Future Seminars And Colloquia

Accurate characterization of gravitational wave signals from binary black hole (BBH) mergers require efficient models for the waveform and remnant quantities. While we have accurate models for quasi-circular BBH mergers, modelling eccentric binaries is still in its nascent stage. Using both numerical relativity (NR) and black hole perturbation theory (BHPT), we study the phenomenology of eccentric BBH waveforms. We present convincing evidence that the waveform phenomenology in eccentric BBH mergers is significantly simpler than previously thought. We find that the eccentric modulations in the amplitudes and frequencies in different spherical harmonic modes are all related and can be modeled using a single time series modulation. Using this universal eccentric modulation, we provide a model named gwNRHME to seamlessly convert a multi-modal (i.e with several spherical harmonic modes) quasi-circular waveform into multi-modal eccentric waveform if the quadrupolar eccentric waveform is known. This reduces the modelling complexity of eccentric BBH mergers drastically as we now have to model only a single eccentric modulation time-series instead of modelling the effect of eccentricity in all modes. We use gwNRHME to include eccentricity in current NR surrogate waveform models for quasi-circular mergers. Additionally, we discuss efforts in building dedicated surrogate models for eccentric BBH mergers using both NR and BHPT.

NOνA is a long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment with two highly segmented liquid-scintillator detectors: a near detector at Fermilab and a much larger far detector in Ash River, Minnesota. The far detector is at the surface with little overburden.  It has been running with nearly continuous livetime since 2014.  The enormous surface area of 4200 m² of the far detector and its surface location make it ideal for sensitive searches for intermediate- to high-mass magnetic monopoles 10⁶-10¹⁸ GeV, as well as other exotic highly ionizing, subliminal particles. This search implements a unique data-driven trigger.  We describe how the enormous cosmic-ray muon rate is defeated to allow a background-free search to be obtained and compare our sensitivity to previous results.

The transition of many materials of interest for the condensed matter community, particularly in energy-related applications, from crystalline materials to heterostructures and complex architectures, where different compounds are combined, stacked, interfaced and twisted in different ways, has forced the experimental techniques to evolve accordingly. Angle-resolved photoemission (ARPES), which has been for decades a spectroscopy of reference for accessing the low energy excitations in solids, had to implement a number of updates to keep pace with the progress made in materials fabrication. This talk will discuss some of the latest trends in ARPES, how it has advanced and to where it is moving in order to remain an invaluable tool for studying the electronic properties of materials.

The pyramids of ancient Egypt and of pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica have fascinated people since the cultures that built them vanished into the annals of history.  How were they built?  What were they used for?  Are there unknown internal substructures, perhaps hidden chambers that have yet to be discovered?  Using the detector technology we developed for a particle physics experiment at Fermilab, we intend to perform non-invasive searches for hidden structures at the Great Pyramid of Khufu, in Egypt, and at the Temple of Kukulkán at Chichén Itzá.  The apparatus will detect cosmic-ray muons produced high in the atmosphere that course through the pyramids to produce a tomographic image of their interiors. I will review the status of both projects, describe in detail the technique we intend to use, present recent simulation results and detector prototype results.

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