INPA

NO INPA SEMINAR
2025-03-21 12:00 - 13:00, 2025-03-14 12:00 - 13:00, 2025-03-07 12:00 - 13:00, 2025-02-07 12:00 - 13:00, 2025-01-24 12:00 - 13:00, 2024-12-13 12:00 - 13:00, 2024-11-29 12:00 - 13:00, 2024-11-08 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Los_Angeles) and 6 more dates

INPA Seminar Speaker: Krystal Alfonso (Virginia Tech)-Title: With or without ν? Probing double beta decay with CUORE
2025-02-28 12:00 - 13:00
Date: February 28, 2025
Time: 12:00 am – 1:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: Krystal Alfonso (Virginia Tech)
Title: With or without ν? Probing double beta decay with CUORE
Abstract: The massive neutrino is our rabbit in a waistcoat. Prompted by the discovery of neutrino oscillations, our community has taken a keen interest in answering how neutrinos with mass affect our understanding of the Universe. One approach to probing the elusive neutrino is to search for neutrinoless double beta decay—a lepton number violating process that would confirm the Majorana nature of the neutrino and possibly constrain the absolute neutrino-mass scale. In this presentation, I will focus on the search for neutrinoless double beta decay of 130Te with CUORE, a tonne-scale cryogenic calorimeter operated at milli-kelvin temperatures. Recently, the experiment has demonstrated over 5 years stable operation. I will describe this achievement in the context of the CUORE analysis framework and the latest results using over 2 tonne.yr TeO2 exposure.
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INPA Seminar Speaker: Larisa Throne (JGU Mainz)-Title: The Role of Atomic Tritium in Future Neutrino Mass Experiments
2025-02-21 12:00 - 13:00
Date: February 21, 2025
Time: 12:00 am – 1:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: Larisa Throne (JGU Mainz)
Title: The Role of Atomic Tritium in Future Neutrino Mass Experiments
Abstract: Nearly 70 years since the neutrino was discovered and 25 years since the discovery of neutrino oscillations established its non-zero mass, the absolute neutrino-mass scale remains unknown. Tritium beta decay endpoint measurements currently offer the best upper limit on the neutrino mass. A next-generation experiment with greater sensitivity must overcome one of the major systematics for this kind of measurement: the molecular nature of the beta decay source. Current and past tritium beta decay experiments use a molecular tritium source in which one of the tritium atoms undergoes decay. A fraction of the decay energy excites the molecule into rotational, vibrational, or electronic excited states; this causes broadening in the molecule’s final state distribution (FSD), and has a smearing effect on the beta decay spectrum. In order to achieve a reduced systematic uncertainty due to this FSD smearing, next-generation experiments must switch to an atomic tritium source.
I will present an overview of the necessary steps to develop an atomic tritium source through the lens of the Project 8 experiment. This multi-institution development program includes dissociation of molecular tritium, cooling the resulting tritium atoms via a two-step process down to 10mK, and trapping them magnetically. In addition to this overview, I will focus on the multitude of tritium-compatible diagnostic tools being developed at JGU Mainz to measure atom flux, atom beam shape, and temperature.
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INPA Seminar Speaker: Alex Reeves(ETH Zurich)-Title: TBA
2025-02-14 12:00 - 13:00
Date: February 14, 2025
Time: 12:00 am – 1:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: Alex Reeves (ETH Zurich)
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA
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INPA Seminar Speaker: Alex Droster (UC Berkeley)-Title: Searching high and low for dark matter axions
2025-01-31 12:00 - 13:00
Date: January 31, 2025
Time: 12:00 am – 1:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: Alex Droster (UC Berkeley)
Title: Searching high and low for dark matter axions
Abstract: After almost 50 years, the axion remains the only mainstream solution to the non-observation of CP violation in the strong force. It is also a very attractive solution to the dark matter problem of the universe due to its long lifetime, weak Standard Model couplings, and production mechanisms in the early universe that generate cosmologically relevant density. However, nearly half a century after its proposal, the axion remains undiscovered. In this talk I will review experimental efforts across nine orders of magnitude in axion mass aimed at directly detecting this elusive particle, focusing on the HAYSTAC and ALPHA experiments looking for high mass post-inflationary axions, and DMRadio on the opposite end of the scale searching for very low mass GUT-scale axions. I will also describe the quantum enhancement techniques which have already enabled us to operate below the Standard Quantum Limit, and strategies for extending these ultrasensitive searches to both higher and lower frequencies.
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[Virtual] INPA Seminar Speaker: Erin Engelhardt ( University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)- Title: Searching for Neutrinoless Double-Beta Decay with LEGEND-200
2025-01-17 12:00 - 13:00
Date: January 17, 2025
Time: 12:00 am – 1:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: Erin Engelhardt ( University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)
Title: Searching for Neutrinoless Double-Beta Decay with LEGEND-200
Abstract: Neutrinoless double-beta decay (0νββ) is a theorized process where two neutrons decay into two protons and two electrons without emitting any antineutrinos. The existence of 0νββ would indicate the neutrino has a Majorana nature and thus acts as its own antiparticle. This process would violate lepton number conservation and provide a mechanism for explaining the observed matter/antimatter asymmetry. The Large Enriched Germanium Experiment for Neutrinoless ββ decay (LEGEND) is a phased 0νββ search in 76Ge using isotopically enriched high-purity germanium (HPGe) point contact detectors. The first phase, LEGEND-200, began operating in March 2023 with 142 kg of HPGe detectors and announced an updated half-life limit of 1.9 x 1026 yrs at the Neutrino 2024 conference. To achieve its sensitivity goals, LEGEND-200 requires incredibly low background rates. Alpha and beta particles on the detector surfaces constitute a significant source of backgrounds in LEGEND. To mitigate these backgrounds, a new pulse-shape discrimination technique for identifying surface events has been developed and implemented into the first LEGEND-200 analysis. In this seminar, I will present an overview of the LEGEND-200 analysis and its first result. I will also discuss the performance and evaluation of the surface background rejection techniques used in LEGEND.
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INPA SEMINAR Speaker: John (Jack) Smedley (U of Rochester)-Title: Measuring Neutrino Cross Sections on Argon with the ICARUS Detector
2025-01-10 12:00 - 13:00
Date: January 10, 2025
Time: 12:00 am – 1:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: John (Jack) Smedley (University of Rochester)
Title: Measuring Neutrino Cross Sections on Argon with the ICARUS Detector
Abstract: ICARUS is a large liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) operating at Fermilab as the far detector for the Short-Baseline Neutrino Program. ICARUS is also able to measure neutrino-argon interactions in the same energy range as the future long-baseline neutrino experiment DUNE via its off-axis position to the NuMI neutrino beam. Here we present progress toward the first cross-section measurements from ICARUS, targeting events with one or more nucleons and zero mesons in the final state.
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INPA SEMINAR Speaker: Majd Ghrear (UHM)- Title: Directional Recoil Detection
2024-12-20 12:00 - 13:00
Date: December 20, 2024
Time: 12:00 am – 1:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: Majd Ghrear (UHM)
Title: Directional Recoil Detection
Abstract: Directional detection of low-energy nuclear and electronic recoils is broadly desirable in nuclear and particle physics. Applications include coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEνNS), astrophysical neutrino measurements, probing dark matter (DM) beneath the neutrino fog, and possibly confirming the galactic origin of a DM signal. While gaseous Time Projection Chambers (TPCs) offer the required gain and readout granularity, they must be very large to achieve the required sensitivity for several of these physics applications. We discuss several aspects of future directional recoil detection experiments such as background rejection, detector scalability, directional performance on electron recoils, and improving directional performance with deep neural networks.
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INPA Seminar- Speaker: Alina Sabyr (Columbia University)
2024-12-06 12:00 - 13:00
INPA Seminar Talk
Date: December 6, 2024
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: Alina Sabyr (Columbia University)
Title: Future Cosmology with CMB Spectral Distortions and Secondaries
Abstract: Spectral distortions–small deviations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) energy spectrum from that of a perfect blackbody–probe the physical processes that occur in the primordial Universe (mu-distortion) and at late times (y-distortion). In this talk, I will present a new instrument concept, SPECTER, that we forecast to observe the mu-distortion at high significance while marginalizing over astrophysical foregrounds. Within the standard cosmological model, the mu-distortion is sourced primarily by the energy injected via Silk damping and is thus sensitive to the primordial power spectrum at very small scales. Next, I will present a new constraint on the y-distortion from the re-analysis of the COBE/FIRAS archival data. The known source of the y-distortion is the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich (tSZ) effect – inverse-Compton scattering of CMB photons off of energetic electrons primarily located in galaxy groups and clusters. Therefore, y-distortion can give tight constraints on the mean ionized gas properties. Finally, upcoming CMB anisotropy experiments will provide high-resolution and low-noise component-separated tSZ maps. I will discuss the cosmological constraining power of several tSZ higher-order statistics. Using a large suite of halo-model-based simulations, we show that there is substantial non-Gaussian information in the tSZ maps that can be extracted in future analyses.

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Special INPA Speaker: Sindhu Satyavolu (IFAE) Institut de Fisica d'Altes Energies
2024-12-04 11:00 - 12:00
Date: December 4, 2024
Time: 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: Sindhu Satyavolu (IFAE) Institut de Fisica d’Altes Energies
Title: Quasar proximity zones in a partially ionized IGM
Abstract: Proximity zones of quasars with redshifts z > 5.5 are unique probes of the growth of supermassive black holes, and a nuisance in the direct measurements of the mean free path of the photons that reionize the universe. Interestingly, such proximity zones have been at the centre of two observational puzzles in recent times: 1) about 10% of the measured proximity zone sizes in the quasar Lyman-alpha spectra seem to be too short to explain their black hole masses, and 2) when corrected for the proximity zones, the mean free path of ionizing photons at z ~ 6 appears to be much shorter than theoretical predictions. In this talk, I will present a model of quasar proximity zones that takes into account the patchiness of the ionization and thermal state of the IGM during reionization. I will show that the patchiness of reionization can relieve the tension between the proximity zone sizes and black hole masses to some degree, but not fully. Further, I will show how quasar proximity zones in an inhomogeneously ionized IGM affects mean free path measurements from rest-frame 912 A spectra at z ~ 6. By forward modelling the proximity zones, I will examine the consistency between the direct and indirect redshift-6 mean free path measurements. Finally, I will show that the observed distribution of proximity zone sizes can be explained by a model in which quasars are variable on timescales of ~10^6 yr and have short duty cycles. This conclusion, when combined with the measurements of black hole masses of these quasars, directly leads to a prediction of significant obscuration in high-redshift quasars. I will argue that measurements of this obscuration fraction using JWST can then place constraints on the seed mass and formation redshifts of black holes.
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INPA SEMINAR - Speaker: Florian Henkes (Technical University of Munich)
2024-11-22 12:00 - 13:00
INPA SEMINAR TALK
Date: November 22, 2024
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: Florian Henkes (Technical University of Munich)
Title: First results of LEGEND-200 physics data in the quest for 0νββ decay
Abstract: The Large Enriched Germanium Experiment for Neutrinoless ββ Decay (LEGEND) experimental program is dedicated to the search for the neutrinoless double-beta (0νββ) decay of Ge-76 with isotopically enriched high-purity germanium (HPGe) detectors and a discovery sensitivity beyond a half-life of 10^28 years. The project’s first phase, LEGEND-200, has stably accumulated physics data at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) for over a year with 140 kg of HPGe detectors and plans to install more in the coming months. The collaboration has scrutinized this first data to assess the experiment’s sensitivity and study the composition of the LEGEND-200 residual background. This talk will present the experiment’s performance regarding background rejection and signal acceptance, a first model of the background composition before analysis cuts, and the data in the region of interest, including an updated 0νββ constraint based on the latest LEGEND data and past experiments. In addition, it will highlight the analysis procedure based on the JuLeAna software framework and focus on incorporated algorithms and techniques. The talk will conclude with an update on the experiment’s future phase, LEGEND-1000.
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INPA Seminar Speaker: Marie Camille Vidal (Stanford University)- Title: Neutrinoless double decay with the nEXO experiment
2024-11-15 12:00 - 13:00
INPA SEMINAR TALK
Date: November 15, 2024
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: Marie Camille Vidal (Stanford University)
Title: Neutrinoless double decay with the nEXO experiment
Abstract: The nEXO experiment will search for neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ) using a 5-tonne scale LXe time projection chamber (TPC), enriched to 90% in Xe136, reaching a half-life sensitivity greater than 10^28 years after 10 years of lifetime. The observation 0νββ decay would imply new physics due to the lepton number non-conservation, and the Majorana nature of the neutrino. The nEXO TPC measures the energy through ionization and scintillation light, which allows to reach energy resolution smaller than 1% at the Qββ endpoint value. The design was improved so that the background would be reduced; electroformed copper, and the search for low activity materials are few of the areas of improvement. In this talk we will provide an overview of the nEXO experiment and the various design choices that lead to our current
sensitivity.

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INPA Seminar Speaker: Greg Green ( MPIA)- Title: Milky Way Dust and Dynamics
2024-10-25 12:00 - 13:00
INPA SEMINAR TALK
Date: October 25, 2024
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: Greg Green ( MPIA)
Title: Milky Way Dust and Dynamics
Abstract: The gravitational potential of the Milky Way is generated by all of the matter both baryonic and dark. By mapping the potential, we can thus uncover the distribution of the unseen dark component of the Milky Way. Gaia has precisely measured 6D phase-space coordinates of over 30 million stars, dramatically expanding our knowledge of stellar kinematics in the Milky Way. Previous methods of recovering the gravitational potential from stellar kinematics have made use of highly simplified models, but the quality of the new phase-space data provided by Gaia demands new approaches that can more fully describe the richness of the data. I will discuss a new method, “Deep Potential,” which applies computational tools from Deep Learning in a physically principled way to solve the collisionless Boltzmann equation and recover the underlying gravitational potential.
Any work on the Milky Way inevitably runs into the problem of dust
extinction, and the recovery of the gravitational potential is no
exception. Despite the vital importance of interstellar dust to many
areas of astronomy, its composition remains highly uncertain. However,
low-resolution spectroscopy from Gaia is enabling a transformation of
our understanding of dust properties. The dust extinction curve,
typically characterized by R(V), depends on both the composition and
size distribution of dust grains. I will discuss the first all-sky 3D
map of dust R(V), based on 130 million stellar measurements. This map
not only allows more accurate extinction corrections, but also sheds
light on the chemical evolution of the interstellar medium.
Both of these areas of Milky Way research borrow tools from Deep
Learning – applied in physically motivated ways – and make extensive use
of Gaia data. I will discuss some lessons on the use of such tools, in
and beyond Milky Way research.

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INPA SEMINAR SPEAKER: Max Smiley (UC Berkeley)-Title: Shining Lights: 8B Solar Neutrino Flux Measurement with SNO+ and R&D for Next-Generation Optical Neutrino Experiments
2024-10-04 12:00 - 13:00
INPA SEMINAR TALK
Date: October 4, 2024
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: Max Smiley (UC Berkeley)
Title: Shining Lights: 8B Solar Neutrino Flux Measurement with SNO+ and R&D for Next-Generation Optical Neutrino Experiments
Abstract: Neutrino detection has been a crucial contributor to our understanding of physics for over half a century, with optical photon-based technology playing a prominent role. Large-scale, liquid-phase, unsegmented photon-based detectors continue to shed light on a broad array of physics, probing sources from the Sun to nuclear reactors, and from man-made neutrino beams to atmospheric interactions. In this talk, I discuss work with one such detector, SNO+, and in particular efforts to measure the ${}^8$B solar neutrino flux during its scintillator phase. The resulting measurement of $[5.74_{-0.77}^{+0.84}text{(stat.)}] times 10^{6}~text{cm}^{-2}~text{s}^{-1}$ gives confidence in the understanding of SNO+’s operations in this period and adds to the family of measurements made of this flux around the community. Additionally, for the past several years, much effort has been directed toward the development of a new paradigm known as “hybrid” detection, which aims to benefit from the two optical light emission mechanisms, Cherenkov radiation and scintillation, currently drawn on separately in today’s experiments. In the second part of this talk, I discuss explorations into the physics potential for neutrinoless double beta decay and CNO solar neutrino flux measurement at large-scales of this technology, as well as an examination of particle identification capability of the novel scintillating medium water-based liquid scintillator, a candidate hybrid detector material. These explorations provide a confirmation of the possibilities for hybrid detection and help pave the way for concrete realizations of these technologies at larger scales.

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NO INPA SPEAKER
2024-08-30 12:00 - 13:00

Speaker: Sindhu Kumaran (UC Irvine)- Title: The JUNO Experiment: Status and Prospects
2024-08-23 12:00 - 13:00
INPA SEMINAR TALK
Date: August 23rd
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: Sindhu Kumaran (UC Irvine)
Title: The JUNO Experiment: Status and Prospects
Abstract: The Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) is a 20 kton liquid scintillator detector currently under construction 700 m underground in southern China. It will simultaneously probe solar and atmospheric oscillations using reactor antineutrinos, featuring an energy resolution of ~3% at 1 MeV. By studying the disappearance of electron antineutrinos emitted from 8 nuclear reactors at a baseline of about 52.5 km, JUNO will determine the neutrino mass ordering to 3σ significance within about 6 years of data taking and will measure 3-neutrino oscillation parameters to sub-percent precision. In addition, JUNO has a broad physics program with solar neutrinos, geoneutrinos, supernova neutrinos, atmospheric neutrinos, diffuse supernova neutrino background, and searches for physics beyond the Standard Model. The experiment will also deploy a satellite detector called JUNO-TAO that will measure the energy spectrum of reactor antineutrinos with unprecedented energy resolution. This talk will discuss the design, current status, and physics prospects of the JUNO experiment.
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Speaker: César Jesus-Valls (IPMU Tokyo)-Title:Neutrino physics in Japan in the era of precision measurements
2024-08-16 12:00 - 13:00
INPA SEMINAR TALK
Date: August 16th
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: Speaker: César Jesus-Valls (IPMU Tokyo)
Title: Neutrino physics in Japan in the era of precision measurements
Abstract: Abstract: Japan has a uniquely rich neutrino research history, with the saga of Kamiokande detectors at its core. These experiments have shaped our current understanding of neutrino physics, particularly concerning the phenomenon of neutrino oscillations and igniting the blooming field of neutrino astrophysics. After refreshing the current knowledge and unknowns in neutrino physics, in the talk, I will review the Super-Kamiokande and T2K experiments, their working principles, physics programs, and recent results. In 2027, the next-generation experiment Hyper-Kamiokande, currently under construction, will commence, marking the start of a new era of neutrino physics searches focused on precision measurements. In the talk, I will review the physics prospects of Hyper-Kamiokande and provide an overview of the new era of neutrino physics that is upon us.
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