Alumni

WIDG Seminar, Glenn Richardson, Yale, “Charge Reconstruction and Simulation in the nEXO Experiment”

Abstract: nEXO is a proposed tonne scale liquid xenon time projection chamber which plans to search for the neutrinoless double beta decay (0vbb) of Xe-136. 0vbb is a hypothetical nuclear process in which two neutrons decay into two protons and two electrons, with the notable absence of any neutrinos. Discovery of this hypothetical phenomena would help answer several questions concerning the mass of the neutrino, such as their Majorana nature. nEXO’s proposed detector design would allow it to search for this interaction with a half-life sensitivity greater than 10^{28} yrs.

NPA Seminar, Steven Murray, Arizona State University, "Forward Modelling Interferometric Observations of the EoR"

Abstract: 21cm observations of the Cosmic Dawn and Epoch of Reionization, via intensity mapping at z>6, offer a unique and exciting probe into the physics of stellar and galaxy formation and even cosmology. A range of instruments across the globe, including the highly targeted HERA experiment, are currently amassing a wealth of data – in which is buried the signature of the birth of the first stars.

NPA Seminar, Akash Dixit, University of Chicago, "Searching for dark matter with superconducting qubits"

Abstract: Detection mechanisms for low mass bosonic dark matter candidates, such the axion or hidden photon, leverage potential interactions with electromagnetic fields, whereby the dark matter (of unknown mass) on rare occasion converts into a single photon. Current dark matter searches operating at microwave frequencies use a resonant cavity to coherently accumulate the field sourced by the dark matter and a near standard quantum limited (SQL) linear amplifier to read out the cavity signal.

NPA Seminar, Simon Foreman, Perimeter Institute, "Detection of Cosmological 21cm Emission with CHIME"

Abstract: Intensity mapping of redshifted 21cm emission from neutral hydrogen holds great promise for learning about cosmology, as it provides an efficient way to map large volumes of the universe without the need to characterize individual luminous sources. The Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) is a cylinder telescope located in Western Canada that was custom-built for this purpose, and that has collected several hundred days’ worth of data since it reached full observational capacity in late 2018.

The Neuroscience of Human Decisions: Mapping as Knowing Lecture Series Virtual Talk

Mariano Sigman is one of the most outstanding neuroscientists in the world, with over 150 publications in the most prestigious scientific journals. He is also passionate about experimentation and has worked with magicians, chess masters, musicians, athletes and visual artists to bring his knowledge of neuroscience to different aspects of human culture and apply it in different contexts. He has participated twice (2016 and 2017) in the TED global events in Vancouver, the second with Dan Ariely.

Inference Project Virtual Talk: "Bias in Algorithms"

Artificial algorithms are increasingly being deployed to inform, endorse, and govern various aspects of today’s society. Their reach includes the domains of hiring, lending, medicine, criminal justice, insurance, allocation of public services, social and business interactions, and the dissemination of information and news.

Dissertation Defense: David Stewart, Yale University, "Jet to Event Activity Correlations in Small System Collisions at STAR"

Heavy ion collisions at the LHC and RHIC produce a quark gluon plasma (QGP), in which quarks and gluons are deconfined into an extended medium. This “fourth phase” of matter is also believed to have been the first material phase of the universe following the Big Bang. In experiment, high energy partons scatter at short time scales and may subsequently lose energy, or are “quenched”, via interactions with the QGP.

"I Prove a Theorem and the House Expands: Geometry and Poetry," Virtual Talk by Jordan Ellenberg

We are delighted that famed author and mathematician Jordan Ellenberg will be joining us for a virtual talk this semester. In his words, our speaker wrote a book about geometry and found himself, surprisingly, constantly talking about poetry.

Inference Project Talk and Discussion: The Inference of Nature: Cause and Effect in Molecular Biology

Theoretical approaches have always played an important role in biology, dating back to Mendel’s peas. In today’s era of genomics and big data in biology, statistical and computational tools are even more vital for biologists seeking to infer causation in living systems. To illustrate the range of methods, from modelling to machine learning, and how they contribute to understanding biological mechanisms, Dr. Teichmann will pick examples from some of the core problems her lab has been investigating as case studies.

Inference Project Talk: "No Cause for Concern: Indefinite Causal Ordering as a Tool for Understanding Entanglement"

Understanding the sorts of explanations and inferences that causal processes countenance is of course of great interest to philosophers and physicists (among others). But what can be said about physical processes that fail to exhibit classical causal structure? Indefinite causal ordering among events made possible by quantum correlations has become a fruitful arena of study recently, yielding new insights for quantum computing and communication, approaches to quantum gravity, and even for foundational issues in quantum mechanics.

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