# Particle Physics

This series consists of talks in the areas of Particle Physics, High Energy Physics & Quantum Field Theory.

## Seminar Series Events/Videos

Currently there are no upcoming talks in this series.

## Testing QED with positronium state

Tuesday Aug 26, 2014
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The theory of quantum electrodynamics is recognized for the most accurate predictions in physics confirmed by experiment. I review the recent results on high precision tests of QED with an emphasize on the study of the positronium bound state.

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Tuesday Jul 29, 2014
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We show that in the presence of a chemical potential, black hole evaporation generates baryon number. If the inflaton or Ricci scalar is derivatively coupled to the B-L current, the expansion of the universe acts as a chemical potential and splits the energy levels of particles and their anti-particles. The asymmetric Hawking radiation of primordial black holes can thus be used to generate a B-L asymmetry. If dark matter is produced by the same mechanism, the coincidence between the mass density of visible and dark matter can be naturally explained.

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## Improving Mass Measurements Using Many-Body Phase Space

Tuesday Jul 15, 2014
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After the 7 and 8 TeV LHC runs, we have no conclusive evidence of physics beyond the Standard Model, leading us to suspect that even if new physics is discovered during run II, the number of signal events may be limited, making it crucial to optimize measurements for the case of low statistics. I will argue that phase space correlations between subsequent on-shell decays in a cascade contain additional information compared to commonly used kinematic variables, and this can be used to significantly improve the precision and accuracy of mass measurements.

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## What Can We Learn from Precision Higgs

Friday Jun 13, 2014
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In the coming years, LHC experiments will measure Higgs properties, such as its couplings, with increasing precision. Electron-positron Higgs factories, such as the ILC or TLEP, would be able to achieve even better precision. In this talk, I will discuss some of the physics questions that can be addressed by a precision Higgs coupling measurement program. First, the issue of naturalness of the electroweak scale can be addressed in a robust, model-independent manner.

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## Are the recent IceCube events hinting at O(100) TeV decaying dark matter?

Thursday May 22, 2014
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The IceCube detector has recently reported the observation of 28 events at previously unexplored energies. While the statistics of the observed events are still low, these events hint at the existence of a neutrino flux over and above the atmospheric neutrino background. We investigate the possibility that a significant component of the additional neutrino flux originates due to the decay of a very heavy dark matter (VHDM) particle via several possible channels into standard model particles.

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## New strong interactions and the t t-bar asymmetry

Tuesday May 13, 2014
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The CDF and D0 experiments at Tevatron measure a top-quark forward-backward
asymmetry significantly larger than the standard-model prediction.
We construct a model that involves new strong interactions at the electroweak scale
and can explain the measured asymmetry. Our model possesses a flavor symmetry
which allows to evade flavor and collider constraints, while it still permits flavor-violating
couplings of order 1 which are needed to generate the asymmetry via light t-channel vectors.

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## Noncommutative geometry and the symmetries of the standard model

Tuesday May 06, 2014
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I will describe Connes approach to the standard model based on spectral noncommutative geometry with particular emphasis on the symmetries. The model poses constraints which are satisfied by the standard model group, and does not leave much room for other possibilities. There is however a possibility for a larger symmetry (the grand algebra'') which may also be instrumental to obtain the correct mass of the Higgs.

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## Boson Tagging with Wavelets

Tuesday Apr 15, 2014
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I'll present a proof-of-concept new technique for tagging boosted objects which decay into two colored particles based on the wavelet transform. It is able to moderately improve the sensitivity of searches for such particles by 6-7%. I will also discuss future directions of applicability.

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## GeV Gamma-Rays from the Central Milky Way and the Case for Annihilating Dark Matter

Wednesday Mar 26, 2014
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Past studies have identified a spatially extended excess of ~1-3 GeV gamma rays from the Galactic Center and inner Galaxy, consistent with the emission expected from annihilating thermal relic dark matter. I will describe recent improvements in the characterization of this signal, which demonstrate that it is spherically symmetric, centered on the Galactic Center, and with a spatial profile consistent with annihilation from a cusped NFW profile.

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## Naturalness and the Weak Gravity Conjecture

Tuesday Mar 25, 2014
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The weak gravity conjecture (WGC) asserts a powerful consistency condition on gauge theories coupled to quantum gravity: an Abelian, long-range force requires a state of charge q and mass m such that q > m/mPl. Failure of this condition implies the existence of stable black hole remnants and is in tension with no-hair theorems. In this paper, we argue that the WGC creates a non- perturbative obstruction to naturalness, which is the notion that dimensionless coefficients should take on O(1) values in the absence of enhanced symmetry.

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## RECENT PUBLIC LECTURE

### Janna Levin: Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space

Speaker: Janna Levin