2010
September 29, Wednesday, 11:00am, Building 50A-Auditorium
Neutrino Physics: The Next Steps
Prof. Wick Haxton (LBNL)
Abstract: We were fortunate with neutrino physics and astrophysics over the past 20 years: mass differences and mixing angles nicely matched parameters like the solar density and the earth’s radius. Will our luck hold in the next round of high precision measurements? I will describe some of the issues that may arise with long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments, with comparisons between cosmological tests and direct neutrino mass measurements, with the next galactic supernova, and with efforts to use neutrinos to probe the high-energy limits of the universe.
Attachments: Haxton_colloquium.pdf | Sep29-10.pdf
October 6, Wednesday, 11:00am, Building 54-130, Pers Hall
Jefferson Lab – The Next Ten Years and Beyond
Dr. Hugh Montgomery (JLab)
Abstract: Jefferson Lab had its 25th anniversary a year ago. After successful operation of its 6 GeV continuous wave superconducting radiofrequency accelerator for a decade, the laboratory is constructing an upgrade to double the energy of the accelerator to 12 GeV, and to extend its experimental capabilities. The result will be an exciting nuclear and particle physics program, which will extend well beyond 2020. The beautiful superconducting radio-frequency technology also offers other opportunities, for example, in photon physics.
Attachments: Montgomery lbnl colloquium Jefferson Lab – The Next Decade and Beyond.pdf | Oct06-10.pdf
November 10, Wednesday, 11:00am, Building 54-130, Pers Hall
Exploring the fundamental properties of matter with an electron-ion collider
Dr. Jianwei Qiu (BNL)
Abstract: The proton and neutron are the basic building blocks of all elements that are responsible for more than 95% weight of visible matter in the universe, while the proton and neutron themselves are not elementary and are believed to be made of quarks and gluons. One of the most challenging questions in physics for the past several decades and the future is to understand QCD confinement and to describe the fundamental properties of hadrons, such as mass, spin, and magnetic moment, in terms of quarks, gluons, and their dynamics in QCD. In this talk, I will demonstrate that an energetic electron-ion collider with a good luminosity and beam polarization is an ideal and much needed machine to search for clues of the confinement, the remarkable property of QCD, by exploring the internal structure of a nucleon and a nucleus, as well as their fundamental parameters, such as mass and spin, in terms of quarks, gluons, and their dynamics in QCD.
Attachments: Nov10-10.pdf | Qiu_LBNL_Colloq.pdf
December 1, Wednesday, 11:00am, Building 54-130, Pers Hall
Nuclear Physics from Lattice QCD (The Anticipated Impact of Exa-scale Computing)
Prof. Martin Savage (U. of Washington)
Abstract: With the continued deployment of computational resources of increasing capability and capacity, the numerical technique of Lattice Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) is moving toward becoming a practical tool with which to calculate the properties and interactions of strongly interacting particles such as the nucleons and hyperons. It will allow for the quantification of uncertainties in quantities of importance in nuclear physics, such as reaction rates and the composition of hadronic matter, and provide a reliable method with which to calculate processes that are inaccessible to experiment. I will discuss the progress that is being made toward achieving this objective.
Attachments: Dec01-10.pdf | SAVAGE_LQCD_Seminar_LBNL_v1.pdf