INPA

VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | Elena Gramellini (Fermilab)
2020-12-11 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Speaker: ​Elena Gramellini (​Fermilab)
Title: Seeing the ​L​ight in ​P​ixelated TPCs: Q-Pix and LILAr
Abstract:
Noble elements Time Projection Chambers (TPC) are the detector technology of choice for the next generation of discovery at the intensity frontier. These detectors provide a number of experimental handles, such as full 3D-imaging, excellent particle identification and precise calorimetric energy reconstruction which makes them extremely flexible tools suitable for a wide range of physics measurements. Indeed, TPC applications range from dark matter, rare decays and capture, neutrino oscillations and nucleon decay, and neutrino less double beta decay. A key feature of noble elements for particle detectors is the double response to the passage of charged particles in the active volume, in the form of correlated ionization charge and scintillation light.
In the context of the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), the liquid argon community is showing great interest in developing a large scale pixelated charge readout for multi-kTon scale detectors. Pixels offer a number of benefits compared to the traditional 2D projective wire readout, ranging from the robustness against single point failure to the native 3D nature of the data. However, a light detection solution which would allow the full exploitation of the detection capabilities for pixelated TPCs needs to be developed: the solutions used in traditional 2D wires projective readouts are not satisfactory (nor easily applicable). In this seminar, we present Q-Pix — the technology which could translate pixelated readout into a reality for multi-kTon scale TPCs — and LILAr — an imaginative idea for light detection systems in pixelated TPCs.
Join Zoom Meeting https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/94272918445?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 942 7291 8445
Passcode: [REDACTED]

VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | Patrick Komiske (MIT)
2020-12-18 12:00 - 13:00
Speaker: Patrick Komiske (MIT)
Title: Optimizing Particle Physics With Machine Learning
Abstract:
Exciting new advances in particle physics, particularly in the area of jet physics at colliders such as the LHC, are being driven by machine learning (ML) methods. For example, in just a few short years, the state of the art for important tasks such as jet classification has progressed from cutting on single observables to hyper-variate classifiers that can be trained directly on data. In this talk, I will discuss these and other developments that demonstrate broad synergy between ML and particle physics, including training and calibrating jet classifiers directly on data, visualizing and quantifying jets from the CMS Open Data with a recently proposed metric between collider events, and simultaneously unfolding multiple observables with the OmniFold method.
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https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/96028254060?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 960 2825 4060
Passcode: [REDACTED]

VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | Kelly Stifter (Stanford)
2021-01-08 12:00 - 13:00
Speaker: Kelly Stifter (Stanford University)
Title: The LZ Dark Matter Experiment: From Detector Development to First Physics
Abstract:
LZ is a next generation dark matter search designed to significantly extend our sensitivity to WIMP dark matter candidates. At the core of the LZ experiment is a dual-phase xenon time projection chamber (TPC) with a 7 ton active mass. The detector has been assembled at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in Lead, South Dakota and is now in the commissioning phase. After 1000 days of live time, LZ will achieve a sensitivity of about 1.4 x 10-48 cm2 at 40 GeV/c2 WIMP mass, improving on previous results by over an order of magnitude. In this talk, I will give an overview of the development, construction, and current commissioning status of the experiment, focusing in particular on the liquid xenon detector at the core of LZ. I will highlight the design and implementation of key features that drive the sensitivity of the experiment, including scintillation and ionization detection thresholds and control of backgrounds.

Join Zoom Meeting https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/93293950850?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 932 9395 0850
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Virtual INPA SEMINAR| Nguyen Phan (LANL)
2021-01-15 10:00 - 11:00
Speaker: Nguyen Phan (Los Alamos National Laboratory)
Title: “Understanding Electrical Breakdown in Liquid Helium through Analysis of the Empirical Breakdown Field Distributions”
Abstract:
Many present and future large-scale detectors in nuclear, particle, and astroparticle physics experiments will employ very high voltages and/or high electric fields inside a noble liquid detection medium. However, electrical breakdown in these dielectric materials is still poorly understood and may pose a challenge to the design and operation of such experiments. The neutron electric dipole moment (nEDM) experiment currently being developed to be mounted at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory will perform its measurements in superfluid helium with a target field of 75 kV/cm. Vital to achieving such a high field at large-scale is a better understanding of the breakdown phenomenon. To that end, we have collected data on the distribution of the breakdown voltages for small stainless steel electrodes with different surface polishes immersed in liquid helium, at various temperature and pressures, with the goal of providing guidance on the design of the high voltage system for the nEDM experiment at SNS, but also with potential application to other noble liquid experiments. In this talk, we will show how a statistical analysis of our data can be used to determine the electrode surface area scaling of the breakdown field, a behavior that is of central importance to the design of large-scale detectors employing high voltage. We will show that the dependence of the probability of breakdown on the field strength, extracted from the data, closely resembles that of the field emission, giving a strong indication that the initial process involves the field emission from the cathode. A method to optimize the design of arbitrary-shaped electrodes to reduce the risk of breakdown is also presented. Most importantly, the methods proposed in this work can be extended to other noble liquids to explore the behavior of electrical breakdown in those media.
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https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/93758070002?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 937 5807 0002
Passcode: [REDACTED]

VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | Yifan Chen (Univ. of Bern)
2021-01-15 12:00 - 13:00
Speaker: Yifan Chen (University of Bern, Switzerland)
Title: Just A Little Kick: Low-Energy Transfer Muon-Neutrino νμ Charged-Current Interactions on Argon
Abstract:
Accelerator neutrino oscillation experiments provide a sensitive way to approach a few major open questions in neutrino physics. To achieve precision neutrino oscillation measurements, we need a better understanding of key aspects of the experiments, such as the detection technologies and neutrino interactions. In this talk, I will focus on low-energy transfer muon-neutrino charged-current interactions using the MicroBooNE detector, where the neutrinos give just a little kick to the target. Neutrino interactions are poorly understood at low-energy transfers. A number of experiments operating in few-GeV accelerator neutrino beams have found discrepancies between their measured data and model predictions in this region. We explore this region of phase space with Argon for the first time, which will be valuable for constraining uncertainties for future accelerator-based neutrino oscillation experiments. In particular, the short baseline neutrino program (SBN) and deep underground neutrino experiment (DUNE), both use Argon as their target material. In addition, MicroBooNE employs the same liquid argon time projection chamber detector technology as SBN and DUNE, which makes the detector physics studies carried out in this analysis an additional useful input for future neutrino oscillation experiments.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/96968189658?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 969 6818 9658
Passcode: [REDACTED]

VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | Tucker Elleflot (LBNL)
2021-01-22 12:00 - 13:00
Speaker: Tucker Elleflot (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)
Title: Multiplexed Readout of Transition Edge Sensors for CMB Polarization Experiments
Abstract:
The polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) provides a valuable means to study the very early universe and high energy physics beyond the standard model. Remarkable experimental progress has been made on this front in the past decade. Modern experiments employ as many as O(10,000) Transition Edge Sensor (TES) bolometers and highly multiplexed readout systems, all operating below the photon noise level. My research has focused on the development of the sensors and multiplexing systems for CMB experiments. I will first describe my contributions to TES characterization for the POLARBEAR-2 experiment, emphasizing a specific systematic effect created by the multiplexing system. Next I will discuss my current research: taking the lessons learned from POLARBEAR-2 to develop an even higher performance multiplexing system for the next generation of CMB experiments such as CMB-S4 and LiteBIRD. I will end by noting potential applications of this work to dark matter direct detection experiments using TES calorimeters.
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https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/92456461157?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 924 5646 1157
Passcode: [REDACTED]

VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | Joseph DeRose (UC Santa Cruz)
2021-01-29 12:00 - 13:00
Speaker: VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | Joseph DeRose (UC Santa Cruz)
Title: “Models of the Non-Linear Universe for Precision Cosmology”
Abstract:
Imaging and redshift surveys of galaxies and high resolution observations of the CMB promise to shed light on the physical nature of dark matter and dark energy in the coming decade. One of the main factors limiting the precision and accuracy of cosmological constraints coming from these measurements will be our understanding of how non-linear structure forms in our universe. In this talk I will present a roadmap for leveraging cosmological simulations to improve this understanding. First, I will discuss recent progress on combining perturbative models of structure formation with N-body simulations in order to obtain highly optimized predictions for real-space galaxy clustering and weak lensing, and describe how similar models might be used to confront a variety of observations. I will then show how realistic models of galaxy formation and evolution combined with contemporary machine learning techniques can be used as robustness tests for complex cosmological analyses, with case studies from the Dark Energy Survey and the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument.
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https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/96158079387?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 961 5807 9387
Passcode: [REDACTED]

VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | Zack Li (Princeton Univ.)
2021-02-05 12:00 - 13:00
Speaker: Zack Li (Princeton University)
Title: “Enabling New Views of the Early Universe from the Atacama in the Next Five Years”
Abstract:
We’re producing some exciting Cosmic Microwave Background data with high-resolution, ground-based observations at 27 – 280 GHz, from experiments like ACT, SPT, and (soon) SO and CMB-S4. I’ll discuss present and future challenges for CMB data analysis, and show results from integrating Planck data analysis with the Simons Observatory power spectrum pipeline. I’ll also talk about prospects for these surveys to use the early Universe to detect the particle nature of dark matter, and briefly introduce a theory code intended for machine learning.
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https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/97817863355?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 978 1786 3355
Passcode: [REDACTED]

VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | Guang Yang (Stony Brook University)
2021-02-12 12:00 - 13:00
Speaker: Guang Yang (Stony Brook University)
Title: Securing An Accurate CP Violation Phase Measurement In DUNE
Abstract:
The requirements for a 5 non-zero delta CP violation phase measurement (if CP violation phase = -pi/2) are a wide-band muon neutrino beam, a 1,300 km baseline, an order of 10s kt fiducial mass detector with high particle identification efficiency and low external background. Additionally, the orders of uncertainty should be 2% for the signal and 5% for the background, which requires an unprecedented level of robustness and redundancy in the measurement. Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) plans to achieve this goal. In this talk, I will focus on some key concepts that were initiated by the Stony Brook Nucleon decay and Neutrino group. One of them is a new detector that is capable to detect the final state neutron kinetic energy named 3DST (3D projection scintillator tracker) and others include an idea to move part of the near detector system off-axis transverse to the beamline and employing a 10kt level water-based liquid scintillator detector as a far detector module.
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https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/95279935975?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 952 7993 5975
Passcode: [REDACTED]

VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | Zepeng Li (Yale University)
2021-02-19 12:00 - 13:00
Speaker: Zepeng Li (Yale University)
Title: Search For Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay In Liquid Xenon TPC
Abstract:
Search for neutrinoless double beta decay is a direct tool to investigate the Majorana nature of the neutrinos and mechanism of neutrino mass generation. Discovery of neutrinoless double beta decay would be a direct indication of lepton number violation, and provide a portal to probe physics beyond the Standard Model. The nEXO experiment, built on the success of EXO-200 experiment, will search for neutrinoless double beta decay of 136Xe using a large ultra-low background liquid xenon time projection chamber, nEXO has distinct advantages of good energy resolution, full 3-D reconstruction of energy depositions in the detector, and excellent self-shielding against external backgrounds, that will provide world-leading sensitivity to neutrinoless double beta decay. I will talk about the development of new experimental techniques for the nEXO experiment from both software and hardware perspectives.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/97776930106?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 977 7693 010
Passcode: [REDACTED]

VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | Jay Hun Jo (Yale University)
2021-02-26 12:00 - 13:00
Speaker: Jay Hun Jo (Yale University)
Title: Searching For Long Standing Anomalies In Particle Physics With COSINE-100 and MicroBooNE
Abstract:
Two of the most pressing questions in particle physics are the nature of the dark matter in the universe and understanding neutrinos – overall and as an explanation for our matter dominated universe. In each case, there are long standing anomalies which must be addressed for the fields to progress to new discoveries. DAMA’s claim of a dark matter-induced annual modulation signal is being addressed by the COSINE-100 experiment, a direct detection dark matter detector with the same sodium iodide detectors as DAMA. The short baseline anomaly which includes MiniBooNE’s LEE result, is being addressed by the MicroBooNE single-phase liquid argon time projection chamber. I will discuss recent results from COSINE-100 and the MicroBooNE experiment in these efforts.
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https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/97940510926?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 979 4051 0926
Passcode: [REDACTED]

NO VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR
2021-03-05 12:00 - 13:00, 2021-05-07 12:00 - 13:00, 2021-06-04 12:00 - 13:00, 2021-06-25 12:00 - 13:00

VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | Gadi Afek (Yale University)
2021-03-12 12:00 - 13:00
Speaker: Gadi Afek (Yale University)
Title: Searches For New Physics Using Levitated Optomechanics
Abstract:
In an attempt to provide further insight into one of the major questions of physics beyond the standard model, highly sensitive optomechanical sensors are employed utilizing techniques synchronous with those of the atomic physics community. These sensors are table-top experimental tools offering exquisite control of mechanical and electrical degrees of freedom and isolation from the environment. They enable unprecedented acceleration sensitivities for ~ng objects, while still maintaining the access needed to probe short-ranged dynamics. In my talk I will present the experimental setup and show results from two recent searches, one looking for small recoils from passing DM particles and the other for slight deviations from charge neutrality, opening a window into an exploration of dark matter particles bound to matter that may carry tiny electric charge. In both searches our results are complementary to much large-scale experiments.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/96643713841?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 966 4371 3841
Passcode: [REDACTED]
—

NO VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR TODAY
2021-03-19 12:00 - 13:00, 2021-03-26 12:00 - 13:00

VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | Zoya Vallari (CalTech)
2021-04-02 12:00 - 13:00
Speaker: Zoya Vallari (California Institute of Technology)
Title: Neutrino Oscillation Results & Future Prospects of the NOvA Experiment
Abstract:
Neutrino mixing parameters are rapidly being measured to a higher precision by many experiments, however key questions such as mass hierarchy of neutrinos and CP violation in the lepton sector are still unanswered. NOvA is a long-baseline neutrino experiment that measures oscillation using the muon neutrinos and antineutrinos delivered by the NuMI beam at Fermilab. Neutrino oscillation is detected by observing appearance of electron (anti)neutrinos and disappearance of muon (anti)neutrinos at the Far Detector located near Ash River, MN, as compared to the Near Detector at Fermilab.
This talk will focus on the latest results from the joint analysis of neutrino and anti-neutrino oscillation by NOvA and highlight its current sensitivity to neutrino mixing and CP violating parameters. I will compare these results with other global results, specifically the T2K experiment, and outline the plans for the upcoming joint data analysis between the two experiments.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/99139885106?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 991 3988 5106
Passcode: [REDACTED]

NO VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021
2021-04-09 12:00 - 13:00

SPECIAL VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | Roger Huang (UCB)
2021-04-14 12:00 - 13:00
Speaker: Roger Huang (UC Berkeley)
Title: 0νββ Search Results from One Ton-Year of CUORE Data
Abstract:
The search for neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ) is currently the most sensitive way to test the hypothesis that neutrinos may be Majorana particles and obtain insight as to the nature of neutrino masses. CUORE (Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events) first began taking data over 3 years ago and is now one of the leading experiments in the current international 0νββ landscape. It utilizes a cryogenic bolometric approach, operating 742 kg of TeO2 at a temperature of ~10 mK to search for the neutrinoless double beta decay of Te-130. This talk will present new results from the search for 0νββ with CUORE, coming from an analysis of data corresponding to over one ton-year of exposure.
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https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/95552707017?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 955 5270 7017
Passcode: [REDACTED]

VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | Walter Pettus (Indiana University)
2021-04-16 12:00 - 13:00
Speaker: Walter Pettus (Indiana University Bloomington)
Title: Project 8: Towards the Atomic Tritium Future of Direct Neutrino Mass Measurement
Abstract:
Neutrino flavor oscillations provided the first break in the Standard Model by proving that neutrinos have nonzero mass, but leave us with an unanswered question: How much mass? Project 8 is a next-generation experiment based on the novel Cyclotron Radiation Emission Spectroscopy (CRES) technique to perform a radio frequency-based measurement of the tritium beta spectrum. The goal of the phased program is to reach a mass sensitivity below 40 meV, completely covering the allowed region of the inverted mass ordering. In this talk, I will present results from the waveguide apparatus measurements of 83mKr and molecular tritium, demonstrating the capabilities of the CRES technique. Progress is underway on the next phase of the experiment focusing on a pair of critical technology demonstrations – scaling the CRES technique to a large free-space volume, and production and trapping of a high-intensity atomic tritium source.
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https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98529820162?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 985 2982 0162
Passcode: [REDACTED]

VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | Erin Hansen (UC Berkeley)
2021-04-23 12:00 - 13:00
Speaker: Erin Hansen (UC Berkeley)

Title: Progress on the search for 2νββ of 130-Te to excited states of 130-Xe with CUORE

Abstract:
The CUORE experiment is a ton-scale bolometric array searching for the lepton number violating neutrinoless double-beta decay (0νββ) in the isotope 130-Te. While a discovery of 0νββ would herald new physics, the Standard Model process of two-neutrino double-beta decay (2νββ) in 130-Te has been measured in CUORE. In such cases where the isotope decays to an excited state of the daughter, 130-Xe, gammas are emitted leading to events whose energy is spread across multiple crystals. CUORE is currently searching for this decay mode, as understanding the branching ratio and spectral shape for such 2νββ decays to excited states can improve nuclear modelling and help constrain the matrix elements involved in searches for 0νββ. This talk will describe the status of and progress towards an improved search for 2νββ decays to excited states with an increased exposure of CUORE as well as additional analysis features. By exploiting the segmented nature of the CUORE detector, the scope of event signatures considered in the search is expanded and further accompanied by an improved efficiency of signal containment.
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https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/95917081698?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 959 1708 1698
Passcode: [REDACTED]

VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | Sam Hedges (Duke University)
2021-04-30 12:00 - 13:00
Location: via Zoom
Speaker: Sam Hedges (Duke University)
Title: Experimental Tests of Low Energy Neutrino-Nucleus Interactions at the Spallation Neutron Source
Abstract:
The intense flux of neutrinos produced at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) make it an ideal location to pursue studies of low energy neutrino-nucleus interactions. The COHERENT experiment has deployed a suite of detectors to the SNS to measure coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEvNS), a standard model process predicted more than forty years ago but only recently observed. CEvNS plays an important role in the evolution of a supernova, is a background for WIMP searches, and has potential applications for monitoring reactor neutrinos. In addition, COHERENT is studying several inelastic neutrino-nucleus cross sections that are of interest for supernova neutrino detection and as backgrounds for CEvNS measurements. An overview of the COHERENT program at the SNS, supporting nuclear physics measurements, and recent results will be presented.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/99483481476?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 994 8348 1476
Passcode: [REDACTED]

VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | Jessica Esquivel (Fermilab) | Friday, May 14, 2021
2021-05-14 12:00 - 13:00
Speaker: Jessica Esquivel (Fermilab)
Title: Can Wobbling Muons Probe Physics Beyond The Standard Model? Fermilab’s Muon g-2 Run 1 results.
Abstract:
On April 7th 2021, Fermilab’s Muon g-2 experiment announced it’s first results of the precision measurement of the anomalous muon magnetic moment based on it’s 2018 Run-1 dataset. These results align with the Brookhaven National Laboratory experimental value and the combined values increases the tension between experiment and theory from 3.7 to 4.2 sigma. This talk will give an overview of the Fermilab Muon g-2 experiment, discuss the steps necessary to precisely measure wobbling muons, why this result has the physics community abuzz, and what’s next.
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https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98052159063
Meeting ID: 980 5215 9063
Passcode: [REDACTED]

VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | KE HAN (Shanghai Jiao Tong University)
2021-05-21 16:00 - 17:00
Speaker: Ke Han (Shanghai Jiao Tong University)
Title: Rare Event Searches with PandaX
Abstract:
PandaX is a staged xenon-based dark matter and rare event searching project located at the China JinPing underground Laboratory (CJPL). In this talk we will present the latest dark matter search results using the full exposure data of PandaX-II, a 580-kg liquid xenon Time Projection Chamber (TPC). Special focus will be on the recent solar axion analysis with PandaX-II low-energy electron-recoil spectrum. We will also update the status of PandaX-4T, the next generation multi-ton-scale liquid xenon experiment currently being commissioned at CJPL, as well as PandaX-III high pressure gaseous TPC.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/94237908005?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 942 3790 8005
Passcode: [REDACTED]

VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | Lu Lu (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
2021-05-28 12:00
Speaker: Lu Lu (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Title: Detection Of A Particle Shower at the Glashow Resonance with IceCube
Abstract:
First proposed in 1959 by S. L. Glashow, the resonant creation of a W− boson from the interaction of an anti-electron neutrino with an electron has never been experimentally observed. In the electron rest-frame the required neutrino energy, Eν ≈ 6.3 PeV, is orders of magnitude greater than the energies of neutrinos created in Earth-based accelerators. As such, efforts at observing the interaction have focused on large-scale high-energy neutrino observatories designed to detect neutrino interactions in a natural medium, such as the cubic kilometer of Antarctic ice instrumented by the IceCube collaboration. In the talk I will report the first Glashow resonance candidate event from IceCube and the implications for the field in the future.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98680929840?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 986 8092 9840
Passcode: [REDACTED]

VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | Bryan Ramson (Fermilab)
2021-06-11 12:00 - 13:00
Location: via Zoom
Speaker: ​Bryan Ramson (​Fermilab)
Title: Towards A New Generation of Bubble Chambers

Abstract:
Long baseline neutrino oscillation experiments present some of the most compelling paths towards beyond the standard model physics through measurement of PMNS matrix elements and observation of leptonic CP violation. State of the art long baseline oscillation experiments, like NOvA and T2K, are currently statistically limited, however uncertainty in neutrino-nuclei scattering represent leading sources of systematic uncertainty and will fundamentally limit the precision of future experiments like DUNE and T2HK if not addressed. Neutrino cross section uncertainties can be reduced through high statistics measurement of neutrino interactions on light nuclei, but creating a detector with an appropriate light target has proved elusive since the hydrogen bubble chambers of the previous century. Modern chamber based dark matter detectors like PICO/PICASSO/COUPP and the Scintillating Bubble Chamber have demonstrated that advances in sensor technology, computing, and automation would allow a modern bubble chamber to fully utilize the megawatt scale intensity LBNF beam through the use of high resolution and high speed cameras, novel triggering, and machine-learning based event reconstruction. This talk will review the broad physics program for the construction of a bubble chamber for use with neutrinos supplied by the LBNF.

Join Zoom Meeting https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/92148547097?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 921 4854 7097
Passcode: [REDACTED]

VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | Javier Menéndez (University of Barcelona)
2021-06-18 10:00 - 11:00
Speaker: Javier Menéndez (University of Barcelona)
Title: Nuclear Theory To Reveal The Nature Of Dark Matter And Neutrinos

Location: via Zoom

Abstract:
Unveiling the nature of dark matter is one the most exciting challenges in physics. While it constitutes about a quarter of the energy-density of the universe and 80% of its mass, the composition of dark matter remains elusive. Beyond the solid evidence based on its gravitational properties, a key step would be the direct detection in the laboratory, a program led by searches of the scattering of dark matter particles off atomic nuclei. Naturally, the interpretation of these experiments depends on the nuclear physics input that describes the dark matter scattering off nuclei. Assuming a scenario where dark matter is mainly composed by WIMPs (weakly interacting massive particles) that couple to quarks and gluons, I will introduce nuclear theory insights needed to characterize the possible nuclear-WIMP interactions, with focus on which WIMP-nucleus interactions can receive contributions from several nucleons in the nucleus (coherence), or how experiments could distinguish between different WIMP-nucleus interactions.
Likewise, the scattering of neutrinos off nuclei and a rare proposed nuclear decay, neutrinoless double-beta decay, can determine if neutrinos are its own antiparticles, and pin down physics beyond the Standard Model. Again, these processes depend on nuclear physics input that needs to be calculated from nuclear theory and which is key to interpret experimental searches. If time allows, I will also discuss the most prominent features of the nuclear matrix elements for coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering and neutrinoless double-beta decay.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/91005179177?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 910 0517 9177
Passcode: [REDACTED]

VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | María Martínez (Universidad de Zaragoza)
2021-07-02 12:00 - 13:00
Speaker: María Martínez ​(​Universidad de Zaragoza​)​
Location: via Zoom
Title: Annual ​M​odulation ​R​esults ​F​rom ​Three​ ​–​Y​ear ​E​xposure of ANAIS-112
Abstract:
For more than 20 years, the DAMA/LIBRA experiment at the Gran Sasso Underground Laboratory (Italy) has claimed a positive dark matter detection: an annual modulation in the low-energy detection rate compatible with the expected signal induced by dark matter particles due to the Earth rotation around the Sun. This signal is in strong tension with the negative results of other very sensitive experiments. However, until recently a direct comparison using the same target material (NaI(Tl)) was lacking. ANAIS (annual modulation with NaI Scintillators) is a dark matter direct detection experiment located at the Canfranc Underground

Laboratory (LSC, Spain). Its main goal is to test in a model independent way the DAMA/LIBRA positive result. ANAIS-112 operates 112.5 kg of NaI(Tl) scintillators at the LSC since August 2017 and is taking data smoothly with excellent performances. Results from the first three years are compatible with the absence of modulation and incompatible with the DAMA/LIBRA measured modulation at more than 2.5 sigma C.L.

In this seminar I will briefly review the DAMA/LIBRA puzzle and the status of the experiments trying to reproduce it. Then I will introduce the ANAIS-112 experimental set-up, the detector performance and analysis methods. Finally, I will present the results of the annual modulation analysis corresponding to three years of ANAIS data, the physical implications and the prospects for the 5 years of scheduled operation time.

Join Zoom Meeting​
​https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/95105088780
Meeting ID: 951 0508 8780
