Past Seminars Fall 2002:

October:

  7th:Jinlong Zhang, Colorado State, "BaBar"
21st:  Dr. Camille Ginsburg, Univ. of Wisconsin, "CDF Run 2: Status and Prospects for Electroweak Physics"
28th:  Carlos Sanchez, Ohio State University, "Measuring the Top Mass Using Neural Networks"

November:

18th:  Dr. Gregory Rakness, Indiana Univ. Cyclotron Facility,  "First Results from Polarized Proton Collisions at STAR"
25th:  Bockjoo Kim, Seoul National University   "Recent Results from the K2K experiment"

December:

11th: Dr. Jenny Thomas,University College, London, "Status of the MINOS Experiment"

Past Seminars Spring 2003:

January:

February:

March:

April:

 2nd:  Dr. Gokhan Unel, Northwestern University, "A new method for measurement and creation of polarization in 20-170
GeV photons:  Birefringence in aligned crystals
  7th:  Dr. Stefano Giagu, University of Rome "La Sapienza", "Charm and Beauty Physics at CDF-II"
14th:  Dr. Steven Pate, New Mexico State ,  "Strange Nucleon Form Factors:  The G0 Experiment at Jefferson Lab"
21st:  Dr. Anna Goussiou, Imperial College, London, "Latest Run II Results from D0"
28th:  Dr. Kevin Graham, Queens University, Kingston, Ontario, "Status of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory"
29th:  Zhengwei Chai, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, "Investigation of the N to Delta(1232) Transition via
Polarization Observables"

Past Seminars Fall 2003:

September:

Abstract

A fundamental prediction of General Relativity is the existence of gravitational waves---ripples in the fabric of spacetime itself. The direct observation of gravitational waves is a realistic goal for kilometer-scale interferometers, such as LIGO, which are being commissioned at various sites around the world. After reviewing some basic properties of gravitational waves, I will describe the laser interferometers which are being used as gravitational wave detectors and the sources they might see. I will also discuss results from the analysis of the first LIGO data.

October:

November:

December:

Abstract

Diffractive interactions in electron-proton and in proton-(anti)proton collisions are discussed as a means to investigate QCD and the proton structure. The concept of diffractive parton distributions is presented. The sensitivity of hard diffractive interactions to the gluon density and to parton-parton correlations in the proton is discussed. Recent HERA and Tevatron results are presented. The interest of studying diffractive Higgs production at the LHC is also discussed.
 

  8th:  Open  (CMS Week)
15th:  Finals
22th:  Holidays
29th:  Holidays

Past Seminars Spring 2004:

January:
  5th:  Holidays
12th:  Holidays
19th:  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday
26th:  Open (vacation)

February:

Abstract

Science is becoming vastly more complex and scientific collaborations are becoming larger, more distributed and more divers. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland, is a prime example. It is being constructed by a global collaboration of physicists and engineers and will commence operation in 2007 with a scientific program that will continue for decades.

The unprecedented energy range and sensitivity of this new particle accelerator, combined with the special capabilities of the LHC experiments for particle detection and measurement, are expected to lead to discoveries of new elementary particles and novel behaviors of the fundamental forces. Such discoveries at the smallest distance scales could have revolutionary effects on our understanding of the unification of forces, the origin and stability of matter, the ultimate underpinnings of the observable universe, and the nature of space-time itself.

The LHC's scientific and technical challenges are daunting; in particular the problem of distributed access to the vast repositories of scientific data that the LHC physics experiments will acquire every year. For the LHC, as an extremely data intensive science, achieving high and reliable throughputs for storing, accessing and analyzing data is an enabling technology factor. This will enable the globally distributed computing model that the LHC has adopted, enable science on the global scale, and enable universities in the U.S. to be full part of the expected breakthrough discoveries.

I will talk about how the LHC global collaborations address these computing challenges by creating Peta-scale data infrastructures. I will describe how the LHC experiments are working together with computer scientists, information technologists and other scientific communities to construct a global cyberinfrastructure of international computing grids that will be used by thousands of scientists, with the goal to enable scientific collaborators to work together as co-located peers, and to create new capabilities to empower the individual scientist, the group and the entire scientific community.

  9th:  Open
11th:  (Note Special Day: Wednesday)Darin Acosta, University of Florida,"The Hunt for Fundamental Scalar Particles at Proton Colliders"
16th: Peter Shanahan, FNAL and MINOS, "Neutrino Experiments with the Fermilab NuMI Beam: MINOS and Beyond."

Abstract

The MINOS experiment will study neutrino oscillations using the NuMI beam at Fermilab, and two detectors separated by a baseline of 735km. The primary aims of MINOS include a precision measurement of $\Delta m^2$ in $\nu_\mu$ disappearance, and an improved limit on $sin^2(\theta_{13})$ in $\nu_e$ appearance. In addition to the status and prospects of MINOS, plans for proposed future neutrino experiments using the NuMI facility will also be discussed.
 

23rd:  Open

March:

April:

Abstract

Flavor changing neutral current (FCNC) decays are suppressed in nature. The Standard Model prohibits FCNC decays at tree level. New physics effects are easier to observe when they compete with suppressed higher order loop effects (penguin diagrams) that permit the rare processes, b->s,gluon and b->s,gamma. In this talk, recent BaBar measurements of direct and indirect CP violation parameters involving these rare processes will be discussed.
 

19th:  Dusan Turcan, University of Maryland, "Solving the Solar Neutrino Puzzle via Neutrino Flavor Oscillations"
26th:  Steve Sekula, MIT, "Recent Results from Searches for Leptonic Decays of the B-meson"

May: