Gluon Plasma filled the early Universe in first 20 microseconds. It has been recreated in experiments carried out colliding atomic nuclei. The energy threshold for the formation of quark-deconfined state is near 3.5 GeV per nucleon-CM. This is allowing exploration of QGP properties. The experimental challenge is fireball explosion requiring recognition of characteristic signatures operating at sub-nuclear time scale. An in-depth discussion of the strangeness observable, including a survey of the past and ongoing experimental effort at CERN-SPS, BNL-RHIC, and CERN-LHC will show how we know QGP was formed and how a measurement of physical properties of QGP is achieved.
For a recent review see https://arxiv.org/abs/1708.08115 : "From Strangeness Enhancement to Quark-Gluon Plasma Discovery »
by Peter Koch, Berndt Müller, Johann Rafelski.
Presentation: OCNPS 200 @ 3:00 pm
Refreshments: OCNPS Atrium @ 2:30 pm
All interested persons are cordially invited to attend.
September 26 - Duncan Tate, Colby College
Title: "What is the temperature of an ultra-cold Rydberg plasma?"
Abstract:In this talk, I'll report on a systematic experimental and numerical study of the electron temperature in ultra-cold plasmas which evolve from samples of cold Rydberg atoms. Specifically, we have measured the asymptotic expansion velocities of ultra-cold plasmas (UNPs) which evolve from cold, dense, samples of Rydberg rubidium atoms using ion time-of-flight spectroscopy. From this, we have obtained values for the initial plasma electron temperature, as a function of the original Rydberg atom density and binding energy. We have also simulated numerically the interaction of UNPs with a large reservoir of Rydberg atoms to obtain data to compare with our experimental results. We find that, for n > 40, the electron temperature in the Rydberg plasma is insensitive of the initial ionization mechanism which seeds the plasma. Instead, it is determined principally by the plasma environment when the UNP decouples from the Rydberg atoms at the end of the avalanche regime, and this occurs when the plasma electrons are too cold to ionize the remaining Rydberg population. On the other hand, plasmas from Rydberg samples with n
Presentation: OCNPS 200 @ 3:00 pm
Refreshments: OCNPS Atrium @ 2:30 pm
All interested persons are cordially invited to attend.
October 3 - Ryan Bodenstein, University of Oxford
Title: "A Nanosecond-Timescale Feedback System for Linear colliders"
Abstract:The Feedback on Nanosecond Timescales (FONT) group, based at the University of Oxford and part of the John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science (JAI), has developed a feedback system to be used near the interaction point (IP) of two proposed linear colliders: the International Linear Collider (ILC), which is to be based in Northern Japan, and the Compact Linear Collider (CLIC), which is to be based at CERN. This talk will begin with a general discussion of both of these machines, and will then proceed to describe the feedback system. Everything discussed will be aimed at a general physics audience.
Presentation: OCNPS 200 @ 3:00 pm
Refreshments: OCNPS Atrium @ 2:30 pm
All interested persons are cordially invited to attend.
October 10 -
Title: "TBA"
Abstract:
Presentation: OCNPS 200 @ 3:00 pm
Refreshments: OCNPS Atrium @ 2:30 pm
All interested persons are cordially invited to attend.
October 17 - Stuart Henderson, Jefferson Lab
Title: "Frontiers of Accelerator R&D: Charting a Path to the Next Generation of Particle Accelerators"
Abstract: : Particle accelerators have had a remarkable impact on discovery science, medicine, industry and security. The next-generation of particle accelerators will be powered by the developments underway today to increase the energy reach, intensity and phase space density of particle beams. This presentation will review some of the promising directions in accelerator science and technology that hold the potential to revolutionize discovery science, health, energy and security.
Presentation: OCNPS 200 @ 3:00 pm
Refreshments: OCNPS Atrium @ 2:30 pm
All interested persons are cordially invited to attend.
October 24 - Karen Byrum, Argonne National Lab
Title: "VERITAS and Recent Results from Cosmic Gamma-Rays"
Abstract: In the last two decades, the number of observed GeV to TeV cosmic gamma-ray acceleration sites has increased from a handful of sources to greater than 199 observed in 2017. This has been a result of the current generation of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (VERITAS, HESS, and MAGIC) and the science from these instruments has transformed the field. In this talk, I will present recent results in cosmic gamma-rays with an emphasis on VERITAS and future plans in cosmic gamma-rays.
Presentation: OCNPS 200 @ 3:00 pm
Refreshments: OCNPS Atrium @ 2:30 pm
All interested persons are cordially invited to attend.
October 31 -
Title: "TBA"
Abstract:
Presentation: OCNPS 200 @ 3:00 pm
Refreshments: OCNPS Atrium @ 2:30 pm
All interested persons are cordially invited to attend.
November 7 - Andrew Dorsett, Wolfram Research
Title: "TBA"
Abstract:
Presentation: OCNPS 200 @ 3:00 pm
Refreshments: OCNPS Atrium @ 2:30 pm
All interested persons are cordially invited to attend.
November 14 - Amy Nicholson, University of North Carolina
Title: "Exploring beyond the Standard Model with Lattice QCD"
Abstract: While the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics has been enormously successful in describing the world around us, there still remain many important and unanswered questions requiring Beyond the SM (BSM) physics. One way to experimentally test the fundamental symmetries of the SM in searches for potential violations is to utilize properties of atomic nuclei which enhance these rare events. Connecting experimental signals from nuclear environments to a particular BSM model requires the numerical solution of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), a cornerstone of the SM which governs nuclear interactions. In this talk I will discuss the use of Lattice QCD as a tool for numerically calculating matrix elements relevant for experimental BSM searches. I will use neutrinoless double beta decay, which, if observed, could offer an explanation for the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the universe, as a key example.
Presentation: OCNPS 200 @ 3:00 pm
Refreshments: OCNPS Atrium @ 2:30 pm
All interested persons are cordially invited to attend.
November 21 -
Title: "TBA"
Abstract:
Presentation: OCNPS 200 @ 3:00 pm
Refreshments: OCNPS Atrium @ 2:30 pm
All interested persons are cordially invited to attend.
November 28 -
Title: "TBA"
Abstract:
Presentation: OCNPS 200 @ 3:00 pm
Refreshments: OCNPS Atrium @ 2:30 pm
All interested persons are cordially invited to attend.
December 5 - Senior Thesis Presentations
Title: "TBA"
Abstract:
Presentation: OCNPS 200 @ 3:00 pm
Refreshments: OCNPS Atrium @ 2:30 pm
All interested persons are cordially invited to attend.