Jacinta Delhaize
Cape Town

Abstract

TBA

The zoom link will be sent by email before the seminar. Please email Stéphane Courteau if you would like to join.

Jiayi Sun
McMaster University

Abstract

TBA

Guy Worthey
Washington State University

Abstract

TBA

The zoom link will be sent by email before the seminar Please email Stéphane Courteau if you would like to join.

David Curtin
University of Toronto

Abstract: TBD

McDonald Institute seminars bring together experimental and theoretical astroparticle physicists and astronomers. They are held approximately fortnightly, September to November and January to March, and on an ad hoc basis outside of term. They currently take place on Thursdays at 2:30 PM in STI 501 and/or on Zoom. Contact Aaron Vincent if you would like to attend through zoom.

Vicky Kaspi
McGill University

Vicky will give a 20 minute overview of her work with the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME)'s - Fast Radio Burst (FRB) team. We will then open the floor to talk more broadly about her science and work with a major experiment in Canada.

This talk will be both in person in room Stirling 501, and in an overflow room in the McDonald Institute Visitor Centre (302), and on zoom.

McDonald Institute seminars bring together experimental and theoretical astroparticle physicists and astronomers. They are held approximately fortnightly, September to November and January to March, and on an ad hoc basis outside of term. They currently take place on Thursdays at 2:30 PM in STI 501 and/or on Zoom. Contact Aaron Vincent if you would like to attend through zoom.

Amy Connolly
Ohio State University

Abstract: TBD

McDonald Institute seminars bring together experimental and theoretical astroparticle physicists and astronomers. They are held approximately fortnightly, September to November and January to March, and on an ad hoc basis outside of term. They currently take place on Thursdays at 2:30 PM in STI 501 and/or on Zoom. Contact Aaron Vincent if you would like to attend through zoom.

Kim Berghaus
Stony Brook University

Abstract:

If dark energy evolves in time its dynamical component could be dominated by a bath of dark radiation. Since dark energy was subdominant in the early universe, the dark energy radiation evades the usual stringent constraints on extra relativistic species from the cosmic microwave background, allowing for an O(1) fraction of the energy density today to be dark radiation. In this talk, I will discuss how dark energy radiation can emerge from a fundamental theory, its predictions for cosmological observables, as well as discovery potential and constraints with existing and future precision cosmological datasets including measurements of the cosmic microwave background, baryon acoustic oscillations, and supernova data. I’ll conclude with the prospects of measuring the particle content of the dark energy radiation in direct-detection experiments in the presence of interactions between the Standard Model and the dark radiation sector, focusing on neutrinos, axions and dark photons.

McDonald Institute seminars bring together experimental and theoretical astroparticle physicists and astronomers. They are held approximately fortnightly, September to November and January to March, and on an ad hoc basis outside of term. They currently take place on Thursdays at 2:30 PM in STI 501 and/or on Zoom. Contact Aaron Vincent if you would like to attend through zoom.

Sarah Shandera
Penn State University

Abstract:

Gravitational wave detections of merging ultracompact objects provide a completely new way to constrain non-minimal dark matter models. If the dark matter consists of a rich spectrum of particles, it will generically contain channels for dissipative energy loss that can lead to the formation of compact objects. We have recently calculated a crucial set of processes for “atomic dark matter” that enable accurate calculations of the spectrum of black holes produced in this scenario. I will show how these results inform gravitational wave searches, as well as the first generation of accurate simulations of structure formation with dissipative dark matter. Current data, especially from searches for sub-solar mass objects, already provide new constraints on the particle physics properties of dark matter. A detection of a dark matter black hole in an upcoming search would be revolutionary, directly bounding the mass of the heaviest fermion in the atomic dark matter scenario and constraining the size of the dark molecular energy gap.

McDonald Institute seminars bring together experimental and theoretical astroparticle physicists and astronomers. They are held approximately fortnightly, September to November and January to March, and on an ad hoc basis outside of term. They currently take place on Thursdays at 2:30 PM in STI 501 and/or on Zoom. Contact Aaron Vincent if you would like to attend through zoom.

Melissa Diamond
Queen’s University

Abstract:

Compact transients such as supernova and binary neutron star mergers can produce enormous fluxes of exotic particles.  One way to look for them is through fireballs, a dense expanding photon electron plasma formed when exotic particles escaping a compact source quickly decay to the standard model.  Fireballs produce a unique signal, allowing us to observe new parts of dark photon and axion parameter space.  Fireballs from the neutron star merger GW170817can produce new constraints on axions with masses between 1 MeV and 1 GeV, while a fireball from SN1987a opens up previously ruled out parameter space.

McDonald Institute seminars bring together experimental and theoretical astroparticle physicists and astronomers. They are held approximately fortnightly, September to November and January to March, and on an ad hoc basis outside of term. They currently take place on Thursdays at 2:30 PM in STI 501 and/or on Zoom. Contact Aaron Vincent if you would like to attend through zoom.