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Events During the Week of August 28th through September 4th, 2011

Monday, August 29th, 2011

NPAC (Nuclear/Particle/Astro/Cosmo) Forum
Recent Results from the Cogent Dark Matter Search
Time: 1:30 pm
Place: 5280 Chamberlin Hall
Speaker: Mike Miller, University of Washington, CENPA
Abstract: Dark Matter is one of the grand questions of our era. Composing up to 25% of our universe, its cosmological impacts and gravitational evidence appear robust. Not surprisingly, the search for direct detection via a non-gravitational force is now a massive enterprise. Only one experiment (DAMA/LIBRA) has claimed direct detection in the lab by searching for the hypothesized annual rate modulation of the Dark Matter Halo model. CoGeNT is a table top experiment that leverages novel advances in kilogram-scale germanium detectors, thus enabling the study of extremely low-energy ionization events. Armed with the world's lowest energy threshold, CoGeNT set forth to rule out some of DAMA's final hiding places only to be surprised by a statistically-limited annual modulation signal beyond that of known backgrounds. While far from a discovery of dark matter, the CoGeNT results raise important and exciting questions. We will present the latest results from CoGeNT and plans for the future.
Host: Karsten Heeger
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Tuesday, August 30th, 2011

No events scheduled

Wednesday, August 31st, 2011

High Energy Seminar
Observation of Two-Neutrino Double-Beta Decay in Xe-136 with EXO-200
Time: 11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Place: 4274 Chamberlin
Speaker: Liang Yang, SLAC
Abstract: The Enriched Xenon Observatory (EXO) is an experimental
program designed to search for the neutrino-less double beta
decay of Xe-136. The current phase of the experiment, EXO-
200, uses 200 kg of liquid xenon with 80% enrichment in Xe-
136, and also serves as a prototype for a future 1-10 ton scale
EXO experiment. The detector has been taking low background
physics data with enriched xenon at Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
(WIPP) in New Mexico since early May 2011. After
performing the first charge only analysis of the data, we report
the observation of two-neutrino double-beta decay in Xe-136
with T(1/2) = 2.11 +/- 0.04 (stat.) +/- 0.21 (sys.) x 10^21 yr.
This second order process, predicted by the Standard Model, has
been observed for several nuclei but not for Xe-136. The
observed decay rate provides new input to matrix element
calculations and to the search for the more interesting neutrinoless double-beta decay mode.
Host: Karsten Heeger
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NPAC (Nuclear/Particle/Astro/Cosmo) Forum
Lepton Flavor Mixing and Neutrino Mass: an Experimental Assessment
Time: 2:30 pm
Place: 5310 Chamberlin (coffee and cookies at 2:15 in 5310)
Speaker: Prof. Flavio Gatti, Genoa University
Abstract: I will briefly present the latest results of MEG experiment for searching the violation of Flavor conservation law for the muon as it has been found in neutrino sector. Further a proposal for a sensitive experiment for calorimetric neutrino absolute mass scale determination will be outlined. Both experimental searches should give valuable informations about the nature and the origin of the neutrino mass.
Host: Dan McCammon
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Thursday, September 1st, 2011

No events scheduled

Friday, September 2nd, 2011

First Day of Class