Tentative Schedule
February 4, 2009
Speaker: Christine Aidala, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Title: "Frontiers in Nucleon Structure"
Abstract:
Quantum chromodynamics offers a powerful and elegant description of one
of the fundamental forces in nature. However, we remain at an early stage in being able to describe the everyday nuclear matter of the
world around us in terms of the fundamental degrees of freedom in QCD,
quarks
and gluons. The proton, as a fundamental bound state of QCD, can serve
as an excellent laboratory in which to probe the complexities of the strong force as we learn more about the very matter of which we ourselves are made.
Colliding polarized proton beams at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider
(RHIC) offers a novel experimental method for the investigation of nucleon structure, in particular its angular momentum structure. The
measurements at RHIC provide unique sensitivity to the spin contribution
from the gluon field in the proton and the spin structure of the quark
and anti-quark sea, as well as the transverse spin structure of the
proton, which continues to produce a number of startling effects.
Highlights of the recent contributions that RHIC has made to the study of proton structure will be presented.
Looking beyond RHIC, a new facility, capable of colliding a beam of
electrons with a wide range of nuclei as well as polarized protons and light ions, has been proposed: the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) promises
to usher in an era of precision measurements of QCD phenomena in nuclear
matter, bringing the field to a new stage. The status and prospects of the EIC will be discussed.
February 10, 2009
Speaker: Brian Rebel, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Title: "Search for active neutrino disappearance in MINOS"
Abstract:
MINOS is a long baseline neutrino oscillation experiment with two detectors that are separated by a distance of 735 km and exposed to a
high power muon neutrino beam. The experiment has reported a
significant deficit of muon neutrinos at its far detector relative to
the near detector through measurement of the rate of charged-current interactions. If this deficit is due solely to conversions of muon
neutrinos to electron and tau neutrinos, then the rate of neutral-
current (NC) interactions at the far detector remains unchanged from
the non-oscillation prediction. Alternatively, if any muon neutrinos convert to a sterile state, then the NC rate would be suppressed and
the reconstructed energy spectrum would be distorted. In this talk I will describe the analysis of the NC interactions from an exposure of
the MINOS detectors to 2.5e20 protons on target.
** Special start time at 11:00 AM **
February 18, 2009
Speaker: Amanda Weinstein, UCLA
Title: "Exploring the extreme universe: astronomy and particle physics with VHE
gamma-rays"
Abstract:
Viewed at very high energies, the universe is a place of powerful
astrophysical engines driving accelerators that reach far greater
energies than anything built on earth. By studying the products of
these accelerators (such as cosmic rays and gamma-rays), we can not
only learn a great deal about the astrophysics of these sources, but
probe a variety of questions in particle physics and cosmology. A new
generation of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs),designed
to detect VHE (100 GeV-10 TeV) gamma-rays, has radically altered our
picture of the very high-energy gamma-ray sky. One such instrument is
the recently-commissioned IACT array VERITAS, which saw first light in
April 2007. I will discuss results from the first two years of the VERITAS observing program and the guidance
that they offer for the next few years of the VERITAS program. The
impact of (and synergy with) the recently-launched Fermi satellite,
which promises to similarly revolutionize gamma-ray astronomy in the 20
MeV to 300 GeV band, will also be discussed, along with long-term
directions for the field.
** Special start time at 12:30 PM **
February 19, 2009
Speaker: Jonghee Yoo, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
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.
February 24, 2009
Speaker: Elisa Resconi, Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik
Title: "The IceCube Neutrino Observatory: Opportunities for Astroparticle Physics"
Abstract:
Neutrino astronomy offers the ability to pinpoint high energy hadronic
processes in the universe including locations of cosmic ray
acceleration. After the description of the "Cosmic particles
flowchart", I will discuss the IceCube project.
The IceCube neutrino observatory, under construction at the South Pole,
consists of three sub-detectors: a 3-dimensional array of digital
optical modules deployed deep in the ice, the AMANDA neutrino
telescope and the surface array IceTop. I will summarize results from
searches for cosmic neutrinos with the AMANDA telescope and review
expected sensitivities for IceCube at various installation phases.
Reliability and robustness of installation at the South Pole has been
demonstrated along the past five construction seasons. On the base of
the experience gained in operations at the South Pole, the extension of
IceCube at the extreme ends (low and high) of the energetic region can
be accomplished. I will describe the IceCube Deep Core project and
connected new opportunities for astroparticle physics.
** Special start time at 11:30 AM **
February 26, 2009
Speaker: Niki Saoulidou, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Title: "Fermilab long baseline v oscillation experiments: From MINOS to NOvA and Beyond"
Abstract:
First I will make a general introduction to neutrino physics, with
emphasis in neutrino oscillation physics. Then I will review in detail
the current status and results of the MINOS experiment, as well as its
future prospects. At the last part of the talk I will focus on the
remaining, challenging open questions related with neutrinos, and I
will discuss how we plan to address them with near term, NOvA, as well
as longer term, FNAL-TO-DUSEL long baseline neutrino oscillation
experiments.
March 3, 2009
Speaker: Marisa Pedretti, universita' degli studi dell'insubria
Title: "Search for Neutrinoless Double Beta Dacay in CUORE"
Abstract:
The questions concerning the nature and origin of neutrino mass are among the most pressing issues in contemporary particle physics. CUORE is a ton-scale bolometric detector which will search for the Double Beta Decay of 130Te, hence providing access to an unexplored range in the neutrino mass spectrum. CUORICINO, a 40kg prototype, has so far provided very stringent limits on the Mayorana neutrino mass.
The CUORE R&D program is focused on the assessment and reduction of the radioactive background of the detector (which is the limiting factor in its sensitivity), as well as on the manifold issues concerning the scalability of the bolometric concept. The ongoing R&D effort will allow to push the ultimate sensitivity of the CUORE experiment into the inverted hierarchy region of the neutrino mass spectrum (few tens of meV in Majorana mass).
In my talk I will report the main results from CUORICINO, the highlights of the present R&D activity and the projections for the CUORE discovery potential in a 5 years exposure window.
March 10, 2009
Speaker: Morgan Wascko, Imperial College London
Title: "Neutrino Physics with SciBooNE and T2K"
Abstract:
In the last decade, neutrino experiments have definitively shown that neutrinos
have non-zero mass and undergo flavor oscillation. The next generation of
experiments will take the field from the discovery to the precision measurement
phase. One crucial component of the precision era is better understanding of
neutrino interaction cross sections. SciBooNE is a neutrino experiment that
operated successfully at Fermilab in 2007 and 2008, and is making the most
precise cross section measurements to date near 1 GeV. I will describe the
experiment and SciBooNE's role in the global neutrino program; I will also
present the first physics analysis and prospects for future measurements.
** Special start time at 11:30 AM **
March 11, 2009
Speaker: Tobias Haas, Deutsches Elektronensynchrotron, Hamburg, Germany
Title: "Electron-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 320 GeV -- building the legacy of HERA"
Abstract:
For fourty years, deep inelastic scattering has been an important tool to investigate the structure of matter at subnuclear distances. Following on a long sequence of fixed-target experiments, HERA was the first, and so
far the only, electron-proton collider. It operated at the DESY laboratory in Hamburg, Germany, from 1992 - 2007. The ongoing analysis of the recorded data will go on for several more years. In this talk the fundamental
questions tackled by the HERA data will be discussed. Some recent key results on proton structure, precision tests of QCD as well as the Electro-Weak sector of the Standard Model of particle physics, and on searches for
non-Standard Model processes will be presented.
