NPAC (Nuclear/Particle/Astro/Cosmo) Forums |
Organized by: Prof. Lu Lu
Events During the Week of February 12th through February 19th, 2017
Monday, February 13th, 2017
- No events scheduled
Tuesday, February 14th, 2017
- Studying Neutrino Oscillations at NOvA: From Experimental Design to Pioneering Analysis
- Time: 4:00 pm
- Place: 4274 Chamberlin Hall
- Speaker: Alexander Radovic, William and Mary
- Abstract: The observation of neutrino oscillations provides evidence of physics beyond the standard model, and the precise measurement of those oscillations remains an important goal for the field of particle physics. NOνA is one of the foremost experiments in that field. Taking advantage of a two-detector technique, a tightly focused off-axis view of the NuMI neutrino beam, and a pair of finely instrumented liquid scintillator detectors, NOνA is in a prime position to contribute to precision measurements of the neutrino mass splitting, mass hierarchy, and CP violation.
This presentation will describe the goals and design of the NOνA experiment, and outline how the cutting edge tools of the Deep Learning community are being used to push the limits of that design. The latest oscillation results will be shown, along with a guide to what to expect from NOvA in the coming years. - Host: Sridhara Dasu
Wednesday, February 15th, 2017
- No events scheduled
Thursday, February 16th, 2017
- Physics with a 10-year Color Movie of 40 Billion Stars and Galaxies
- Time: 1:30 pm
- Place: 5310 Chamberlin Hall
- Speaker: Keith Bechtol, Large Synoptic Survey Telescope
- Abstract: Steady advances in telescope and camera technology have allowed us to explore the night sky deeper, wider, and faster with each new generation of instruments. The next major experiment in this endeavor is the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), now under construction in Chile, with first light scheduled in 2020. LSST will catalog more stars and galaxies than all previous astronomical surveys combined, and will monitor transient, variable, and moving objects over a ten-year period, generating ~10 million alerts each night. In addition to precision cosmological constraints for dark energy, dark matter, neutrino physics, and inflation, the resulting multipurpose dataset will enable discoveries in time-domain, Galactic, and Solar System astronomy. By turning the night sky into a giant publicly-accessible database, LSST will also create new opportunities for education and public outreach.<br><br>
- Host: Sridhara Dasu
- Unlocking neutrino mysteries with the NOvA experiment
- Time: 4:00 pm
- Place: 4274 Chamberlin Hall
- Speaker: Chris Backhouse, Caltech
- Abstract: The 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded for the discovery of the phenomenon of neutrino oscillations, which implies that neutrinos are not massless as we had previously believed. This raises a wealth of new and intriguing questions. What is the ordering of the neutrino mass states? Might they violate matter/antimatter symmetry? What structure, if any, does the neutrino mixing matrix have? The NOvA experiment directly addresses these questions by measuring changes undergone by a powerful neutrino beam over an 810km baseline, from its source at Fermilab, Illinois to a huge 14kton detector in Ash River, Minnesota. I will give a brief overview of neutrino oscillations, then present our latest results, their implications, and prospects for the future.
- Host: Sridhara Dasu
Friday, February 17th, 2017
- No events scheduled