Alumni

Dissertation Defense: Tong Liu, Yale University, "Inclusive Hadron Yield Analysis in Small and Mid-sized Collision Systems at sqrt(s_NN)=200 GeV at STAR"

At extremely high temperature and energy density, the quarks and gluons form a novel state of matter called the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP). The QGP has been widely studied via relativistic heavy ion collisions in large collision systems like Au+Au and Pb+Pb. However, whether the QGP exists in small systems like p+Au, and the dependence of QGP production on the collision system size are still open questions. One way to study the QGP properties is by using proxies of high energy partons, which are created in the initial stages of the collisions, and fragment into hadrons in the final state.

NPA Seminar: Carlos Peña Garay, Laboratorio Subterraneo de Canfranc, "Science in an Underground Lab"

Nuclear, particle and astrophysics are the themes of experiments hosted in underground labs. I will discuss, after motivated by fundamental questions, recent work done in Canfranc. Most of my talk will be concentrated on the exploration of neutrinos’ fundamental properties in nuclear and particle physics, astrophysics and cosmology, but I will also discuss current work on dark matter searches. Our cells are ionized by cosmic muons and radioactivity and I will briefly close with research on life processes in cosmic silence.

Dissertation Defense: Sumita Ghosh, Yale University, "Harnessing HAYSTAC for Hidden Photons and Advancing Rydberg Atom-based Axion Detection"

Dark matter is the name that we give to the 85% of matter in the universe that interacts via gravity but negligibly with any of the other known forces. One compelling model for dark matter is the axion, as it simultaneously solves the existence of dark matter and the strong CP problem in QCD. Axions can interact with a strong magnetic field through the Primakoff effect, wherein the axion can spontaneously convert into a photon in the presence of a strong magnetic field.

NPA Seminar, Flavio Cavanna, FERMILAB and University of L’Aquila, "The path of the DUNE Experiment at a turning point."

Getting there! DUNE with two 17kt LAr TPC Far Detector (FD1-FD2) modules, a Near Detector Complex and a Neutrino Beam with an intensity of 1.2 MW is well on its way to start physics in 2028 at SURF (SD). Mass Ordering and sensitivity to Maximal CPV - the initial goals of the flagship Long-Baseline (LBL) Neutrino Program - are within reach. 
The time has come to define a strategy to achieve the ambitious ultimate precision in the LBL physics goals and possibly further expand the DUNE science scope into the low-energy domain of rare underground physics and BSM searches.

Dissertation Defense: Hannah Bossi, Yale University, "Novel Uses of Machine Learning for Differential Jet Quenching Measurements at the LHC"

At sufficiently high temperatures and pressures, QCD matter becomes a hot and dense deconfined medium known as the Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP). Collisions of relativistic heavy-ions are used to recreate the QGP, providing a rich laboratory for exploring the mysteries of the strong interaction. The intrinsic and dynamic properties of the QGP are probed with jets, narrow cones of particles resulting from the scattering of quarks and gluons with a high momentum transfer.

Dissertation Defense: London Cooper-Troendle, Yale University, "First Measurement of Inclusive Muon Neutrino Charged Current Triple Differential Cross Section on Argon"

The field of accelerator neutrino experiments is entering an era of precision oscillation measurements where the remaining unknown neutrino measurements will be determined. The upcoming DUNE and Hyper-K experiments aim to determine the neutrino mass hierarchy and degree of Charge-Parity (CP) violation in the neutrino sector, providing potential insight on the matter-antimatter imbalance observed in the universe. However, these experiments require highly accurate measurements, and neutrino cross section modeling uncertainties may limit their capabilities.

Dissertation Defense: Kaicheng Li, Yale University, "Searching for the Electron Neutrino Anomaly with the MicroBooNE Experiment Using Wire-Cell Reconstruction"

The Micro Booster Neutrino Experiment (MicroBooNE) is a leading large-scale Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LArTPC) experiment, designed for precision neutrino physics. The main scientific objectives of MicroBooNE include the investigation of the Low Energy Excess (LEE) observed by the MiniBooNE Experiment between 2002-2019 in the Booster Neutrino Beam (BNB) at Fermilab, the measurements of neutrino-argon interactions, and the research and development of LArTPC technology. This thesis focuses on understanding the MiniBooNE LEE through charged-current electron neutrino interactions.

WIDG Seminar: Zoltan Varga, Wigner Research Centre for Physics, "Investigating the role of the underlying event in the charm-baryon enhancement”

The factorization hypothesis states that the production cross-section of heavy-flavor hadrons can be calculated as the convolution of three independent terms: the parton distribution function of the colliding hadrons, the production cross sections of the heavy-quarks in the hard partonic process, and finally the fragmentation functions of the heavy-flavor quarks into the given heavy-flavor hadron species. The fragmentation function has been traditionally treated as universal, i.e. independent of the collision systems.

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