About UsPeopleProspective StudentsResearchNews and EventsJob Openings
The last decade has seen a revolution in our understanding of the most mysterious of the Standard Model particles, the neutrino, and this last year has been no exception. In the last year, we have seen exciting results from both double beta decay experiments and experiments measuring the last mixing angle θ13. For the most part, the detectors responsible for these measurements use Cerenkov and scintillation light to detect neutrino interactions. The wavelength of this light is matched to the peak efficiency of photo-multiplier tubes. This technique has been finely tuned over the last decades, but no great leaps forward in efficiency have been achieved. Nanotechnology may hold the key to improving both scintillators and photo-detectors. In this talk, I will focus on one particular technology, semiconducting nanocrystals known as quantum dots, and their unique optical properties. I will discuss how their use could enhance the capabilities of new photo-detection technology, and address the needs of the next-generation neutrino experiments.
Time: 12:00 pm
Place: LNS Kolker Room, 26-414
The ATLAS and CMS experiments have discovered a new particle similar to the Higgs Boson of the Standard Model. However, the other major results from the LHC have been exclusions of parameter regions for theories of physics beyond the Standard Model. In this lecture, I will review the motivations for new physics associated with electroweak symmetry breaking, discuss the implications of the LHC results for models of new physics such as supersymmetry, and project the possible avenues for discovery that remain.
Time: 12:00 pm
Place: LNS Kolker Room, 26-414
Many beyond the Standard Model (BSM) scenarios involve Higgs couplings to additional neutral or electroweak-charged fields. It is well established that in some scenarios these new fields may modify Higgs gamma-gamma and Higgs gamma-Z decays at one-loop. However, one unexplored aspect of such scenarios is that by electroweak symmetry one should also expect modifications to the Higgs Z-Z coupling at one-loop and, more generally, modifications to Higgs production and decay channels beyond tree-level. In this talk I will discuss the full BSM modified electroweak corrections to associated Higgs production at both the LHC and a future lepton collider in some simple SM extensions, and discuss prospects for their determination at the LHC and future lepton colliders.
Time: 12:00 pm
Place: LNS Kolker Room, 26-414
I will describe a model-independent approach to parameterizing possible dark-matter (DM) interactions with nucleons. The idea is to require only terms consistent with Galilean invariance and the rules of quantum mechanics. This general framework leads to novel ways with which nuclei can interact with the DM. Besides the standard spin-dependent and spin-independent interactions, there are three more types of interaction, sensitive to nuclear properties of targets which were not considered previously. Moreover, interference effects between operators lead to a rich parameter space. I will report on the latest bounds on this parameter space, focusing on the complementarity of different experiments in placing bounds.
Time: 12:00 pm
Place: LNS Kolker Room, 26-414
Abstract: Neutrino oscillation physics has entered a precision era with the determination of all three mixing angles in standard 3x3 mixing. The T2K (Tokai-to-Kamioka) Experiment is a long-baseline neutrino experiment using an off-axis, narrow-band beam suited for such precision. The experiment has two detectors: a multipurpose near-detector suite to characterize the beam, and the Super-Kamiokande detector, 295km away, used to investigate oscillations. This configuration opens the door to studying several oscillation parameters as well as determining neutrino cross sections. I will discuss recent T2K results on both of these fronts.
Time: 12:00 pm
Place: LNS Kolker Room, 26-414
Time: 12:00 pm
Place: LNS Kolker Room, 26-414
Early 2013 Spring Semester Talks
February 12, 2013William Barletta and Markus Klute, MIT
Informal Seminar and Open Discussion: Circular Machines on the Energy Frontier
The Director of the Office of Science has asked each of his scientific advisory panels to evaluate possibilities for future facilities. A few of us have been asked to provide input to the High Energy Physics Advisory Panel regarding circular e+e- machines and very large proton colliders. We will show some background material, and open the floor for discussion of the questions being asked by the DOE. Time: 12:30 pm February 19, 2013
|