Wayne State University

Aim Higher

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

 

Winter 2013

Date: April 19, 2013 (Friday) Rescheduled from February 8th.
Room: 312
Time: 4 PM
Speaker: Sean Tullin, University of Michigan
Title: Beyond collisionless dark matter

Abstract: Although collisionless dark matter (CDM) has been highly successful in explaining the large scale structure of the Universe, its success remains unclear on smaller scales.  Observations of dwarf galaxies and Milky Way satellites show notable and long-standing disagreements compared to predictions from numerical CDM simulations. This discrepancy can be solved if dark matter is not collisionless, but possesses a large self-interaction cross section.  In this talk, I discuss the particle physics dynamics of self-interacting dark matter. Even within a minimal model, self-interactions can exhibit a rich structure (e.g. bound-state resonances and nontrivial velocity dependencies), with different behaviors on small vs large scales.  I show how considerations from astrophysical observations of structure, dark matter relic density, and indirect detection can map out the underlying particle physics parameter space of self-interacting dark matter.
 


Date: April 12, 2013 (Friday) 
Room: 312
Time: 4 PM
Speaker: Nausheen Shah, University of Michigan
Title: Light Stops, Light Staus and the 125 GeV Higgs

Abstract: TBA

 

Date: April 5, 2013 (Friday) 
Room: 312
Time: 4 PM
Speaker: Ed Brown, MSU
Title: Journey to the center of a neutron star

Abstract: Neutron stars are composed of the densest observable matter in nature and occupy the intellectual frontier between gravitational physics, astrophysics, and nuclear physics. Within the next decade, current and planned nuclear experiments, X-ray observations, and, perhaps, gravity wave observations of neutron stars will be exploring the nature of dense matter from complimentary approaches. Many observed neutron stars accrete hydrogen- and helium-rich matter from a companion. During the slow compression to nuclear density the accreted matter is transmuted from being proton-rich to being proton-poor. These reactions affect many observable phenomena -- from energetic explosions on the neutron star's surface to the recently detected thermal relaxation of the surface layers -- that in turn inform us about the nature of the deep interior of the neutron star. In this talk, I shall describe the journey of matter that is accreted onto a neutron star and describe what we can learn about the physics of the dense matter of the neutron star's crust and core by observing phenomena powered by nuclear physics on the neutron star's surface.

Date: March 27, 2013 (Wednesday) CANCELLED 
Room: 312
Time: 4 PM
Speaker: Jamal Jalilian-Marian, Baruch CUNY
Title: From Pomerons and Odderons to di-hadron azimuthal angular correlations in high energy proton-nucleus collisions

Abstract:Proton-nucleus collisions at high energy provide an excellent environment for studying extreme QCD. At high energies (small Bjorken x), a nucleus is a dense system of gluons and can be investigated by an effective theory of QCD at small x known as the Color Glass Condensate (CGC). This effective theory has been used extensively to understand multi-particle production in high energy hadronic and nuclear collisions at RHIC and LHC. Among the observables which are sensitive to a high gluon density environment is di-hadron azimuthal angular correlation. This correlation has been measured at RHIC and shows a disappearance of the away side peak in the forward rapidity region. We show that a quantitative description of this disappearance in the CGC formalism requires a proper understanding of multi-gluon operators in CGC. We derive an evolution equation describing n-gluon exchange and investigate properties of the solution. It is shown that the disappearance of the away side peak in pA collisions can be due to exchange of these multi-gluon states.
 

Date: March 20, 2013 (Wednesday)
Room: 312
Time: 4 PM
Speaker: Alice Ohlson, Yale University
Title: Jets and Jet-like correlations in STAR

Abstract: The propagation and modification of hard-scattered partons in the QGP can be studied using various types of jet and jet-like correlation measurements. The STAR detector with its full azimuthal and large pseudorapidity acceptance, as well as its wide transverse momentum coverage, is well-suited for these measurements. Analyses of the angular correlations of charged hadrons with respect to high-pt hadrons, and with respect to the axes of reconstructed jets, are used to study the modification of jet shapes and associated hadron yields from p+p and d+Au to Au+Au. Complementary coincidence measurements are also used to investigate jet quenching in heavy ion collisions.  Additionally, measurements of the correlation between jets and the 2nd-harmonic participant plane (known as "jet v2") give insight into the pathlength dependence of parton energy loss.  The comprehensive set of STAR jet-quenching measurements can be used to further constrain theories of parton energy loss at RHIC.
 

Date: March 6, 2013 (Wednesday)
Room: 312
Time: 4 PM
Speaker: Yuri Kamyshkov, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Tennessee
Title: Matter-antimatter transformation via neutron-antineutron oscillation: status review and future searches with cold neutrons

Abstract: Observation of violation of baryon number B is a crucial component for the understanding of matter-antimatter asymmetry of the universe and of a new physics beyond the Standard Model. One perspective experimental approach for detection of baryon number violation is a search for direct matter to antimatter transformation (Delta_B=2) using neutrons. I will review and comment on the existing experimental N-Nbar search results with free neutrons at ILL/Grenoble and with neutrons bound inside nuclei in underground experiments such as Super-K and SNO; on the intranuclear suppression of NNbar, and on advantages of NNbar search with free neutrons in vacuum. In particular, I will discuss a recent proposal of using a dedicated source of Very Cold Neutrons based on the spallation target that can be built at Fermilab within "Project X". In this new experiment the sensitivity of N-Nbar search can be increased from the present limits by 3 orders of magnitude. Due to unique signature of the antineutron annihilation in a backgroundless detector even one observed event can be a spectacular discovery of new physics.
 

Date: February 27, 2013 (Wednesday)
Room: 312
Time: 4 PM
Speaker: Laura Chomiuk, MSU
Title: The E-Nova Project: A Multi-Wavelength Initiative to Probe the Ejecta and Environments of Novae

Abstract: When imagining a nuclear explosion, we often picture strong, spherical shock waves, like a bomb or supernova; however, nature's most common thermonuclear explosions look nothing like this, showing delayed and multiple phases of mass ejection that can last for months after the nuclear fuel is ignited. These most common explosions are novae---thermonuclear runaways on the surfaces of accreting white dwarfs---and their complexities are best revealed with an intensive multi-wavelength observational program highlighting radio and X-ray data---our E-Nova Project. I will discuss our recent results, featuring observations from the newly-upgraded Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array, and spotlighting sources like the recurrent nova T Pyx (which is challenging our basic assumptions about accretion on white dwarfs) and the three novae that have been detected in gamma rays to date (an emission process that was not predicted and remains an intriguing mystery). The implications for Type Ia supernova progenitors will also be discussed.
 

Date: February 20, 2013 (Wednesday)
Room: 312
Time: 4 PM
Speaker: Dima Karzeheev, Stony Brook University
Title: Quantum anomalies and non-dissipative currents in quark-gluon plasma and Weyl semimetal

Abstract: The interplay of quantum anomalies and topology results in the existence of non-dissipative currents in systems containing chiral fermions. I will consider two examples: the quark gluon plasma produced in heavy ion collisions at RHIC and LHC, and Weyl semimetals.
 

Date: February 15, 2013 (Friday)
Room: 312
Time: 4 PM
Speaker: Bo Jayatalika, Fermilab 
Title: Precision Measurement of the W Boson Mass at CDF

Abstract: The W boson mass is a crucial parameter in the standard model of particle physics, providing constraints on the mass of the Higgs boson as well as on new physics models via quantum loop corrections. We have measured the W boson mass using data corresponding to 2.2/fb of integrated luminosity collected with the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron. The measurement, performed using electron and muon decays of W bosons, yields a mass of 80387±19 MeV. This represents the single most precise measurement of the W boson mass ever performed, significantly surpassing the precision of all prior measurements combined. An updated world average of the W boson mass, including all recent Tevatron measurements, as well as the resulting standard model implications, will be presented.

Date: February 8, 2013 (Friday)
Room: 312
Time: 4 PM
Speaker: Sean Tullin, University of Michigan
Title: Beyond collisionless dark matter

Abstract: Although collisionless dark matter (CDM) has been highly successful in explaining the large scale structure of the Universe, its success remains unclear on smaller scales.  Observations of dwarf galaxies and Milky Way satellites show notable and long-standing disagreements compared to predictions from numerical CDM simulations. This discrepancy can be solved if dark matter is not collisionless, but possesses a large self-interaction cross section.  In this talk, I discuss the particle physics dynamics of self-interacting dark matter. Even within a minimal model, self-interactions can exhibit a rich structure (e.g. bound-state resonances and nontrivial velocity dependencies), with different behaviors on small vs large scales.  I show how considerations from astrophysical observations of structure, dark matter relic density, and indirect detection can map out the underlying particle physics parameter space of self-interacting dark matter.

Date: January 30, 2013 (Wednesday)
Room: 312
Time: 4 PM
Speaker: Christine A. Aidala, University of Michigan
Title: Investigating Proton Structure at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider

Abstract: Despite being a fundamental building block of everyday matter, the nucleon and its internal structure remain the subject of intense study even after four decades of ongoing research, with much still to be explored within the rich complexities of quantum chromodynamics.  A myriad of new techniques and technologies made it possible to inaugurate the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) as the world's first high-energy polarized proton collider in December 2001, adding a new dimension to the field of nucleon structure, traditionally explored via electromagnetic probes.  Using strongly interacting rather than electromagnetic probes offers both challenges and opportunities.  An overview of the program to study proton structure at RHIC will be presented, and highlights of recent results will be shown.
 

Date: January 25, 2013 (Friday)
Room: 312
Time: 4 PM
Speaker: Sidharth Prasad (WSU)
Title: Measurements of jet properties and cross sections using ALICE

Abstract: I will present results of a study of charged particle jet properties and cross section measurements in pp collisions at 7 TeV using the ALICE detector.Jets are reconstructed using charged tracks at mid-rapidity with the anti-kt jet finding algorithm from FastJet. I will discuss the transverse momentum dependence of jet production cross section and three jet properties: charged particle multiplicity, jet size, and radial distribution of transverse momentum about the jet direction.The results are compared with available model predictions.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Fall 2012

Date: Sep 5, 2012 (Wed)

Room 312, 3pm
Speaker: Laurens Keek (Michigan State) [A]
Title: Superbursts: carbon detonations on accreting neutron stars
 
Abstract:  Type I X-ray bursts observed from accreting neutron stars allow us to study thermonuclear processes involving heavy isotopes in the atmosphere, and provide constraints on the crust and core of neutron stars. We discuss detailed numerical multi-zone models of carbon burning during superbursts, and how such simulations can constrain the thermal properties of the neutron-rich crust. We consider the implications of new superburst observations from transiently accreting neutron stars. Superbursts have a strong effect on the burning of accreted hydrogen and helium in higher layers, even quenching bursts for days. We present simulations of the changing of hydrogen and helium burning after a superburst as it changes from stable to unstable (bursts). Interesting burst shapes and burst behavior are identified, that is only observed in rare cases, such as in the transient burster observed in Terzan 5 in 2010.
 
Date: Sep 14, 2012 (Fri)
Room 312, 3pm
Speaker: Huichao Song (Ohio State) [N]
Title: QGP shear viscosity at RHIC and the LHC 
 
Date: Sep 19, 2012 (Wed)
Room 312, 3pm
Speaker: Matthew Gonderinger (Wayne State) [P]
Title: Scalar Dark Matter and Vacuum Stability
 
Abstract: After a short introduction to the Standard Model, the Higgs, and dark matter, I will discuss in detail a vacuum stability analysis of two simple extensions of the Standard Model.  This analysis, which ensures the models have the correct ground state, provides insights into the nature of dark matter, the energy scale of new physics, and what lies beyond the Standard Model.
 
Date: Sep 28, 2012 (Fri)
Room 312, 3pm
Speaker: Rubens Reis (University of Michigan) [A] 
Title: Putting a spin on black holes: Sensing the inner beast
 
Abstract:  An astrophysical black hole is fully defined by just two parameters: its mass and spin. With the advent of modern X-ray satellites such as XMM-Newton and Chandra came a leap in our understanding of the fundamental physics of these powerful objects. We are now at a stage where information on the mass and spin of black holes is available for over a dozen X-ray binaries, and we are in the process of obtaining the spin for a similar number of supermassive black holes.  X-ray observations of stellar-mass black holes provide three independent means from which we can estimate the black hole spin: i) thermal emission emanating from the accretion disk; ii) relativistic distortion to emission lines; and iii) quasi-periodic variations in the light originating in the system. In this talk, I will summarise the current status of the field after introducing the manner in which we "see" and "hear"  black holes.
 
Date: Oct 3, 2012 (Wed)
Room 312, 3pm
Speaker: Bhubanjyoti Bhattacharya (Montreal) [P]
Title: New approaches to extracting CKM Unitarity angles
 
Abstract: A fair bit of work has been dedicated to extracting the CKM angles $beta_s$ and $gamma$ in the past decade. With the LHCb up and running we have the data to extract some of this information and also test for the signs of new physics. The exceptional success of the standard model (SM), however, calls for a) improving current techniques, b) exploring new avenues of extracting some of these parameters, now more than ever. Recent experimental work dedicated to experimental extraction of $beta_s$ has found results consistent with the SM, albeit large error bars. In this talk I will explore the possibility of reducing the theory error as a step toward looking for new physics (arXiv:1209.1413). I will also describe a new technique of extracting $gamma$ from three-body $B$ decays. I will talk about successes and failures of these techniques and future prospects.
 
Date: Oct 5, 2012 (Fri)
Room 312, 1:30 pm (Note special time!)
Speaker: Joseph Kapusta (Minnesota) [N]
Title: Relativistic Theory of Hydrodynamic Fluctuations with Applications to Heavy Ion Collisions
 
Abstract: Hydrodynamic fluctuations have been applied to a wide variety of physical, chemical, and biological phenomena in the past decade.  In high energy heavy ion collisions, there will be intrinsic fluctuations due to the finite size and finite particle content even if the initial conditions are fixed. We develop the theory of relativistic fluctuations, and apply it to a 1+1 dimensional boost invariant model for purposes of illustration.  In analogy to the cosmic microwave background radiation, fluctuations might provide information on the equation of state, including a possible critical point, and on the transport coefficients.
 
Date: Oct 10, 2012 (Wed)
Room 312, 3pm
Speaker: Scott Pratt (Michigan State) [N]
Title: Viewing the Chemical Evolution of the Quark Gluon Plasma with Charge Fluctuations
 
Abstract: One of the great challenges of heavy-ion physics has been to verify that the chemical properties of the super-hadronic matter created at RHIC and at the LHC indeed has the expected chemical composition (quarks and gluons). I will show how one can use charge correlations to deduce the densities of up, down and strange quarks at early times in the reactions, and also to test that they move independently, rather than in quark-antiquark pairs.
 
Date: Oct 19, 2012 (Fri)
Room 312, 3pm
Speaker: Csaba Csaki (Cornell) [P]
Title: MFV SUSY - A Natural alternative to R-parity
 
Abstract: I will present a new approach to low-energy supersymmetry, where instead of assuming R-parity conservation and flavor universality we only require that the only source of flavor violation are the usual Yukawa couplings. This will allow highly suppressed baryon number violating superpotential terms, which are small enough to satisfy the experimental bounds, but large enough to decay the LSP within the detector and thus eliminating the most stringent constraints on natural supersymmetric models.
 
Date: Oct 24, 2012 (Wed)
Room 312, 3pm
Speaker: Andrew Norman (Fermilab) [P]
Title: The impact of a large theta_13 on the long baseline neutrino program at Fermilab
 
Abstract: Over the past year experiments from around the world have made measurements of the last of the neutrino mixing angles, theta_13.  The surprisingly large value of this angle has opened up new possibilities for delving deeper into the long standing questions about the structure of the neutrino masses and the potential for matter/anti-matter asymmetries in the neutrino sector.  The NOvA experiment is the first of a new generation of Intensity Frontier experiments designed to perform precision probes of neutrino and anti-neutrino oscillations.  The experiment will shoot the world's most intense neutrino beam from Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory outside of Chicago, through the Earths crust, to an immense 15 kt far detector 810 km away in northern Minnesota.  This talk will focus on the prospects for the NOvA experiment to resolve the neutrino mass hierarchy and constrain the CP violating phase delta_CP.  The talk will also cover other precision measurements that NOvA will make and will include future plans for the long baseline neutrino program at Fermilab.
 
Date: Oct 31, 2012 (Wed)
Room 312, 3pm
Speaker: Federico Bernardini (Wayne State) [A]
Title: Magnetars: the highest magnetic field compact stars
 
Abstract: Neutron stars are extremely compact stars (central density~10^15 g/cm^3) that are the final product of a supernova explosion, the destructive final act of a massive star's life.  Magnetars are a peculiar class of neutron stars and stand out for their extreme characteristics. Magnetars are powered by an extremely strong magnetic field (B~10^{14-15} G), making them the strongest magnets in the Universe.  They are an astrophysical laboratory for studying physics in extreme conditions not available here on earth: super-strong gravity and super-strong magnetic field intensity. In this talk, I will introduce neutron stars and magnetars together with a sample of results from my recent study of magnetars.
 
Date: Nov 7, 2012 (Wed)
Room 312, 3pm
Speaker: Lance Dixon (SLAC) [P]
Title: NLO Vector Boson + Jets for LHC Searches and Measurements
 
Abstract: The production of an electroweak vector boson in association with multiple jets is an important Standard Model background for searches for many types of new physics at the LHC, including supersymmetry. Next-to-leading order QCD corrections are required for precise predictions of these processes.  Until 2009, the state of the art was just two additional jets.  Now, thanks to advances in computing one-loop amplitudes using unitarity rather than Feynman diagrams, processes with up to five additional jets can be computed at NLO. Recent developments in Monte Carlo methods also make it possible to produce hadron-level events, combining the NLO accuracy with a parton shower.I will describe these results, how they compare to recent LHC measurements, and how they can assist in searches.
 
Date: Nov 14, 2012 (Wed)
Room 312, 3pm
Speaker: Dmitry Zhuridov (Wayne State) [P]
Title: Leptogenesis and neutrino masses from heavy fermions
 
Abstract: In extensions of the Standard Model the neutrino masses and leptogenesis (LG) may be generated by heavy singlet or/and triplet Majorana fermions. I will classify the LG scenarios according to the new fermion mass spectra, and discuss particular models of resonant and freed LG. I will also revise the upper bound on the CP asymmetry relevant for LG, and show that in the case of one massless neutrino this bound essentially depends on the type of the light neutrino mass hierarchy.
 
Date: Nov 28, 2012 (Wed)
Room 312, 3pm
Speaker: Kalanand Mishra (Fermilab) [P]
Title: Pursuing electroweak symmetry breaking at CMS using WW semi-leptonic final states
 
Abstract: After the recent observation of a Higgs-like particle  with mass near 125 GeV, one of the most exciting tasks before us is to measure its couplings, and probe mass generation for gauge bosons and third generation fermions. Because of large branching fraction and fully reconstructible invariant  mass, the semi-leptonic final states (H->WW->lnuqq and  WH->lnubb) play an important role in this endeavor. I will give an overview of the Higgs boson analysis at CMS using semi-leptonic 
final states. Observation of diboson production and stringent limits on anomalous triple gauge boson couplings constituted 
important milestones along the way. Jet substructure has emerged as a critical tool at LHC for boosted 
hadronically-decaying W,Z, and Higgs bosons. I will summarize prospects for physics with high mass W pair 
and WW scattering with the luminosity expected in 2012.
 
Date: Dec 5, 2012 (Wed)
Room 312, 3pm
Speaker: Jiangyong Jia (Stony Brook) [N]
Title: Recent flow results from ATLAS
 
Abstract: In recent years, the measurement of harmonic flow coefficients $v_n$ has provided important information on the hot and dense matter created in heavy ion collisions at RHIC and LHC. These coefficients are now understood to reflect the hydrodynamic response to the fluctuating collision geometry in the initial state. I will present recent ATLAS measurements of the differential distribution of average $v_n$, the event-by-event distribution of $v_n$ and the angular correlations among the harmonic planes in Pb+Pb collisions at $sqrt{s_{NN}}=2.76$~TeV. I will discuss the new insights provided by these measurements  on the nature of geometry fluctuations and possible non-linear effects in the hydrodynamic response. 
 

 

Winter 2012

 

Date: Jan 18th, 2012 (Wed) 
Room 312, 3pm
Speaker: Gil Paz (WSU) [P] 
Title: The charge radius of the proton, a five sigma discrepancy?

 

Date: Jan 27th, 2012 (Fri)
Room 312, 3pm
Speaker: Sean Gavin (WSU)  [N] 
Title: Fluctuation and Correlation Probes of Early Time Dynamics

 

Date: Feb 1st, 2012 (Wed)
Room 312, 3pm
Speaker: Gerben Stavenga (Fermi Lab) [P]
Title: Non-perturbative proton stability

 

Date: Feb 8th, 2012 (Wed)
Room 312, 3pm
Speaker: Natalia Toro (Perimeter) [P]
Title: New Forces at the GeV Scale?   Search Prospects and a New Window for Indirect Dark Matter Signals
 

 

Date: Feb 15th, 2012 (Wed)
Room 312, 3pm
Speaker: Kayhan Gultekin (Michigan) [A]
Title: Black Hole and Galaxy Coevolution

 

Date: Feb 24th, 2012 (Fri)
Room 312, 3pm
Guang-You Qin (WSU) [N]
Title: Counting hot/cold spots in the Quark-Gluon-Plasma

 

Date: Feb 29nd, 2012 (Wed)
Room 312, 3pm
Speaker: Chuck Horowitz  (Indiana) [A]
(Canceled)

 

Date: March 7th, 2012 (Wed)
Room 312, 3pm
Speaker: Ed Cackett (WSU) [A]
Title: Light echoes around supermassive black holes

 

Date: March 23rd, 2012 (Fri)
Room 312, 3pm
Speaker: Abhijit Majumder (WSU) [N]
Title: Calculating jet transport coefficients on the lattice: a comprehensive approach to jet modification in dense matter

 

Date: March 30th, 2012 (Fri)
Room 312, 3pm
Speaker: Justin Frantz (Ohio) [N]
Title: Direct Photon-Jet and Di-Jet Correlations in Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions at RHIC

 

Date: April 4th, 2012 (Wed)
Room 312, 4pm
Speaker: Yuri Kovchegov (Ohio State) [N]
Title: Shock wave collisions, thermalization and correlations in AdS_5

 

Date: Apr 11th, 2012 (Wed)
Room 312, 3pm
Speaker: Cliff Burgess (McMaster) [P]

 

 

 

 

Fall 2011

Date: Oct 5, 2011
Speaker: Prof. Sergei Voloshin (Wayne State University)
Title: Observing the fluctuations in the initial conditions of heavy ion collisions

Date: Oct 14, 2011
Speaker: Prof. Joern Putschke (Wayne State University)
Ttitle: Probing the Quark Gluon Plasma via Jets

Date: Oct 21, 2011
Speaker: Prof. Giovanni Bonvicini (Wayne State University)
Title: Large angle beamstrahlung monitor for SuperKEKB

Date: Oct 28, 2011
DNP APS meeting. No seminar.

Date: Dec. 2, 2011
Speaker: Dr. Ben Grinstein (UC San Diego)
 

 

 

Winter 2011


Date: Friday, January 21, 2011
Speaker: Joern Putschke, Yale University
Title: Full-jet reconstruction in heavy-ion collisions at RHIC and the LHC

Date: Thursday, February 17, 2011
Speaker: Agnes Mocsy, Pratt Institute
Titie: The Sound, the Temperature, and the Little Bangs
Abstract: A commonly quoted goal of the heavy-ion programs at Brookhaven Lab (BNL) and CERN (goal based on predictions of Quantum Chromodynamics at finite temperature), is to recreate conditions similar to those shortly after the Big Bang, when the universe was filled with a quark-gluon plasma (QGP). QGP can be created by smashing  heavy nuclei together at relativistic speeds in collisions called "little bangs". In this talk I discuss how theoretical research on QCD at finite temperature facilitates our understanding of the hot and dense medium's  influence on the formation of quarkonium (a particle made of a heavy quark and antiquark pair) and helps us understand and calibrate the thermometer of the little bangs. The suppression pattern of quarkonium particles is one of the key observables studied at the SPS in CERN and RHIC at Brookhaven Lab, and is one of the main physics goals of phase two of the RHIC program at BNL. Quarkonium suppression can help determine when deconfinement occurs, the temperature of the created QGP, and may allow to access other properties of the plasma, such as its viscosity. I further discuss the analogy between data from heavy-ion collisions and the Cosmic Microwave Background, emphasizing what correlations may reveal about the acoustics in these collisions, as well as the possible presence of a first order phase transition in the phase diagram of QCD. 

Date: Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Speaker: Abhijit Majumder, Ohio State University
Titie: Jet modification: a bottom-up approach to the structure of QCD matter.
Abstract: In collisions of heavy ions at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC) and currently at the Large Hadron Collider  (LHC) a highly excited transient state of strongly interacting matter is created. This deconfined state called the quark gluon plasma has very different bulk properties from the more traditional forms of QCD matter such as atomic nuclei or even an excited hadronic gas created at lower energy colliders. Is there a way to quantitatively describe all these different types of matter, in a common language? The answer is provided by jet modification. Jets are collimated sprays of high momentum particles which are created in rare hard interactions in these collisions. Jets resolve all forms of QCD matter in terms of their underlying structure of quarks and gluons, the basic building blocks of all matter that interacts through the strong nuclear force. The observed modification of jets as they pass through extended matter is rapidly evolving into a rigorous tomographic probe of such systems. I will describe the major theoretical challenges in mounting such a theoretical set up and its promise for a quantitative understanding of the structure of QCD matter.

 

Fall 2010

Date: Friday, October 8, 2010
Speaker: Prof. W. Michael Snow, Department of Physics, Indiana University, Bloomington
Title: Parity-Odd Neutron Spin Rotation
Abstract: The quark-quark weak interaction present in the Standard Model induces a weak interaction between nucleons. It would be interesting to use this interaction as an "inside out" probe of strongly interacting QCD. The experimental effects are very small (~1E-7 amplitudes relative to strong NN interactions) but they can be seen since the weak interaction violates parity. Low energy neutron sources now possess enough intensity to search for these effects. I will describe an experiment in which we searched for the rotation of the plane of polarization of a slow neutron beam passing through a meter of liquid helium.

Date: Friday, October 29, 2010
Speaker: Dr. Gil Paz, Enrico Fermi Institute, University of Chicago
Abstract: The strong interaction plays an important part in searching for new physics, both directly and indirectly. Understanding the possible non perturbative effects is indispensable if one would like to interpret correctly the experimental data. I will present two cases of indirect searches, thought to be well understood, where new insights about the hadronic uncertainty can change the way we understand them and their potential to show effects of new physics. These are: 1) The recent the extraction of charge radius of the proton from muonic hydrogen, which is 5 sigma away from the PDG value. 2) The non perturbative error for radiative B decays.

Date: Friday, November 12, 2010
Speaker: Dr. Andrew Blechman, Wayne State University

Date: Friday, December 5, 2010
Speaker: Anton Wiranata, Ohio University
Title: Viscosity Computations in Strongly Interacting Matter 

Date: Friday, December 10, 2010
Oscar Naviliat-Cuncic, Michigan State University

 

Winter 2010

Date: Feb 26, 2010
Speaker: Ava Zeineddin (Wayne State University, Science Education)
Title: Scientific Reasoning and Epistemological Commitments: Coordination of Theory and Evidence among College Science Students

Date: March 5, 2010
Speaker: Dr. Dragan Huterer (Univeristy of Michigan)
Titlle: Mysteries on Universe's largest scales

Date: March 12, 2010
Speaker: Dr William Horowitz (Ohio State University)
Title: Successes, Failures, and Uncertainties in the Theory of Jet Physics in Heavy Ion Collisions

Date: March 29, 2010
Speaker: Dr Linda Carpenter (UC Irvine)
Title: Searches and Mass bounds for fourth generation neutrinos

Date: April 2, 2010
Speaker: Y.K. Kim (Fermilab)
Title: Fermilab: Current and Future

Date: April 9, 2010
Speaker: Dr Greg Landsberg (Brown University)
Title: Out-of-this-World Physics: Discovering Extra Dimensions and Black Holes at the LHC

Date: April 16, 2010
Speaker: Dr Daniel Phalen (University of Michigan)
Title: A Natural Higgs in the N*MSSM

Date: April 23, 2010
Speaker: Prof Bill Lynch (Michigan State University)
Title: Probing the Equation of State of asymmetric matter

Date: April 30, 2010
Speaker: Dr Tom Mehen (Duke University)
Title: X(3872) as a Charm Meson Molecule and XEFT

Fall 2009

Date: September 25, 2009
Speaker: Dr Chris Quigg, Fermi National Laboratory
Title: Gedanken Worlds without Higgs Fields

Date:October 16
Speaker: Marcel Demarteau . Fermi National Laboratory
Title: New Detectors at ILC and the Super LHC

Date:October 23
Speaker: Paul Rubinov . Fermi National Laboratory
Title: Readout with Silicon Photo-Multipliers technology

Date:November 6
Speaker: Boris Kayser, Fermi National Laboratory
Title: Do Decay rates oscillate because neutrino mass?

Date:November 13
Speaker: Robert Pisarski, Brookhaven National Laboratory
Title: Excursions into the Quark Gluon Plasma

Date:November19, 2011
Speaker: Bogdan Dobrescu, Fermi National Laboratory
Title: Nonstandard Higgs bosons

Date:December 11th, 2001
Speaker: Brock Tweedie, John Hopkins University
Title: Signals of a Sneutrino NLSP with Low-Scale SUSY-Breaking

Winter 2009

Date: March 6, 2009
Speaker: Dr Matt Kistler - Ohio State University|
Title: Supernovae, Neutrinos, and Exotic Core Collapses

Date: March 27, 2009
Speaker: Dr Ron Lipton,  Fermi National Laboratory
Title:  3D Detector/Electronics Integration Technologies Applications to ILC and SLHC

Date: April 3, 2009
Speaker: Dr Ingo Bloch,  CMS Center- Fermi national Laboratory
Title: The Compact Muon Solenoid at the Large Hadron Collider

Date: April 10, 2009
Speaker: Dr John Peoples Jr
TItle: The Dark Energy Survey project that he directs

Date: April 17, 2009
Speaker:  Ilya Selyuzhenkov, Indiana University
Title: Spin Physics at RHIC

Date: April 21, 2009
Speaker: Dr Andrew E. Blechman- Toronto University 
Title: R-symmetry Gauge Mediation and the MSSM

Date: April 24, 2009
Speaker: Isidoro Campisi, Spallation Neutron Source, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Title: RF Superconductivity for Particle Accelerators: from Materials Science to High Energy Beams

Date: May 1, 2009
Speaker: Dr Ayres Freitas, ANL/Chicago/Pittsburg
Title: The Little Higgs with Stable Dark Matter

Date: May 7, 2009
Speaker: Matthew Nguyen, SUNY-Stony Brook.
Title: Studying Parton Energy Loss with Direct Photon + jet Events at RHIC

Date: May 8, 2009
Speaker: Professor Abhijit Majumder, University of Ohio- Columbus
Title: Jets and jets correlations: Where we are and where we want to be!

 

Department of Physics & Astronomy

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