Events

Theory Seminar (High Energy/Cosmology)

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Events During the Week of February 16th through February 23rd, 2020

Monday, February 17th, 2020

No events scheduled

Tuesday, February 18th, 2020

Connecting the dots: from astronomical surveys and experiments to fundamental physics of dark universe
Time: 4:00 pm
Place: 5280 Chamberlin
Speaker: Yao-Yuan Mao, Rutgers
Abstract: The standard model of cosmology, despite its success in explaining most current observations, consists of several mysterious components, such as dark matter, dark energy, and inflation. Current and upcoming multiwavelength sky mappers, gravitational wave observations, and particle experiments will provide an unprecedented collection of complementary datasets, which have brought, and will continue to bring us novel and exciting discoveries. One of the main challenges in the next decade is to translate these discoveries into solid understandings of the fundamental physics of the universe, especially its dark components. We hence need to carefully connect the “dots” between theories and observations. In this talk, I will demonstrate the pivotal roles of numerical simulations, empirical models, and statistical analyses in the said connection. I will illustrate how theoretical uncertainties impact the interpretation of observations and how we mitigate those impacts, with specific case studies including direct detection experiments, gravitational lensing, and dwarf galaxy surveys (as dark matter probes). Finally, taking the LSST Dark Energy Science Collaboration as an example, I will discuss how we work together as a community to be prepared to answer fundamental questions about the dark universe with upcoming datasets.
Host: Dan Chung
Presentation: Mao_Connecting-the-dots_Feb2020.pdf
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Wednesday, February 19th, 2020

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Thursday, February 20th, 2020

Future cosmology with CMB lensing and galaxy clustering
Time: 4:00 pm
Place: 5280 Chamberlin
Speaker: Marcel Schmittfull, Institute for Advanced Study
Abstract: Next-generation Cosmic Microwave Background experiments such as the Simons Observatory, CMB-S4 and PICO aim to measure gravitational lensing of the Cosmic Microwave Background an order of magnitude better than current experiments. The lensing signal will be highly correlated with measurements of galaxy clustering from next-generation galaxy surveys such as LSST. This will help us understand whether cosmic inflation was driven by a single field or by multiple fields. It will also allow us to accurately measure the growth of structure as a function of time, which is a powerful probe of dark energy and the sum of neutrino masses. I will discuss the prospects for this, as well as recent progress on the theoretical modeling of galaxy clustering, which is key to realize the full potential of these anticipated datasets.
Host: Dan Chung
Presentation: Madison_talk_for_pdf.pdf
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Friday, February 21st, 2020

No events scheduled