Event Category: Particle Seminar

Particle Seminar:
Wednesdays 2:00pm at LBNL

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Title: Searching for Ultra-light dark matter with atomic & nuclear clocks and Interferometers Abstract: Fundamental physics has come to somewhat of a crossroads. With the as-yet absence of new particles at high energy colliders it has become increasingly attractive to consider the possibility that the new physics we seek has remained hidden not by an inaccessible energy barrier but via incredibly weak … Read More

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Title: Detectable dark photon dark matter Abstract: Ultralight dark photons are dark matter candidates supported by a burgeoning direct-detection program searching for their kinetic mixing with the ordinary photon. A dark photon’s dynamics in the early Universe, however, can easily breach the validity of the low-energy effective theory for a massive vector field, with disastrous consequences for its viability as … Read More

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Title: “Axions in QFT and Quantum Gravity” Abstract: The QCD axion is well-studied as a solution to the Strong CP problem and a dark matter candidate. At the same time, one often hears that axions are ubiquitous in top-down string theory models of particle physics. I will discuss some recent developments in our understanding of generalized global symmetries in quantum … Read More

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Title: (Runaway) Gravitational Production of Dark Photons  Abstract: Gravitational particle production is the process by which particles are created due to the expansion of spacetime during inflation. In this talk I will discuss aspects of gravitational particle production of dark photons, a popular dark matter candidate, with a particular focus on dark photons with nonminimal couplings to gravity. I will first show that the inclusion of nonminimal … Read More

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Title: Strongly coupled holographic sectors and the Early Universe Abstract: Strongly coupled confining theories are well-motivated in many BSM frameworks. Non-perturbative phenomena in the cosmological history of these theories present interesting theoretical questions and possibilities for observable signals. I will present recent and ongoing work that uses bottom-up holography and warped extra-dimensions to investigate the theoretical and phenomenological aspects of … Read More

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Title: Broken higher-form symmetries in particle physics Abstract: The study of generalized symmetries has led to new insights across high energy, condensed matter, and mathematical physics, but we are still in the early days of applications to particle physics. In this talk, I’ll briefly survey some of the generalized symmetries relevant for particle physics and present two examples where broken higher-form … Read More

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Title : Predicting the dark matter – baryon abundance ratio. Abstract : We discuss relaxation solutions to the dark matter – baryon coincidence problem in the context of QCD axion dark matter. In relaxation solutions, a moduli dynamically adjusts the mass of dark matter and baryons until their energy densities are O(1) the same. Because the QCD axion is heavily connected to QCD, scanning the QCD … Read More

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Title: The Quality/Cosmology Tension for a Post-Inflation QCD Axion Abstract: The QCD axion is not only a leading contender as a solution to the Strong CP problem, it is also a natural dark matter candidate. In particular, the post-inflationary axion is particularly attractive because of the possibility of a unique prediction of the axion mass if axion makes up all of dark matter. … Read More

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https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/94928022788?pwd=emVQWG1mTnhSbHVqekVuenk0VEVQZz09 Title: The neutrino force at all length scales Abstract:The exchange of a pair of neutrinos can mediate a long-range force. This “neutrino force” is a unique quantum force predicted by the Standard Model; it is also sensitive to the nature of the neutrino mass. Yet, this force is too weak to be detected so far. In this talk, I … Read More

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Title: Higher Order Flavor Sum Rules  Abstract:   Hadronic physics is notoriously challenging to study due to the non-perturbative nature of QCD. Although significant advances have been made in recent years, there are still no reliable methods for calculating observables in multibody hadron decays. As a result, flavor physics predictions, which rely on the approximate SU(3) flavor symmetry of QCD, remain the state … Read More