Physics Department
After the successful data taking at the LHC over the past decade, the profile of the Higgs boson has been well established. However, since the Higgs field is linked to deep structural questions of the Standard Model such as flavor, naturalness and the stability of the vacuum, it calls for further exploration. There is consensus in the particle physics community that an electron-positron Higgs factory should be the next large collider to explore the Higgs boson with high precision. After the 2020 update of the Strategy for Particle Physics in Europe, a feasibility study for the realization of the Future Circular Collider (FCC) at CERN was launched. The outcome of the study is expected to become available in 2025. Together with developments on the international landscape of the field it will provide important input to the new update of the European Strategy, which is currently ongoing. This update has the ambition to develop the preferred option for the realization of the next flagship project at CERN. In this colloquium, our present understanding of the properties of the Higgs boson as well as prospects at electron-positron colliders are summarized. In addition, the present status of the FCC feasibility study as well as the European Strategy process are discussed.
The Higgs boson plays the central role in the Standard Model of particle physics and what we observe around us in our daily lives. However, the Higgs is also at the heart of many of our deepest unanswered questions ranging from where do we come from to what is the ultimate fate of our universe. In this talk I will describe how what we have learned so far about the Higgs frames these questions, and what our current and future efforts hope to shed light on. In particular I will focus on how the interplay of observables at the LHC and potential future colliders may best be used to explore the mysteries surrounding Electroweak Symmetry Breaking.
Cosmic ray experiments and neutrino telescopes investigate particle physics interactions at energies exceeding those achieved at the Large Hadron Collider. This talk will explore how particle physics experiments contribute to modeling interaction processes in the atmosphere. We will discuss the connections between cosmic ray interactions and atmospheric neutrino production, as well as their implications for collider experiments. Additionally, we will address neutrino interactions relevant to neutrino telescopes and examine prospects for neutrino cross-section measurements. We will also review deficiencies in modeling air shower interactions, specifically the challenges posed by the "muon puzzle."
Quantum many-body scars (QMBS) have emerged as a captivating anomaly within the landscape of quantum physics, challenging the conventional expectations of the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis (ETH). According to ETH, an isolated quantum system is expected to evolve toward thermal equilibrium, with local observables equilibrating to values predicted by statistical mechanics, independent of the initial state of the system. However, QMBS present a remarkable exception by exhibiting resistance to thermalization, thus maintaining quantum information for unexpectedly long durations.
This colloquium will delve into the intriguing realm of QMBS, highlighting their pivotal role in advancing our understanding of quantum thermalization and their potential applications in quantum dynamics and technology. The discussion will cover recent theoretical and experimental progress in identifying systems that display these scars, focusing on their properties and the mechanisms by which they arise.
A specific area of interest is the construction of QMBS states emerging from Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) states in bilayer systems, where each layer is maximally entangled. We will explore applications of this framework in quantum dimer models, examining various features of the bilayer model that contribute to the emergence of these states. Furthermore, if time allows, the talk will extend to systems of itinerant bosons, demonstrating how an infinite tower of many-body scar states can manifest in bilayer Bose-Hubbard models with charge conservation. We will discuss the implications of these findings in the context of recent experimental advancements, considering how these theoretical constructs relate to physically realizable systems in laboratory settings.
International cooperation in science, particularly in physics, is crucial for addressing global challenges and advancing sustainable development. This colloquium will explore the dynamic intersection of science policy and science diplomacy, with a particular focus on South Africa while also incorporating perspectives from across the African continent. Highlighting the significant contributions from Nelson Mandela University, an emerging leader in research, innovation, and internationalization, the presentation will showcase how South Africa, alongside other African nations, is driving international collaborations that propel scientific innovation and address pressing issues such as climate change, energy security, and public health. The talk will present a mix of highlights from various successful international partnerships and detailed case studies of key initiatives and programs, illustrating how African-led efforts are shaping global scientific agendas and promoting a more inclusive approach to research and development. Additionally, the presentation will reflect on personal lessons drawn from regional physics strategies in the U.S., Europe, Latin America, and Asia, offering comparative insights that underscore the importance of adapting global best practices to the African context. The discussion will emphasize the importance of interdisciplinary and cross-border collaboration in advancing both scientific knowledge and diplomatic relations. By reflecting on the lessons from South Africa, the rest of Africa, and other global regions, this presentation aims to inspire new strategies for enhancing international cooperation in physics and science in general, offering valuable insights for scientists, policymakers, and diplomats. Non-BNL individuals interested in attending this event are reminded that gate passes should be requested well in advance.
There are many speculative scenarios about QCD matter in the regions of low temperature and high baryon density. Since it is hard to impose first-principles constraints there, any hints from experimental observations should be useful for us to understand what we know and what we still miss. In this talk, I will explain what we can learn from the neutron star observations. Recently, several groups (including us) reported that the equation of state along the high-density direction unexpectedly behaves in a different way from the high-temperature matter. The prospect of gravitational signals from binary neutron star mergers is mentioned in this regard with emphasis on our finding that there should be a mass window in the binary system that is particularly sensitive to QCD phase transition scenarios.
Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) experiments have contributed powerful constraints on the fundamental physics of the Universe. Upcoming CMB experiments such as the Simons Observatory and CMB-S4 are poised to extend this progress even further. However, CMB experiments still have a wealth of information to offer beyond near-term facilities regarding the properties of dark matter, inflation, and light relic particles. In particular, a much lower-noise and higher-resolution wide-area CMB survey can cross a number of critical fundamental physics thresholds and open a relatively untapped window of small-scale, late-time CMB anisotropies. Here I will discuss CMB-HD, a next-generation CMB facility with three times lower noise and six times higher resolution than the CMB-S4 wide-area survey, as well as the discoveries it can enable.
I will review recent breakthroughs in understanding some general features of relativistic quantum field theories and an associated double-copy structure in physical prediction. Relating many theories from the entirely formal to the utterly effective, these insights weave a web of relations from our precision descriptions of high energy QCD phenomena to pion scattering to binary inspiral gravitational waveforms all the way to cosmic inflation. Throughout this discussion I will frame the study of scattering amplitudes as a conceptual laboratory for probing the invariant predictive content of physical theory.
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