Graduate Program Events |
Events During the Week of February 2nd through February 9th, 2025
Monday, February 3rd, 2025
- No events scheduled
Tuesday, February 4th, 2025
- Thesis Defense
- Novel Quantum Devices for Computation and Sensing
- Time: 9:00 am - 11:00 am
- Place: 5310 CH
- Speaker: Abigail Shearrow, Physics PhD student
- Abstract: Josephson junction-based devices have demonstrated utility in a breadth of applications ranging from quantum computation to sensing and meteorology. In this talk we introduce two novel superconducting devices: a protected qubit relying on engineered composite Josephson elements and a mm-wave detector utilizing a Josephson junction for impedance matching to free space to enhance power absorption efficiency. First we introduce a novel quantum sensor, consisting of impedance-matched Josephson junction-based slot antennas embedded in a microwave kinetic inductance detector. We discuss operating principles and design of such devices. We present data on the response of devices to a thermal quasiparticle distribution and the calibration of the detector using a blackbody source. And finally spectroscopic characterization of the devices with a Josephson emitter. In the second part of this thesis we describe work toward the design, control, and characterization of a novel protected qubit, the charge-parity qubit, consisting of a composite pi-periodic Josephson element shunted by a large capacitance. Such a device provides protection against local noise at the hardware level and aspires to substantially reduce the overhead needed for quantum error correction. Together these projects demonstrate the versatility the Josephson junction in superconducting quantum devices.
- Host: Robert McDermott
Wednesday, February 5th, 2025
- Preliminary Exam
- Search for New Physics Phenomenon via Higgs Boson Pair Production and Novel Machine Learning Methods
- Time: 3:00 pm
- Place:
- Speaker: Chi Lung Cheng, Physics PhD student
- Abstract: Abstract 1: Search for New Physics via Higgs Boson Pair Production Higgs boson pair production provides a direct probe of the Higgs self-coupling and potential physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM). This study explores non-resonant HH production, focusing on constraints from collider data and theoretical models. Key results highlight the sensitivity of current and future experiments to BSM phenomena through precise measurements of the HH production cross-section and kinematic distributions.
Abstract 2: Novel Machine Learning Methods in High-Energy Physics This work introduces innovative semi-weakly supervised machine learning techniques for enhancing sensitivity to rare physics processes in collider experiments. By leveraging neural networks tailored to domain-specific features, the approach improves signal extraction and classification efficiency. Applications to simulated and real data demonstrate the effectiveness of these methods in uncovering subtle signatures of new physics phenomena. - Host: Sau Lan Wu
Thursday, February 6th, 2025
- No events scheduled
Friday, February 7th, 2025
- No events scheduled