NO INPA SEMINAR
2025-09-12 12:00 - 13:00, 2025-12-12 12:00 - 13:00, 2025-12-19 12:00 - 13:00, 2025-12-26 12:00 - 13:00, 2026-01-02 12:00 - 13:00, 2026-01-09 12:00 - 13:00, 2026-01-23 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Los_Angeles)

INPA Seminar Speaker: Yu-Han Tseng(Yale University) -Title: Search for dark matter scattering from optically levitated nanoparticles
2025-09-19 12:00 - 13:00
Date: September 19, 2025
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: Yu-Han Tseng (Yale University)
Title: Search for dark matter scattering from optically levitated nanoparticles
Abstract: The development of levitated optomechanics has opened up unique opportunities to search for new physics whose weak interactions may have evaded existing sensors. I will describe an initial search for dark matter scattering based on optically levitated, femtogram-scale nanoparticles. In ultra-high vacuum, the force sensitivity of these levitated sensors is primarily limited by quantum measurement noise. For dark matter models that would primarily scatter from an entire nanoparticle (rather than a single nucleus or electron), this initial search can exceed the sensitivity of even large underground detectors. I will also describe how the inherent directional sensitivity of these sensors can be used to separate possible dark matter signals from backgrounds. Finally, I will discuss how the techniques developed here can be extended to light dark matter searches and precision measurements of neutrinos.
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Meeting ID: 950 1669 6011
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INPA Seminar Speaker: Felix Hagemann (UC Berkeley (SSL) )-Title: Pulse Shape Simulation and Detector Characterization Studies for the LEGEND Experiment
2025-09-26 12:00 - 13:00
Date: September 26, 2025
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: Felix Hagemann (UC Berkeley (SSL)
Title: Pulse Shape Simulation and Detector Characterization Studies for the LEGEND Experiment
Abstract: The search for neutrinoless double beta decay with high-purity germanium detectors is one of the most sensitive approaches to probe lepton-number violation and the Majorana nature of neutrinos. The LEGEND experiment aims to push sensitivity beyond previous efforts by relying on excellent energy resolution and powerful background rejection techniques, including pulse shape discrimination.
In my presentation, I will introduce the LEGEND experimental program, present pulse shape simulation efforts using the open-source Julia software package SolidStateDetectors.jl, and showcase a novel Compton Scanner setup used to characterize the bulk of large-volume germanium detectors. By matching simulation outputs to data from our first Compton Scanner campaign, we were able to determine the impurity density profile and charge carrier mobilities in our test detector, improving the accuracy of detector simulations and enabling the testing and tuning of pulse shape discrimination techniques used in the LEGEND experiment.
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Meeting ID: 950 1669 6011
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[CANCELED] NO INPA Seminar Speaker
2025-10-03 12:00 - 13:00
Date: October 3, 2025
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: CANCELED
Title: TBD
Abstract: TBD
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Meeting ID: 950 1669 6011
Passcode: [REDACTED]

[CANCELED] NO INPA Seminar ( WEEK OF CPAD 2025)
2025-10-10 12:00 - 13:00

INPA SEMINAR SPEAKER: TBA- Title: TBD
2025-10-17 12:00 - 13:00
Date: October 17, 2025
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: TBA
Title: TBD
Abstract: TBD
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Meeting ID: 950 1669 6011
Passcode: [REDACTED]

INPA Seminar Speaker: Maria Simanovskaia(SLAC) -Title: Listening for dark matter with DMRadio
2025-10-24 12:00 - 13:00
Date: October 24, 2025
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: Maria Siamovskaia
Title: Listening for dark matter with DMRadio
Abstract: Uncovering the nature of dark matter is one of the biggest challenges of modern physics. The DMRadio program searches for axions with masses below 1 μeV, probing a highly motivated region tied to GUT-scale physics and preinflationary dark matter production. The ultimate experiment for GUT-scale axions requires novel technologies, including large magnets, high-quality-factor resonators, and quantum sensors. A critical step in the path towards the ultimate GUT-scale axion experiment is the commissioning of DMRadio-50L, which will serve as an R&D platform for technologies that will enable a next-generation search. In this talk, I will present the progress of DMRadio-50L commissioning and R&D activities within the DMRadio collaboration.
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Meeting ID: 950 1669 6011
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[SPECIAL] INPA Seminar Speaker: Dr. Thomas Russell (UMass Amherst) and LBL Materials Sciences Division
2025-10-31 12:00 - 13:00
Date: October 31, 2025
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: ​B​50- ​Auditorium [Hybrid and In-Person]
Note: Tea and cookies provided!
Speaker: Dr. Thomas Russell​ (UMass Amherst) and the LBL Materials Sciences Division
Title: Structuring Liquids
Abstract: The minimization of free energy forces liquids to assume a spherical shape. If we could lock in different shapes, i.e., structure the liquids, unique materials having the dynamics and mobility of liquids but the structural integrity of a solid would emerge.

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Meeting ID: 973 1481 3383

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INPA Seminar Speaker: Jennifer Pore(LBL)-Title: How the Cyclotron Saved the Periodic Table
2025-11-07 12:00 - 13:00
Date: November 7, 2025
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: Jennifer Pore
Title: How the Cyclotron Saved the Periodic Table
Abstract: The Periodic Table is a cornerstone of chemistry, but its validity is challenged by the extreme properties of superheavy elements (SHEs, Z ≥ 104) and actinides (Z > 88). Relativistic effects, stemming from their large nuclear charges, significantly alter their chemical behaviors, potentially limiting the predictive power of the Periodic Table. Unfortunately, these elements do not exist naturally on earth and can only be produced in nuclear reactions. A new method has been developed, using a cutting-edge atom-at-a-time technique at the 88-Inch Cyclotron Facility at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, to help us learn more about the interesting chemistry of these elusive elements. Recent results on the production and identification actinium (Ac, Z = 89) and nobelium (No, Z = 102) molecules will be presented. Future directions for unraveling the mysteries of SHE chemistry will be discussed, which will challenge our current understanding of the Periodic Table.
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Meeting ID: 950 1669 6011
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INPA Seminar Speaker: Arran Phipps(CSU East Bay)-Title:SPLENDOR: Searching for Light Dark Matter with Narrow-Gap Semiconductors
2025-11-14 12:00 - 13:00
Date: November 14, 2025
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: Arran Phipps (CSU East Bay)
Title: SPLENDOR: Searching for Light Dark Matter with Narrow-Gap Semiconductors
Abstract: SPLENDOR is a cross-disciplinary collaboration developing novel semiconductor detectors to search for low-mass, particle-like dark matter. Our approach combines low-bandgap semiconductor targets with ultra-low-noise cryogenic charge amplifiers to probe energy depositions below 1 eV. We have developed a modular detector platform optimized for rapid integration of new materials, featuring a two-stage cryogenic HEMT-based amplifier with a demonstrated charge resolution of 19 ± 4 electrons. This talk will review the motivation for sub-GeV dark matter detection with low-temperature semiconductors, describe SPLENDOR’s experimental design and calibration efforts, and discuss future directions in device development and charge amplification.
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Meeting ID: 950 1669 6011
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NO INPA Seminar Talk
2025-11-20 12:00 - 13:00, 2025-11-28 12:00 - 13:00

[NEW LOCATION-INPA 50-5026] INPA Seminar Speaker: Heather Crawford(LBNL)Title: The Gamma-Ray Energy Tracking Array – GRETA
2025-12-05 12:00 - 13:00
Date: December 5, 2025
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
New Location: INPA Conference Room – 50-5026 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: Heather Crawford (LBNL)
Title: The Gamma-Ray Energy Tracking Array – GRETA
Abstract: The Gamma-Ray Energy Tracking Array (GRETA) Project started in 2017, following nearly a decade of successful science with the predecessor GRETINA array. Led by the Nuclear Science Division at LBNL, and with a team including scientists, engineers, and technical staff from NSD, Engineering, and ESnet, as well as from partner institutions ANL, ORNL, and FRIB, GRETA recently completed the CD-E-4A milestone. It is currently being installed at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB), with first science measurements expected at the end of 2026. I will review the GRETA project goals, both scientific and technical, and how it progressed from concept to fabrication to anticipated first science at FRIB.
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Meeting ID: 950 1669 6011
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INPA Seminar Speaker: Ralf Konietzka (Harvard) - Title: Fast Radio Burst Cosmology in IllustrisTNG: Forward Modeling Dispersion Measures to Constrain Baryonic Feedback
2026-01-16 12:00 - 13:00
Date: January 16, 2026
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: Ralf Konietzka (Harvard)
Title: Fast Radio Burst Cosmology in IllustrisTNG: Forward Modeling Dispersion Measures to Constrain Baryonic Feedback
Abstract: The dispersion measures (DMs) of Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) arise predominantly from free electrons in the large-scale structure of the Universe. The increasing number of FRB observations have started to empirically constrain the distribution of cosmic baryons, making it crucial to accurately forward model their propagation within cosmological simulations.
In this talk, I present a method for measuring FRB DMs in IllustrisTNG that continuously traces rays through the simulation while reconstructing all traversed line segments within the underlying Voronoi mesh. Leveraging this technique, we create over 20 publicly available DM catalogs, including a full-sky DM map observed from a Milky Way-like environment.
Our method addresses a problem in previous TNG-based studies, in which a sparse snapshot sampling in the path integral leads to a misestimation of the standard deviation and higher moments of the DM distribution p(DM|z) by over 50%.
Confronting our simulated FRB catalogs with recent observations from DSA-110, ASKAP, and CHIME, I quantify the distribution of baryons relative to the underlying matter, allowing us to place new constraints on the strength of baryonic feedback.
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Meeting ID: 950 1669 6011
Passcode: [REDACTED]

INPA Seminar Speaker: Seungeun Lee (LBL)- Title: Scintillation photon counting detector concept for advancing time-of-flight PET
2026-01-30 12:00 - 13:00
Date: January 30, 2026
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: Seungeun Lee (LBL)
Title: Scintillation photon counting detector concept for advancing time-of-flight PET
Abstract: Positron emission tomography (PET) is a powerful imaging modality for providing in vivo molecular function in nuclear medicine. The precise timing capability of positron annihilation photon interaction within the scintillation detectors has remarkably revolutionized the diagnostic performance of PET, motivating the radiation instrumentation researchers to pursue sub-100-ps time resolution at the system level. The biomedical imaging team at LBL ANP is currently developing a novel time-of-flight PET detector concept that extracts unique timestamps of the early scintillation photons for event timing and positioning. This approach integrates a large-volume scintillation crystal, silicon photomultipliers, and low-noise high-frequency readout electronics. Our recent progress in design optimization and prototype characterization will be presented.
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Meeting ID: 950 1669 6011
Passcode: [REDACTED]

INPA Seminar Speaker: TBD
2026-02-06 12:00 - 13:00
Date: February 6, 2026
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: TBD
Title: TBD
Abstract: TBD
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Meeting ID: 950 1669 6011

INPA Seminar Speaker: TBD
2026-02-13 12:00 - 13:00
Date: February 13, 2026
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: TBD
Title: TBD
Abstract: TBD
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Meeting ID: 950 1669 6011

INPA Seminar Speaker: Taylor Aralis (SLAC)- Title: SQUAT detectors
2026-02-20 12:00 - 13:00
Date: February 20, 2026
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: Taylor Aralis (SLAC)
Title: SQUAT detectors
Abstract: TBD
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Meeting ID: 950 1669 6011
Passcode: [REDACTED]

INPA Seminar Speaker: Chami Amarasinghe (UCSB)- Title: Hidden track structures in liquid xenon and their implications for dark matter searches
2026-02-27 12:00 - 13:00
Date: February 27, 2026
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: Chami Amarasinghe (UCSB)
Title: Hidden track structures in liquid xenon and their implications for dark matter searches
Abstract: Dual-phase liquid xenon detectors are entering a regime where new insights into signal formation are required to make robust discoveries of WIMPs and solar neutrino CEvNS. I will present two results from the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment showing that key signals and backgrounds are not described by standard models of light and charge production in liquid xenon. First, double-electron-capture backgrounds in WIMP searches produce unexpectedly strong electron-ion recombination, generating events that mimic nuclear recoils. Second, neutron calibrations reveal excess fluctuations in nuclear recoil signals, boosting the observable rates of low-mass dark matter and solar neutrino CEvNS. I will describe how the underlying physics of track structures impacts current dark matter searches and the predictions of future experiments.
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Meeting ID: 950 1669 6011
Passcode: [REDACTED]

INPA Seminar Speaker: Soud Al Kharusi (Stanford)- Title: Neutron scattering for fundamental physics
2026-03-06 12:00 - 13:00
Date: March 6, 2026
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: Soud Al Kharusi (Stanford)
Title: Neutron scattering for fundamental physics
Abstract: TBD
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Meeting ID: 950 1669 6011
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INPA Seminar Speaker: Shenyang Shi (Columbia University)- Title: Search for dark matter and solar neutrinos with XENONnT
2026-03-13 12:00 - 13:00
Date: March 13, 2026
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: Shenyang Shi (Columbia University)
Title: Search for dark matter and solar neutrinos with XENONnT
Abstract: The primary goal of the XENONnT experiment is the direct detection of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), with a projected sensitivity improvement of an order of magnitude over XENON1T. In this talk, I will present recent results from searches for light dark matter and solar neutrinos using the scintillation-ionization channel and the ionization-only channel with a lowered detection threshold in ~7 tonne*years of exposure. Together, these complementary analyses set world-leading constraints on dark matter–nucleon and dark matter–electron scattering cross sections. In the relevant mass range, the sensitivity approaches the so-called neutrino fog, where coherent neutrino scattering constitutes an irreducible background that can mimic light dark matter interactions.
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Meeting ID: 950 1669 6011
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NO INPA Seminar Speaker
2026-03-20 12:00 - 13:00

INPA Seminar Speaker: Marina Cortes (University of Lisbon)-Title: Towards multi-probe pipeline standardization
2026-03-27 12:00 - 13:00
Date: March 27, 2026
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: Marina Cortes (Univ of Lisbon)
Title: Towards multi-probe pipeline standardization
Abstract: Combining datasets from very different probes, such as Type Ia SNe, CMB, and BAO, is one of the most important tasks in modern observational cosmology. Obtaining robust constraints on model parameters such as H_0, Omega_matter, the equation of state, or the neutrino masses is technically challenging because of the fundamental differences among the probes. These include different systematics, pipeline architectures, parameter conventions, and modelling assumptions. I will describe the length and components of an integrated, end-to-end pipeline of cosmology products, and discuss possible solutions to integrate knowledge and address discrepancies between communities in any of the moving pieces of the full pipeline.

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Meeting ID: 950 1669 6011

Passcode: [REDACTED]
The INPA schedule can be found here.

Additional seminars and colloquia of interest are posted on the Physics Division calendar.

INPA Seminar Speaker: Aditi Pradeep (SLAC)- Title: superCDMS
2026-04-03 12:00 - 13:00
Date: April 3, 2026
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: Aditi Pradeep (SLAC)
Title: Searching in the dark: the low-mass frontier of direct dark matter detection
Abstract: Despite overwhelming astrophysical and cosmological evidence for dark matter, its particle nature remains one of the most compelling open questions in physics. While WIMPs with masses of 100’s GeV or larger have long been the target of direct detection experiments, theoretical and experimental developments increasingly motivate a broader search encompassing sub-GeV and even sub-MeV candidates. In this talk, I will survey the current dark matter landscape, motivating the case for low-mass dark matter searches. I will present the current status and latest results from the SuperCDMS experiment, which uses cryogenic silicon and germanium detectors with Transition Edge Sensor (TES) readout to probe dark matter masses below 10 GeV/c², and place its sensitivity in the context of other direct detection experiments. A central challenge facing most next-generation low-mass searches is the Low Energy Excess (LEE) – an anomalous signal-like background below a few hundred eV observed across multiple experiments and not yet attributed to a known source. I will discuss current efforts to diagnose and mitigate this background with position-based event tagging using a steerable, cryogenic MEMS-based optical calibration source. Finally, I will outline the path toward next-generation experiments, emphasizing advances in target materials and quantum sensing technologies, highlighting the need for advanced readout and characterization techniques to meet evolving experimental demands.
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Meeting ID: 950 1669 6011
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