Physics Colloquium: Dr. Dan Kodroff

Title: Hunting for New Particles a Mile Underground and on a Tabletop

Abstract: The Standard Model of particle physics describes the fundamental constituents of matter with extraordinary precision, but we know it is incomplete. It offers no explanation for dark matter, which makes up most of the mass in the universe, and it does not accommodate the non-zero neutrino masses revealed by oscillation experiments. Finding what lies beyond the Standard Model requires experiments specifically designed to observe these rare and elusive signals. I will describe two very different approaches to this problem. First, I will discuss direct detection dark matter experiments, which utilize detectors deep underground patiently waiting for a dark matter particle to collide with an atomic nucleus. I will discuss where the field stands today and what the next generation of experiments hopes to achieve. Second, I will turn to a technique on the opposite end of the scale: using optically levitated silica nanospheres, beads suspended in a laser trap, as ultra-sensitive force and momentum sensors. By watching a single nanosphere recoil when a nucleus inside it decays, we can probe the neutrino mass and search for sterile neutrinos, hypothetical particles that would be a clear signature of new physics.

Please join us for light refreshments starting at 4:15pm. Looking forward to seeing you there! 

**Anyone from the campus community is welcome, but note that the talk will assume at least 1-2 years of physics classes as background.