NO INPA SEMINAR
2025-03-14 12:00 - 13:00, 2025-03-21 12:00 - 13:00, 2025-04-04 12:00 - 13:00, 2025-05-02 12:00 - 13:00, 2025-05-23 12:00 - 13:00, 2025-05-30 12:00 - 13:00, 2025-07-18 12:00 - 13:00, 2025-07-25 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Los_Angeles) and 6 more dates

INPA SEMINAR SPEAKER: Eve Vavagiakis ( Duke University)- Title: From ACT to Simons Observatory and CCAT: Upcoming observations of the millimeter and submillimeter sky
2025-03-28 12:00 - 13:00
Date: March 28, 2025
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: Eve Vavagiakis (Duke University)
Title: From ACT to Simons Observatory and CCAT: Upcoming observations of the millimeter and submillimeter sky
Abstract: Rapid developments in instrumentation and highly sensitive superconducting detectors have provided a wealth of arcminute-scale cosmic microwave background (CMB) data. These measurements are transforming our understanding of the evolution of our cosmos. I will contextualize recent results from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) and discuss how our high-resolution CMB maps are at the frontier of Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect science. I will also summarize the design and status of the first light instruments and low-temperature detectors for the CCAT Observatory and discuss early science goals with the Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope. Upcoming measurements of the millimeter and submillimeter sky with CCAT and the Simons Observatory will offer rich opportunities for cross-correlation studies and pave the way toward CMB-S4. This will enable novel multifrequency science in the coming years, testing cosmological models and opening new windows on galaxy evolution and fundamental physics.
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Meeting ID: 950 1669 6011

Passcode: [REDACTED]

INPA Seminar Speaker: Vladyslav Berest (Remote)-Universite Paris-Saclay- Title: Towards the meV level of neutrino mass scale: from CUPID to BINGO
2025-04-11 12:00 - 13:00
Date: April 11, 2025
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: Vladyslav Berest (Universite Paris-Saclay)
Title: Towards the meV level of neutrino mass scale: from CUPID to BINGO
Abstract: Neutrinoless double-beta decay (0v2b) is a key process in the search for Majorana neutrinos. Its observation would confirm the violation of lepton number conservation, demonstrating that neutrinos are their own antiparticles, and provide crucial insight into the absolute neutrino mass scale and hierarchy. The CUPID (CUORE Upgrade with Particle ID) experiment aims to achieve the sensitivity required to probe the inverted hierarchy region of the effective Majorana mass. It will employ an array of scintillating bolometers composed of Li2MoO4 (LMO) crystals enriched in Mo-100, coupled with Ge bolometric light detectors. This dual heat-light readout enables an efficient rejection of the alpha background, which currently limits the sensitivity of its predecessor, CUORE. CUPID aims to reach an unprecedented background index of 1e-4 counts/kg/keV/year (ckky) in the region of interest (ROI) and to establish the technology required for a future ton-scale bolometric 0v2b experiment. Beyond CUPID, further sensitivity improvements are necessary to probe the normal hierarchy region. The BINGO (Bi-Isotope 0v2b Next Generation Observatory) project introduces novel strategies to reduce background levels to 1e-5 ckky for the simultaneous study of Mo-100 and Te-130 isotopes. It proposes three main technological improvements that should help to drastically reduce background in ROI, including innovative detector assembly, cryogenic active veto, and Neganov-Trofimov-Luke light detectors. This talk will provide a general review of the current status of 0v2b decay bolometric experiments, along with the most recent results of R&D work conducted within the BINGO project framework.
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Meeting ID: 950 1669 6011
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INPA Seminar Speaker: Adam Baldoni (Penn State)-Title: A Novel Target Material for Optical Neutrino Detectors
2025-04-18 12:00 - 13:00
Date: April 18, 2025
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: Adam Baldoni (Penn State)
Title: A Novel Target Material for Optical Neutrino Detectors
Abstract: Since the late 1960s, optical detectors have been a common method for detecting neutrino interactions. Two common target materials for these detectors are pure water and liquid scintillator, each having advantages and disadvantages. A new material, water-based liquid scintillator (WbLS), has been developed over the last decade at Brookhaven National Laboratory and combines the advantages of its constituents while minimizing their disadvantages. Small-scale, tabletop experiments have been done with WbLS, but ton-scale tests need to be performed before scaling up to a kiloton-scale WbLS detector. This talk will give an overview of three ton-scale WbLS detectors currently in operation, detailing their design and the physics underlying how these detectors work.
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Meeting ID: 950 1669 6011
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INPA SEMINAR - Speaker: Dr. Paschal Coyle (CNRS, Centre de Physique des Particules de Marseille, France)-Title: Physics in the abyss with KM3NeT: from neutrino oscillations to cosmic neutrinos
2025-04-25 12:00 - 13:00
Date: April 25, 2025
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Auditorium 50-4 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: Dr. Paschal Coyle (CNRS, Centre de Physique des Particules de Marseille, France)
Title: Physics in the abyss with KM3NeT: from neutrino oscillations to cosmic neutrinos
Abstract: The Kilometre cube neutrino telescope (KM3NeT) is a deep-sea neutrino telescope currently under construction in the Mediterranean Sea. Its main goals are the search for astrophysical sources of high-energy cosmic neutrinos and the study of neutrino oscillation phenomena with atmospheric neutrinos. It is also a unique cabled marine observatory for sea science studies.
KM3NeT comprises giant 3D arrays of multi-PMT optical modules optimized to detect the Cherenkov light emitted by charged particles resulting from neutrino interactions in the vicinity of the detectors. With its two sites: ARCA a ‘sparse’ km3-scale detector offshore from Sicily and ORCA a ‘dense’ 7 MTon detector offshore from the south of France, KM3NeT is sensitive to neutrino energies ranging from Mev to PeV.
In this talk, the KM3NeT status and prospects are reported. The latest results including; atmospheric neutrino oscillations, tau appearance, neutrino mass ordering, searches for beyond standard model effects and the recent detection of an exceptional ultra-high energy cosmic neutrino are presented.
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Meeting ID: 950 1669 6011
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INPA SEMINAR SPEAKER: TBA
2025-05-09 12:00 - 13:00
Date: May 9, 2025
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: TBA
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA
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Meeting ID: 950 1669 6011
Passcode: [REDACTED]

INPA SEMINAR SPEAKER: Mackenzie Duce (Georgia Tech)-Title: Developments in Polysiloxane-based Scintillators for Radiation Detection
2025-05-16 12:00 - 13:00
Date: May 16, 2025
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: Mackenzie Duce (Georgia Tech)
Title: Developments in Polysiloxane-based Scintillators for Radiation Detection
Abstract: Organic scintillators are a common choice in radiation detection due to their fast response time, enabling discrimination of incident ionizing radiation via the pulse shapes. Commercially available organic scintillators are typically formulated from polyvinyl-toluene matrices. Still, there is extensive research in alternative bases for these scintillators to improve radiation hardness, ruggedness, and chemical stability without sacrificing radiation detection characteristics. Polysiloxane-based scintillators are formulated from silicone resins, making them rugged and radiation-hard. They have recently shown radiation detection capabilities on par with commercial options while requiring less doping of fluorescent molecules. Now, polysiloxane scintillators doped with Boron-10 enriched molecules have been developed for thermal neutron detection. These scintillators demonstrate a light output of ~6,000 photons/MeVee and a pulse shape discrimination figure of merit surpassing 1.27. As the pulse shapes from fast neutrons (MeV) overlap with those from thermal neutrons (< 0.025 eV), an algorithm has been developed to discern between thermal neutrons and fast neutrons in a mixed-field environment. A survey of 13 B10-doped polysiloxane scintillators formulations, the algorithm development and deployment, and the characterization of a scintillators array for nuclear nonproliferation applications is presented.

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Meeting ID: 950 1669 6011
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NO INPA Seminar Speaker
2025-06-06 12:00 - 13:00, 2025-06-20 12:00 - 13:00

INPA Seminar Speaker-Bear Carlson (University of Florida)- Title: Machine-Learning-Based Data Reconstruction Chain for the Short Baseline Near Detector
2025-06-13 12:00 - 13:00
Date: June 13, 2025
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132 [Hybrid and In-Person]
Speaker: Bear Carlson (University of Florida)
Title: Machine-Learning-Based Data Reconstruction Chain for the Short Baseline Near Detector
Abstract: The Short-Baseline Near Detector (SBND) is a 100-ton scale Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LArTPC) neutrino detector positioned in the Booster Neutrino Beam (BNB) at Fermilab, as part of the Short-Baseline Neutrino (SBN) program. Recent inroads in Computer Vision (CV) and Machine Learning (ML) have motivated a new approach to the analysis of particle imaging detector data. SBND data can therefore be reconstructed using an end-to-end, ML-based data reconstruction chain for LArTPCs. The reconstruction chain is a multi-task network cascade that combines point-level feature extraction using Sparse Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) and particle superstructure formation using Graph Neural Networks (GNN). I will first introduce the SBN program and its physics goals. I then demonstrate the expected reconstruction performance on SBND and its role in physics measurements.

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Meeting ID: 950 1669 6011
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NO INPA SEMINAR TALK
2025-06-27 12:00 - 13:00, 2025-07-04 12:00 - 13:00

Joint INPA/IIC Talk with Dr. Patrick Peplowski (Johns Hopkins University)-Talk title: Nuclear Physics in Space: Uncovering the Solar System's History with Gamma Rays and Neutrons
2025-07-11 12:00 - 13:00
Seminar series: Interdisciplinary Instrumentation Colloquium
Talk title: Nuclear Physics in Space: Uncovering the Solar System’s History with Gamma Rays and Neutrons
Date: Friday, July 11th @ 12 pm (bring your lunch)
Location: B50-Sessler (50A-5-5132)
Note: Tea and cookies provided!
Speaker: Dr Patrick Peplowski (Johns Hopkins University)
Abstract:
By detecting faint nuclear signals from the surfaces of planets, moons, and asteroids, scientists are uncovering the hidden stories of how these worlds formed and evolved. This technique, known as nuclear spectroscopy, has revealed the iron-rich crust of Mercury, the volatile content of Mars, and the building blocks of our Moon and various asteroids.
In this talk, I will explore how interplanetary spacecraft have used nuclear physics to probe the surfaces of our solar system’s rocky bodies—and what these findings tell us about the origin and evolution of our planetary neighborhood. We’ll journey from Mercury to Mars, stopping at the Moon and asteroids along the way, and see how fundamental nuclear interactions power one of the most exciting tools in planetary science
Speaker bio:
Patrick Peplowski is a staff scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, where he works to develop, build, test, and operate nuclear spectrometers that have flown on missions built by NASA and the Japanese Aerospace Agency (JAXA). He has been a science team member on eight different planetary science missions, including missions to Mercury, the moons of Earth, Mars, and Saturn, and a variety of asteroids. His background is in nuclear physics, having received his BS (2004) in Physics from the University of Washington, and his MS (2005) and PhD (2009) from Florida State University. Patrick’s current research interests focus on measurements of spallation and neutron inelastic reaction cross sections, and he is currently the instrument scientist for the gamma-ray and neutron instruments for NASA’s Psyche mission (launched in 2023) and JAXA’s Mars Moon Exploration (MMX) mission, which will launch in 2026.

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Meeting ID: 973 1481 3383
Passcode: [REDACTED]

NO INPA
2025-08-29 12:00 - 13:00

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
Passcode: [REDACTED]

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
Passcode: [REDACTED]

[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]
