University of Rochester

High Energy and Nuclear Physics Seminars 2009-2010
Arie Bodek and Aran Garcia-Bellido
Last Updated   Sept 16,  2009

  Seminars are Tuesdays, 3:30-4:30 pm, room BL372 - See details (Title and Abstract)  for each seminar after the list below.

High Energy and Nuclear Physics Seminars 2009-2010

September 22, 2009
Speaker:   Adrian Melissinos,   Rochester.
Title: "The effect of the tides on the LIGO interferometers"
Abstract: Long arm interferometers are subject to the tidal deformations of the Earth, which must be compensated to keep the instrument on a dark fringe. In addition tidal forces produce a time-dependent, f ~ 10^{-5} Hz, gravity gradient along the arms which affects the signal at the free spectral range frequency. Data obtained by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration show that the observed tidal lines agree with the known values to within the measurement resolution of 6x10^{-9} Hz.


September 29, 2009   http://www.pas.rochester.edu/urpas/calendar/2009/09/29
https://www.pas.rochester.edu/urpas/particle_physics_seminar_5
Speaker: Craig  Hogan, Fermilab
Title:        "Holographic Noise in Michelson Interferometers: a Direct Experimental  Probe of Unification at the Planck Scale"
Abstract: Classical spacetime and quantum mass-energy form the basis of all of  physics. They become inconsistent with each other at the Planck scale,
5.4 times 10^{-44} seconds, which may signify a need for  reconciliation in a  unified theory.  Although proposals for unified  theories exist, a direct experimental probe of this scale, 16 orders  of magnitude above Tevatron energy, has seemed hopelessly out of  reach. However in a particular interpretation of holographic unified  theories, derived from black hole evaporation physics,  a  world  assembled out of Planck-scale waves displays effects of unification
with a new kind of  uncertainty in position at the Planck diffraction  scale, the geometric mean of the Planck length and the apparatus size.  In this case a new phenomenon may measurable, an indeterminacy of  spacetime position that appears as noise in interferometers. The  colloquium will discuss the theory of the effect, and our plans to  build a holographic interferometer at Fermilab to measure it.

Archive of High Energy and Nuclear Physics Seminars 2008-2009
 
Fall 08  (For titles and Abstract, see bottom of this page)
 
9/9/08  -  Andrew Blackman, University of  Toronto   (hosted by Arie Bodek)
 9/16/08  -  no seminar
 9/23/08  -  Ashok Das, University of Rocheseter (hosted by Arie Bodek)
9/30/08  -  No seminar - Rosh Hashana
10/7/08 -  Haryo Sumowidagdo ,  Florida State University (hosted by Aran Garcia-Bellido)
10/14/08   Sarada Rajeev,  University of Rochesrer  (hosted by Arie Bodek)
 10/21/08  Mark Trodden, Syracuse University -(hosted by Arie Bodek)
10/28/08   Sourabh Dube, Rutgers  (hosted by Aran Garcia-Bellido)
11/4/08     Carsten Rott,  Ohio State  (hosted by Aran Garcia-Bellido)
11/11/08  - Pablo D. Goldenzweig, U. Cincinnati  (hosted by Aran Garcia-Bellido)
11/18/08  - Ron Poling ,  U Minnesota  (hosted by Arie Bodek)
11/25/08  - Jiyeon Han, University of Rochester (hosted by Arie Bodek)
12/2  -        no seminar
12/9/08    - Lynne Orr, University of Rochester  (hosted by Arie Bodek)

Spring 09  (For titles and Abstract, see bottom of this page)

1/20/90  Urlich Baur,  University of  Buffalo  (hosted by Arie Bodek)
1/27/09 - Cristiano Galbiati, Princeton  (Hosted by Kevin McFarland)
2/3/09 -  Open   - hosted by
2/10/09- Jodi Cooley, Stanford University
  http://med.stanford.edu/profiles/frdActionServlet?choiceId=printerprofile&fid=8820
http://med.stanford.edu/profiles/Jodi_Cooley-Sekula/
2/17/09 - Open  - hosted by
2/24/09 - Amanda Weinstein, UCLA
       http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~veritas/team.htm
3/3/09 -     Jonghee Yoo, Fermilab
Tuesday 3/10/09   - No seminar -  Spring Break (Aran out of town)
Tuesday 3/17/09   -  No seminar - APS meeting (Aran out of town)
3/24/09 - no seminar
3/31/09 - Cynthia Keppel, Hampton University and Jefferson Lab  (hosted by Arie Bodek)
4/2/ 2009   Special HEP Seminar  Dave Toback (Texas A&M) - THIS IS A THURSDAY - (hosted by Aran Garcia-Bellido)
4/7/09    Steve Ritz, NASA    (hosted by  Arie Bodek) - Aran out of town
4/14/09 -Toichiro Kinoshita, Cornell  (hosted by Arie Bodek)
4/21/09 - William Wester, FNAL  (hosted by Aran Garcia-Bellido)
Wed 4/22/09  Geumbong Yu,   Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester 

TITLES AND ABSTRACTS
Fall  2008 -

 9/9 -  Andrew Blackman, University of  Toronto 
The R-Symmetric supersymmetric standard model
https://www.pas.rochester.edu/urpas/particle_physics_seminar
The R-Symmetric supersymmetric standard model

 9/16 -  no seminar

9/23 -  Ashok Das, University of Rochester
Superstring theory and PT symmetric quantum mechanics
https://www.pas.rochester.edu/urpas/high_energy_physics_seminar_10
Superstring theory and PT symmetric quantum mechanics

9/30 -  No seminar - Rosh Hashana

Tuesday 10/7/08  -  Suharyo Sumowidagdo, Florida State University
Title: Top Quark Pair Production in Tau+Lepton Channel: Probing interactions between members of the third generation.
Abstract
We present the measurement of top quark-antiquark pair production in lepton+hadronic tau channel using approximately 1 inverse femtobarn of DO data.  We select events with one isolated, energetic electron or muon, one isolated hadronic tau, high missing transverse energy, and two or more energetic jets. One or more of the jets are required to have originated from a b-quark by applying neural network tagging algorithm.  We discuss the results within the context of a cross-section measurement, as well as a search for charged Higgs boson in top quark decays.
https://www.pas.rochester.edu/urpas/high_energy_physics_seminar_12


10/14   Sarada Rajeev,  University of Rochester
Title: "Solitons in Little Higgs Models"
Abstract:
Just as pions are made of quarks, it is possible that the Higgs bosons are made of some smaller particles. The original
proposals of this sort ("Technicolor") were ruled out by precision electro-weak data. "Little Higgs" models  of Arkani-Hamed et. al. avoid this fate by clever cancellations of radiative corrections. It is expected that the LHC will be able to test some of these models. If the Higgs bosons are like pions, do these models leas to  analogues of baryons in the electroweak sector; i.e., additional  particles (could be fermions or bosons depending on details) made of the same stuff as Higgs bosons? Baryons can be explained as topological solitons of pions. Soour question becomes, are there similar solitons in Little Higgs models? I will answer this question in  a version of these models due to Chris Hill and Richard Hill at Fermilab.
https://www.pas.rochester.edu/urpas/high_energy_physics_seminar_6

Tuesday 10/21/08  - Mark Trodden, Alumni Professor of Physics, Syracuse University
Title: "Gravitational Approaches to Cosmic Acceleration"
Abstract:
Among the possible explanations for the observed acceleration of the universe, perhaps the boldest is the idea that new gravitational physics might be the culprit. In this seminar I will discuss some of the challenges of constructing a sensible phenomenological extension of General Relativity, give examples of some candidate models of modified gravity and survey existing observational constraints on this approach. I will conclude by discussing how we might hope to distinguish between modifications of General Relativity and dark energy as competing hypotheses to explain cosmic acceleration.
https://www.pas.rochester.edu/urpas/high_energy_physics_seminar_11

Tuesday 10/28/08  Sourabh Dube, Rutgers
TITLE: "Search for Supersymmetry using the Trilepton signature"
Abstract:
Using 2.0fb-1 of integrated luminosity collected by the CDF II experiment at the Tevatron ppbar collider at root(s)=1.96TeV, we present a search for supersymmetry using the three lepton and missing energy signature of chargino-neutralino production. We expect to see approximately 11 supersymmetric events for a suitable choice of parameters in the mSUGRA model.  Our observation of 7 events is consistent with the Standard Model expectation of 6.4 ± 1.1 events.  We rule out chargino masses up to 145 GeV/c2 in certain mSUGRA regions and present an exclusion region in mSUGRA parameter space. We also present a method to extract model-independent results from this search.
https://www.pas.rochester.edu/urpas/high_energy_physics_seminar_16


Tuesday 11/4/08     Carsten Rott,  Ohio State 
Tile: Indirect Searches for Dark Matter with IceCube
Abstract
High energy neutrinos are unique messengers, traveling cosmic distances without being absorbed or deflected, that offer a new perspective on the high-energy universe. The IceCube neutrino observatory is an ice-Cherenkov detector currently under construction in the deep, clear ice beneath the geographic South Pole for the detection of these particles. It is a multi-purpose experiment that can not only be used to look cosmic neutrino sources, but also study atmospheric neutrinos, cosmic-rays, or search indirectly for dark matter, to name a few. After a brief introduction to the IceCube detector and Deep Core, a new subdetector that will be especially sensitive to neutrinos with energies below a TeV, I will summarize the main physics results. After that the talk will focus on indirect searches for dark matter and will conclude with an outlook into future discovery potentials.
https://www.pas.rochester.edu/urpas/high_energy_physics_seminar_13

Tuesday 11/11/08  - Pablo D. Goldenzweig,  University of Cincinnati.
  Title: Recent Results on B->VV Decays at Belle
Abstract:
The study of B-meson decays to hadronic final states tests our understanding of both weak and strong interactions. Specifically, B-meson decays to two vector mesons can shed light on the helicity structure of weak interactions through polarization studies. These decays yield important constraints on the unitarity triangle and can probe for new physics phenomena. In this talk, I will present recent results for the charmless vector-vector decays B0->wK*0 and B0->rho0rho0 using the worlds largest data set of BB(bar) pairs collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB e+e- collider. An overview of the analysis techniques will be
presented along with the branching fractions for the b->s penguin dominated B0->wK*0 and non-resonant B0->wK+pi- decays. A first measurement of the longitudinal polarization fraction for wK*0 decays will also be presented, along with a discussion of both SM and possible new physics interpretations. For B0->rho0rho0 decays, I will present Belle's measurement of the branching fraction and CKM angle phi_2.
https://www.pas.rochester.edu/urpas/high_energy_physics_seminar_17


Tuesday 1/18/08  - Ron Poling ,  U Minnesota
Title: "All Hail CESR (and CLEO) - Thirty Years Shaping the Standard Model".
https://www.pas.rochester.edu/urpas/high_energy_physics_seminar_7

Tuesday 11/25/08 Jiyeon Han, University of Rochester
Title: The Differential Cross Section Distribution of Drell-Yan Dielectron Pairs in the Z Boson Mass Region (Public Talk followed by closed PhD. Defence);
Abstract
We report on a measurement of the rapidity distribution, dsigma/dy,  for  Z/Drell-Yan to e+e-  events produced in  pbar p collisions at sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV. The data sample  consists of 2.13 fb^(-1)  corresponding to about  about 160,000   Z/Drell-Yan  to ee  candidates in the Z boson mass region collected  by the Collider Detector at Fermilab. The dsigma/dy  distribution, which  is measured over the full kinematic range for e+e- pairs in the invariant  mass range  66<M_e+e-<116 GeV/c^2,  is compared with theory predictions.  There is good agreement between the data and predictions of  Quantum Chromodynamics in Next to Leading Order with the CTEQ6.1M Parton Distribution Functions.
https://www.pas.rochester.edu/urpas/particle_physics_seminar_proceeded_by_phd_defense


12/2/08    No seminar

Tuesday 12/9/08    - Lynne Orr, University of Rochester
Title: "Top at Future Hadron Colliders".
https://www.pas.rochester.edu/urpas/high_energy_physics_seminar_15


Spring 09

Tuesday 1/20/09,  Urlich Baur,  University of  Buffalo
https://www.pas.rochester.edu/urpas/high_energy_physics_seminar_8
Title: Precision physics at the LHC
Abstract:
I discuss the prospects for measuring the W boson mass, the W width, the weak mixing angle, and the Higgs boson couplings at the LHC. Particular emphasis is given to the status of theoretical calculations relevant for these measurements.

Tuesday 1/27/09  Cristiano Galbiati, Princeton
http://www.pas.rochester.edu/urpas/particle_physics_seminar_0
Title: Noble liquids - The revolution in direct dark matter searches recent results from borexin
Abstract:
"Noble liquid detectors are changing in a fundamental way the field ofdirect dark matter searches.  They feature excellent discriminationbetween minimum ionizing events - due to background radioactivity -and nuclear recoils - the signature of WIMP dark matter interactions-.  Their unmatched promise of a rapid scaling of the target mass (by 2-3 orders of magnitude!) and of a corresponding increase in sensitivity is driving a large number of researchers into the field: it's the 21st century gold rush of astroparticle physics.  Will they provide the first successful exploration of the dark sector? Finally, I will present very recent results from the Borexino solar neutrino experiment.  I will also discuss how the technology developed in the context of solar neutrino searches will impact future direct dark matter searches."

Tuesday 2/3/09 , Open


Tuesday 2/10/09- Jodi Cooly, Stanford University

Tuesday 2/17/09, open

Tuesday 2/24/09, Amanda Weinstein  UCLA

Tueday 3/3/09 - Jonghee Yoo, Fermilab
Title : The first CDMS five tower results and the solid xenon project
Abstract :
The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) is originally designed searching for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs)
with low-temperature crystal detectors that are able to read out both ionization and phonon signals. However the same detector can also be
used for solar and Galactic axion search. In this talk I will present results of dark matter search, and the first results of solar and
Galactic axion search using the CDMS detectors. I will then discuss a next generation multi-purpose detector R&D, the solid xenon project.


Tuesday 3/10/09   - No seminar Spring Break

Tuesday 3/17/09   -  OPEN  possible seminar (now No seminar - APS meeting)

Tuesday 3/24/09  open

Tuesday 3/31/09  Cynthia Keppel, Hampton University and Jefferson Lab
https://www.pas.rochester.edu/urpas/high_energy_physics_seminar_14

THURSDAY 4/2/2009  -  Special HEP Seminar  Dave Toback (Texas A&M)
http://www.pas.rochester.edu/urpas/special_high_energy_physics_seminar_0
Title: The search for supersymmetry at CDF

Tuesday 4/7/09 Steve Ritz, NASA
Title: Fermi Mission Results, Status, and Plans at GLAST
https://www.pas.rochester.edu/urpas/high_energy_physics_seminar_9

Tuesday 4/14/09 Toichiro Kinoshita, Cornell
Title: Tackling the $\alpha^5$ term of the electron g-2: Progress Report"
https://www.pas.rochester.edu/urpas/high_energy_physics_seminar_19

Tuesday 4/21/09  William Wester, FNAL
Title "Recent advances in the detection of heavy quark hadronic states"  (from CDF data).
https://www.pas.rochester.edu/urpas/high_energy_physics_seminar_18 

Wed 4/22/09  Geumbong Yu,   Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester
Title: Search for Charged Higgs Bosons in Decays of Top Quarks in Proton-Antiproton Collisions at  Sqrt(s)  = 1.96 TeV (Also PhD Thesis Defense)
Abstract:
We report on the first direct search for charged Higgs bosons in decays of top quarks in pbar-p collisions at Sqrt(s)  = 1.96 TeV. The search uses a data sample with an integrated luminosity of 2.2 fm-1 collected by CDF II detector at Fermilab, and looks for a resonance in the invariant mass distribution of two jets in the lepton+jets sample of  t-tbar candidates. We observe no evidence of charged Higgs bosons in top quark decays; hence 95\% C.L. upper limits on the branching ratio,  B(t -> H+ b)  in assumptions of B(H+ ->  C sbar  = 1.0 and  B}(t ->  Wb) +   B(t -> H b)  = 1.0, are placed at 0.1 to 0.3, corresponding to charged Higgs boson masses of 60 Ge B(t -> H+ b) can also be used as model independent limits on the decay branching ratio of top quarks to any charged scalar bosons beyond thestandard model.