Date
Thursday March 21, 2019Location
Stirling 501TBA
Date
Thursday March 14, 2019Location
Stirling 501The 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.
Date
Friday October 8, 2021Location
ZoomPhotons 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.
Research Associate
Research Associates
Physics, Engineering Physics & Astronomy
Arts & Science
Project Manager Physics+
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Administrative Staff
Physics, Engineering Physics & Astronomy
Arts & Science
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.
Date
Friday October 1, 2021Location
STI AHow 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.
There will be a celebration of the life and work of Dr. Hugh Evans on October 23, 2018 from 3pm-5pm at the Faculty Club. Please join us.
Dr. George Ewan was a Queen’s Professor Emeritus who passed away on December 7, 2020 after a lengthy illness. He leaves behind a massive legacy as a research community builder in international particle astrophysics and a champion of Canadian involvement.
STEWART, Alec Thompson - 89, of Kingston, Ontario, died peacefully July 28, 2014 at Kingston General Hospital. Alec was born June 18, 1925, in Windthorst, Saskatchewan, son of Arthur Stewart and Nell (Thompson) Stewart, and older brother of Donal Stewart.
After an inspirational life that deeply touched many people, Geoff Lockwood passed away on Tuesday afternoon, January 20th, 2015. The family does not wish to have a memorial service. No flowers please. Geoff was a fervent believer and financial supporter of the United Way - so if you wish, a donation in Geoff's name would be greatly appreciated.
Queen's 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics
