Location: via Zoom Speaker: Sherry Song (Princeton University) Title: Integration and Analysis of the Balloon-borne Telescope, SPIDER Abstract: Ever since the discovery of cosmic microwave background(CMB) in the year of 1965, its existence has led many ground or space observation programs attempt to unveil its nature, of which the SPIDER program is a balloon-borne telescope designed to […]

Location: via Zoom Speaker: Ralph Massarczyk (LANL) Title: Results from the BEST Sterile Neutrino Oscillation Experiment  Abstract: The Baksan Experiment on Sterile Transitions (BEST) searches for the oscillations between active and sterile neutrinos by exploring the gallium anomaly. Based on the Gallium-Germanium Neutrino Telescope (GGNT) of the SAGE experiment, the BEST setup is comprised of two zones […]

Location: via Zoom Speaker: Chelsea Bartram (U. of Washington) Title: "Combing the Cosmos: A Deep Dive Into the Nature of (Dark) Matter and Fundamental Symmetries" Abstract: One of the most striking mysteries in modern astrophysics manifests itself as an absence of matter needed to form a narrative consistent with our current understanding of the universe. A […]

Abstract: The possibility that the DM sits inside an EW multiplet is still viable in scenarios where Z-mediated elastic scattering of DM with nucleons is absent. Using an effective field theory approach, I will classify all the viable DM EW multiplets and derive the freeze-out predictions on the DM mass. Interestingly, the parameter space of […]

Abstract: Reliable reconstruction of neutrino energy in the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment and in the Fermilab-based short-baseline oscillation program requires a realistic description of the ground state properties of the argon nucleus. Toward this goal, the E12-14-012 experiment in Jefferson Lab Hall A measured proton knockout from argon induced by scattering of 2.2-GeV electrons, collecting […]

ABSTRACT: The search for dark matter is one of the most important challenges in modern physics. In my presentation I will make a brief introduction to the direct detection of dark matter in underground facilities, followed by the description of the COSINUS experiment. COSINUS aims at the direct detection of dark matter scattering off Na […]

KamLAND-Zen is searching for neutrinoless double-beta (0νββ) decay in Xe-136 using a xenon-loaded liquid scintillator. The KamLAND-Zen detector was recently upgraded with almost double the amount of xenon and an ultra-low radioactivity container. With almost 1-ton-year of Xe-136 exposure, we are exploring the double-beta decay parameter space corresponding to the inverted hierarchy for the first […]

Date: Friday, September 2, 2022 Time: 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm Location: Conference Room B50-5132 Speaker: Zhelei Xu (MIT) Title: Precision Cosmology: from CMB and 21cm This is a HYBRID Meeting: Please see ZOOM Information Below ABSTRACT: Over the past decades, observations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) have established the standard cosmological model. In […]

Date: Friday, September 16, 2022 Time: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM Speaker: Yuuki Omori (University of Chicago) Title: “Constraining cosmology and astrophysics using the combination of CMB x LSS, and understanding biases in cross-correlation measurements” Abstract: Cross-correlation measurements between CMB and LSS observables is becoming an increasingly popular approach to constrain cosmology and astrophysics. Since […]

ABSTRACT: The Keck Wide-Field Imager (KWFI) is a 1 degree diameter field of view wide-field optical imager for Keck that will be the most powerful wide-field imager in the world for the foreseeable future. KWFI has extreme sensitivity from 10000A down to 3000A that will enable new science from the high redshift Universe, to time-domain […]

Abstract: High energy nuclear physics in the U.S. is undergoing a revitalization 22 years after the turn on of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Lab. Two major upcoming experimental efforts, sPHENIX at RHIC, planned to turn on next year, and the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC), planned to start running in 2032, are […]

Abstract: Dan will review current and SETI radio and optical searches, and also review CASPER open source technologies for real time signal processing instrumentation. The CASPER collaboration develops open source hardware, software, GPUware, FPGA gateware, tools, libraries, reference designs, tutorials, training videos, and workshops for astronomy instrumentation. CASPER instrumentation is utilized mostly for radio astronomy, […]

ABSTRACT: Strongly lensed supernovae are highly valuable cosmological probes, sensitive to both the Hubble constant and the distribution of dark matter. Measuring time delays in strong lensing systems allows for independent measurements of the Hubble constant, providing a mechanism to resolve the current Hubble tension. These time delays are also sensitive to the dark matter […]

LOCATION: IN-PERSON - Sessler Conference Room Building 50A-5132 TITLE: Pen-and-Paper Meets Supercomputing: Building Accurate Models for Cosmological Surveys ABSTRACT: Stage-IV cosmological surveys are poised to revolutionize our understanding of the Universe. The vast data sets collected by surveys like DESI, Rubin and CMB-S4 will be orders of magnitude more powerful than their precursors from the […]

This is a VIRTUAL Event TITLE: Background Modeling and First Results From The LUX-ZEPLIN Dark Matter Experiment ABSTRACT: LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) is a dark matter experiment located at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in South Dakota, USA employing a 7 tonne active volume of liquid xenon in a dual-phase time projection chamber (TPC). It’s surrounded by […]

This is an In-Person Event LOCATION: Sessler Conference Room - 50A - 5132 DATE: February 3, 2023 TIME: 12:00 PM TITLE: Applications of Associate Particle Imaging at Berkeley Lab from Carbon in Soil to Nuclear Data ABSTRACT: We developed an Associated Particle Imaging(API) system that uses inelastic neutron scattering reactions to measure 3d density maps […]

This is an In-Person Event LOCATION: Sessler Conference Room – 50A – 5132 DATE: February 10, 2023 TIME: 12:00 PM TITLE: Current status of the cavity and resonance based experiments ABSTRACT: Axions are a well-motivated dark matter candidate, which currently have a wide open and accessible parameter space, with few constraints on their mass and coupling […]

This is an In-Person Event LOCATION: Sessler Conference Room – 50A – 5132 DATE: February 17, 2023 TIME: 12:00 PM TITLE: The direct road to neutrino mass ABSTRACT: The discovery of neutrino oscillations gave us proof that neutrinos have mass, a direct contradiction of the minimal standard model of particle physics. But how much mass? Oscillations […]