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Dark Sectors in Electron Fixed-Target Experiments

Date

Thursday March 14, 2019
2:30 pm - 3:30 pm

Location

Stirling 501

Miriam Diamond
University of Toronto

Abstract:

The leading dark matter (DM) paradigm over the past few decades has been that of a Weakly Interacting Massive Particle with a mass of tens of GeV to a few TeV. But in light of recent experimental constraints, attention is increasingly turning to models with lower-mass DM, especially in the context of a “dark sector” featuring multiple DM particle species. Probing such models requires exploiting complementarity between different types of DM searches, where electron-beam fixed-target experiments play an important role in the DM mass range of a few to hundreds of MeV. These experiments seek to generate dark sector particles, such as dark photons, via electron-nucleus scattering and emission processes analogous to standard bremsstrahlung. Identifying the visible decay products of the dark sector particles, such as electron-positron pairs, requires precise reconstruction of narrow mass resonances and/or displaced vertices; accounting for invisible decay products requires precise missing energy and/or momentum measurements. In this talk, I will give an overview of the landscape of current and planned fixed-target DM searches, with the Heavy Photon Search (HPS) and its planned successor LDMX (Light Dark Matter eXperiment) as specific examples.

 

Nanophotonic emitter-photon interfaces for demonstrating quantum advantage

Date

Friday October 8, 2021
2:30 pm - 3:30 pm

Location

Zoom

Ravijet Uppu
University of Iowa

Abstract

Photons are essential for transmitting quantum information given the ease with which we can generate, manipulate, and detect them. While several physical systems such as atoms, ions, and quantum dots were explored as candidate photon sources over the past few decades, none could achieve the steep performance metrics necessary for quantum advantage demonstrations. A simple reason behind the shortcoming is inefficiency, i.e., the ease with which we could lose a photon. I will illustrate how a carefully designed nanophotonic light-matter interface can overcome these shortcomings to realize an efficient and coherent single-photon source that will enable transformative capabilities in photonic quantum technologies. I will conclude with a discussion on the new avenues that wavefront control opens in nanophotonic light-matter interfaces.

Jennifer Low

Jennifer Low from Queen's University

Jennifer Low

Project Manager Physics+

she/her/hers

Administrative Staff

Physics, Engineering Physics & Astronomy

Arts & Science

jennifer.low@queensu.ca

613-533-6000 ext. 77207

STI 205E

About Jennifer

My favorite part about this position is the opportunity to work with a range of people from students, to staff and faculty. I love to feel productive and leave a positive impact at the end of the day. In my spare time, you can find me reading books, spending time with my beloved horse, or enjoying quality time with my family.

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Revealing hidden particles and forces with gravitational clues

Date

Friday October 1, 2021
2:30 pm - 3:30 pm

Location

STI A

Katelin Schutz
University of McGill

Abstract

How different would our Universe look with the addition of extra particles and forces beyond what we know? We already have ample gravitational evidence for at least one invisible component of matter that has properties unlike anything we have previously discovered. This dark matter is often assumed to be made of a single species of relatively inert particles but there is a much richer range of possibilities, including scenarios where dark matter is part of a “dark sector” including other auxiliary particles and forces. If there are dark forces affecting the distribution of dark matter in our Universe, then that distribution will gravitationally affect the visible matter that we can see. In this colloquium I will show how this gravitational footprint can reveal the internal properties of dark sectors where dark matter can dissipate energy, can scatter with itself (elastically or inelastically), can be wavelike on astrophysical scales, or can be born non-thermally in the moments after the Big Bang. In showing how these possibilities can be tested empirically, I will emphasize the constraining power of diverse astrophysical systems including the local Milky Way, nearby dwarf galaxies, distant galaxies and galaxy clusters, large-scale cosmological structure, and the cosmic microwave background.

Solid State Detectors for Low-Mass Dark Matter Searches

Date

Friday September 24, 2021
2:30 pm - 3:30 pm

Location

STI A

Dr. Miriam Diamond
University of Toronto

Abstract

We are faced with convincing evidence that approximately a quarter of the universe is composed of something whose gravitational effects can be seen in a variety of astrophysical phenomena, but which we have been unable to detect and identify in the laboratory. Most physicists agree that this "dark matter" (DM) consists of new subatomic particle(s); the quest to discover its exact nature is among the foremost missions in modern physics and the greatest treasure hunts in history. Direct DM searches over the past few decades have been largely focused on Weakly Interacting Massive Particles in the ~10 GeV - 1 TeV mass range. The absence of any conclusive discovery, along with various theoretical developments and certain astrophysical observations, has recently motivated the direct detection community to broaden our experimental program to search for DM candidates in the <10 GeV mass range. Solid-state detectors provide many advantages for such searches. This talk will summarize recent advances in phonon- and ionization-based semiconductor crystal experiments such as SuperCDMS and EDELWEISS, cryogenic scintillating calorimeter experiments such as CRESST, and Charge-Coupled Device experiments such as DAMIC and SENSEI. It will also discuss future prospects and discovery potential for solid-state detectors with respect to various low-mass DM candidates, including dark photons, axion-like particles, and lightly-ionizing particles.

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