Yale Postdoctoral Trainees

The Standard Model of particle physics provides a remarkably predictive and well-tested theory for describing the interactions of the known elementary particles. However, the observed matter/antimatter asymmetry, the existence of small neutrino masses, and cosmological constraints on dark matter and dark energy point strongly to the existence of fundamental physics beyond the Standard Model. In the past few decades, ultra-low-background liquid xenon time projection chambers (TPCs) have emerged as a powerful experimental technique in the search for low energy signatures of new physics.

Axions emerge naturally from the Peccei-Quinn (PQ) mechanism which addresses the absence of CP violation in QCD; the axions produced through the “vacuum realignment mechanism” are also a good cold dark matter (CDM) candidate. Traditional cavity haloscope experiments such as ADMX and HAYSTAC have focused on the ~1-10 µeV mass range, leaving the theoretically well motivated mass range of ~100 µeV unexplored.

Quantum mechanics is experiencing an experimental and theoretical renaissance. In this talk, we will discuss novel ways to use quantum mechanics and provide several experimental applications of quantum tomography for proton-proton and heavy-ion collision experiments at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. We will discuss application of this model-independent analysis technique for Z bosons, dijets and quarkonia. The first observation of an unexpected correlation of spin and momentum in the experimental data will also be presented.
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Introduction to Scientific Computing at Wright Lab, led by Thomas Langford (YCRC/WL), will cover:
- In-house computing resources
- YCRC HPC systems: how-to and why-to
- Examples of common work-flows at Wright Lab
- Support available at Wright Lab and YCRC
Register here: https://forms.gle/LDozweyjafX5XRXDA

The physics of the time orientation of causation is more subtle than what it looks like superficially. For a long while it was reduced to a mere linguistic issue (a “cause” is just the term of a correlation that happens earlier, Hume). As emphasized by Russell, there is no time orientation in fundamental physics. But causation was later better understood as an essential notion in the context of an agent having choices, which after all is our own common context. This traces the time orientation of causation to the time orientation of agency.