Indiana University High Energy Physics
and Astrophysics Seminars
2002-2003 Academic Year
| Mondays, 4pm | Refreshments 3:30 pm |
| Swain West 238 | HEP Coffee Room (SW262) |
Fall Semester 2002
| Sep. 2: | NO SEMINAR THIS WEEK |
| Labor Day | |
| Sep. 9: | Results from ICHEP, Part 1 |
| Mark Messier | |
| Indiana University
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| Sep. 16: | Results from ICHEP, Part 2 |
| Andrzej Zieminski | |
| Indiana University
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| Sep. 23: | Results from ICHEP, Part 3 |
| Daria Zieminska | |
| Indiana University
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| Introduction to 'Little Higgs' Models | |
| Mike Berger | |
| Indiana University
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| Sep. 30: | Petrov classification in five dimensions and black holes on cylinders |
| Pieter-jan De Smet | |
| Stony Brook
We give a five-dimensional version of the well-known Petrov classification
of metrics on four-dimensional space-times. Subsequently, we use this
classification to look for the metric of a black hole in a Kaluza-Klein
background within the class of algebraic special metrics.
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| Oct. 7: | A lattice determination of the effective potential for the Polyakov loop |
| Travis Miller | |
| Indiana University
Simulations of pure SU(3) gauge theory indicate deconfinement phase transition at high temperatures. The order parameter for this tranistion is the trace of the Polyakov loop. The transition is known to be weakly first order, and the effective mass of the Polyakov loop is very small near the transition. Therefore the dynamics of the Polyakov loop dominate the free energy above the deconfinement temperature and so a Landau-Ginsberg free energy functional in terms of the Polyakov loop will give a good description of the bulk thermodynamic properties of the deconfined state. Using non-equilibrium lattice simulations, the parameters of the effective potential are determined at several temperatures in the deconfined phase.
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| Oct. 14: | Supernova Neutrinos |
| Chuck Horowitz | |
| Indiana University
Core collapse supernovae are gigantic explosions of massive stars that synthesis chemical elements, accelerate cosmic rays, and form neutron stars and black holes. They are macroscopic systems dominated by the weak interactions, radiating fully 99% of their energy in neutrinos. This provides a unique opportunity to search for large scale signatures of the symmetries and features of the weak interactions. This talk is a gentle introduction to supernovae followed by a discussion of how neutrino interactions in dense matter, neutrino oscillations, and other neutrino properties determine the neutrino spectrum. I will also discuss how heavy element nucleosynthesis may be influenced by the neutrinos. Finally, I discuss the detection of supernova neutrinos, including new detectors based on neutrino-nucleus elastic scattering. The next galactic supernova should be a rich source of astrophysical and neutrino information.
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| Oct. 21: | The Auger Experiment |
| Rishi Meyhandan | |
| LSU
Recent experiments have suggested the existance of astrophysical particles of extreme energies ( > 10^20eV ) produced within a relatively close region to the Earth. However such sources do not appear to exist. The Pierre Auger Observatory intends to collect a significant amount of data at these energies to definitely show if this is true.
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| Oct. 28: | Prospects for Higgs bosons discovery at the LHC |
| Ketevi Assamagan | |
| Brookhaven National Laboratory
The observation of one or several Higgs bosons will be
fundamental for the understanding of the electroweak symmetry breaking
mechanism. In the Standard Model (SM), one scalar doublet is responsible
for the electroweak symmetry breaking, leading to the prediction of one
Higgs boson. The simplest extension to the SM Higgs sector is the two
Higgs doublet model present in many extensions to the SM itself,
including supersymmetry. In such models, symmetry breaking leads to
five Higgs particles, three neutral and a charged pair. We briefly
review the current experimental searches of the Higgs bosons, then
discuss the sensitivity of the LHC detectors to their discovery.
Copy of transparencies
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| Nov. 4: | Neutrino mixing and big bang nucleosynthesis |
| Nicole Bell | |
| Fermilab
We analyze active-active neutrino mixing in the early universe and show that transformation of neutrino-antineutrino asymmetries between flavours is unavoidable when neutrino mixing angles are large. This process is a standard Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein flavour transformation, modified by the synchronisation of momentum states which results from neutrino-neutrino forward scattering. The new constraints placed on neutrino asymmetries eliminate the possibility of degenerate big bang nucleosynthesis.
Implications of active-sterile neutrino mixing are also reviewed.
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| Nov. 11: | Physics at a Photon Collider |
| Stefan Soldner-Rembold | |
| Fermilab
High energy photon beams can be produced
at a future Linear Collider
by Compton backscattering of laser photons
on the electron beams.
After an introduction
into the working principle of a Photon Collider,
the highlights of the physics programme will
be reviewed.
The Photon Collider's physics
potential is complementary to the
electron-positron option of the Linear Collider.
The `golden process' is the production of Higgs
bosons in photon-photon collisions. Various
Higgs scenarios accessible at a Photon Collider
will be discussed.
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| Nov. 18: | Neutrino Oscillation Results from the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory |
| Scott Oser | |
| U. Penn
The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) has determined the flavor content of the $^8$B solar neutrino flux by measuring the rates of charged current and neutral current neutrino interactions on deuterium. These results directly demonstrate neutrino flavor transformation at greater than $5\sigma$ significance. The total flux of $^8$ neutrinos is found to be in good agreement with solar model predictions. Measurements of the day and night neutrino energy spectra probe models of neutrino oscillation. A global fit of SNO data and results from other solar neutrino experiments to neutrino oscillation models strongly favors the Large Mixing Angle (LMA) MSW solution.
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| Nov. 25: | NO SEMINAR THIS WEEK |
| Thanksgiving Week | |
| Dec. 2: | Physics with Fermilab Booster Neutrinos |
| Rex Tayloe | |
| The Fermilab Booster Neutrino Beamline will be the world's
most intense source of neutrinos in the 1 GeV energy region. The MiniBooNE experiment is using this source to search for neutrino oscillations as indicated by LSND. Additional nuclear and particle physics topics may also be investigated with a modest-sized detector at a near-source location. The current status of the neutrino beam and the MiniBooNE experiment will be presented along with plans to build a new experiment on the Booster Neutrino Beamline.
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| Dec. 9: | Search for Extra Dimensions with CDF Using Missing Energy |
| Kevin Burkett | |
| Harvard
Theories with large extra spatial dimensions have been proposed as a solution to the hierarchy problem. I will focus on the model of Arkani-Hamed, Dimopoulos, and Dvali, where gravity can propagate in the 4+n dimensional bulk of spacetime, while the rest of the SM fields are confined to a 3+1 dimensional brane. I will discuss the phenomenology of this model, foucusing on signatures for the detection of extra dimensions at colliders. I will then present results from the CDF experiment for a search for the direct emission of gravitons using data from Run I at the Tevatron.
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