Prof. Chiara Mingarelli awarded NSF grant
Chiara Mingarelli, Assistant Professor of Physics at UConn, is the lead researcher on a $650,000 Collaborative Research Grant from the National Science Foundation, half of which is earmarked for UConn, to conduct an experiment to prove the existence of supermassive black hole binaries. This grant will combine, for the first time, traditional astronomy with gravitational […]
[Read More]
A Physics Ph.D. Student’s Step-By-Step Journey to Storrs and Distant Galaxies
UConn Physics graduate student Mohammed (Mo) Akhshik works on data gathered using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and has led to exciting discoveries, some while he served as the science Principle Investigator of the REQUIEM HST program from which he is co-author on two publications, one in Nature and one in Nature Astronomy. Akhshik is also […]
[Read More]
Professor Daniel Anglés-Alcázar research featured in ‘UConn Today’ and CBC radio interview
At the center of galaxies, like our own Milky Way, lie massive black holes surrounded by spinning gas. Some shine brightly, with a continuous supply of fuel, while others go dormant for millions of years, only to reawaken with a serendipitous influx of gas. It remains largely a mystery how gas flows across the universe […]
[Read More]
Dear Friends of UConn Physics
As we approach the beginning of the 2021-22 school year, UConn is set for having classes in person again, students on campus, and our first taste of somewhat normal university life in a year and a half. Students, faculty, and staff are all required to be vaccinated, masks are required indoors, classrooms will be fully […]
[Read More]
Physics alumnus Prof. Douglas Goodman and Professor Emeritus Winthrop Smith Featured in Online Peer Review Journal
Prof. Emeritus Winthrop Smith and former student Prof. Douglas Goodman (Quinnipiac University) Edit Special Issue of Open Access Journal Atoms, on Low Energy Interactions between Ions and Ultracold Atoms The Special Issue of the online journal Atoms is a collection of current peer-reviewed articles by experts in the field of ultracold collisions and reactions involving […]
[Read More]Recent Events
-
Prof. Martha Constantinou, Temple University, "Beyond Leading-Twist Proton Structure from Lattice QCD: The Twist-3 Case", Particle, Astrophysics, And Nuclear Physics Seminar2:00pm
11/29
Prof. Martha Constantinou, Temple University, "Beyond Leading-Twist Proton Structure from Lattice QCD: The Twist-3 Case", Particle, Astrophysics, And Nuclear Physics Seminar
Monday, November 29th, 2021
02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Storrs Campus GS-119
Prof. Martha Constantinou, Temple University
Beyond Leading-Twist Proton Structure from Lattice QCD: The Twist-3 Case
Parton distribution functions (PDFs) have a central role in understanding the hadron structure and have been calculated in lattice QCD mainly via their Mellin moments. The landscape of roton structure has changed with new methods to access the x dependence of distribution functions. In this talk, we will present results using the approach of quasi-distributions, which relates lattice data to light-cone distributions. The method relies on matrix elements of fast-moving hadrons coupled to non-local operators. These are matched to the light-cone PDFs using Large Momentum Effective Theory (LaMET). I will present the twist-2 unpolarized, helicity and transversity GPDs, and also also demonstrate the feasibility of the approach for twist-3 PDFs and GPDD explored in lattice QCD for the first time. The calculation is performed on one ensemble of two degenerate light, a strange and a charm quark (Nf=2+1+1) of maximally twisted mass fermions with a clover term, reproducing a pion mass of 260 MeV. -
Dr. Gökçe Basar, University of North Carolina, "The search for the QCD critical point ", UConn Physics Colloquium3:30pm
11/19
Dr. Gökçe Basar, University of North Carolina, "The search for the QCD critical point ", UConn Physics Colloquium
Friday, November 19th, 2021
03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Other Online
Dr. Gökçe Basar, University of North Carolina
The search for the QCD critical point
The strong force binds the building blocks of protons and neutrons, quarks and gluons, together and creates most of the observed mass in the universe. At a few trillion degrees, these bonds break, and matter transitions into a new phase called Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP). QGP once filled the universe when it was microseconds old, and today is recreated in the heavy ion collision experiments with the goal of understanding how matter behaves at these extreme temperatures and densities. What do we know about the phases of matter at these extreme environments? What is the nature of the phase transition between ordinary matter and QGP? Is there a critical point in the phase diagram and if there is how can we locate it? I will give an overview of the status of the theoretical and experimental efforts to answer these questions as well as the future challenges.
Meeting URL: https://unc.zoom.us/j/93578592137?pwd=WUhpWjk3SjBIVEF0d0pWZ09GT2p3dz09 -
Prof. ChandraSekhar Roychoudhuri, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, "Seeking Reality of Nature Is the cosmic space a vacuum, or a physical medium?", Graduate Student Seminar12:15pm
11/19
Prof. ChandraSekhar Roychoudhuri, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, "Seeking Reality of Nature Is the cosmic space a vacuum, or a physical medium?", Graduate Student Seminar
Friday, November 19th, 2021
12:15 PM - 01:15 PM
Storrs Campus GS-119
Prof. ChandraSekhar Roychoudhuri, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut
Seeking Reality of Nature
Is the cosmic space a vacuum, or a physical medium?
Over the last two decades, a good number of books have been written by many serious physicists that current physics, while steadily "chugging along" (as publications and findings indicate), has failed to develop any major new thinking
since the fundamental papers in Quantum Mechanics were published. In this talk, I will present the limitations of the
prevailing Evidence Based Science (EBS) and show that the incorporation of interaction process visualization as a
standard engineering thinking tool, will give us a lot more insights into the existing working theories while revealing the limitations that need to be addressed. Resolving these limitations will open up many new and better understanding of nature, while getting rid of most of the mystical interpretations of the current working theories.
[1] C. Roychoudhuri, "Cosmic Ether, Possessing Electric-Tension and Magnetic-Resistance, Is the Unified Field for Physics", Journal of Modern Physics, 2021, 12, 671-699 -
Dr. Mojegan Azadi, Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, "Towards a Complete Understanding of Supermassive Black Holes' Impact on Galaxy Evolution ", Astronomy Seminar2:00pm
11/17
Dr. Mojegan Azadi, Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, "Towards a Complete Understanding of Supermassive Black Holes' Impact on Galaxy Evolution ", Astronomy Seminar
Wednesday, November 17th, 2021
02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Other Online
Dr. Mojegan Azadi, Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Towards a Complete Understanding of Supermassive Black Holes' Impact on Galaxy Evolution
I will describe a multi-wavelength analysis of active galactic nuclei (AGN) incorporating X-ray, optical, infrared, and radio data to estimate AGN host galaxies' physical properties. This multi-wavelength approach allows us to address some of the long-standing questions of AGN science, from the selection biases in AGN surveys to the relationship between the growth of the supermassive black holes and their host galaxies.
The radiation from structures surrounding the supermassive black hole can be used to identify AGN at different wavelengths. I investigate the selection biases from different identification techniques in the sample of the z~2 AGN in the MOSDEF survey. Once AGN have been identified we have to separate the contributions from the AGN and the host galaxy in order to constrain the physical properties of each. My newly developed, state-of-the-art AGN spectral energy distribution fitting code (ARXSED) models the emission from both the AGN and their host galaxies from X-ray to radio wavelengths, including nuclear accretion disk and torus, star-formation, and the extended radio lobes. I will present the results of fitting this model to a sample of radio-loud quasars from the 3CR sample at 1< z -
Eduardo H. da Silva Neto, Department of Physics and Energy Sciences Institute, Yale University, "Non-monotonic electron interactions and charge density wave in the copper oxide plane", Condensed Matter Physics Seminar1:30pm
11/17
Eduardo H. da Silva Neto, Department of Physics and Energy Sciences Institute, Yale University, "Non-monotonic electron interactions and charge density wave in the copper oxide plane", Condensed Matter Physics Seminar
Wednesday, November 17th, 2021
01:30 PM - 02:30 PM
Other Online
Eduardo H. da Silva Neto, Department of Physics and Energy Sciences Institute, Yale University
Non-monotonic electron interactions and charge density wave in the copper oxide plane
In strongly correlated systems the strength of Coulomb interactions between electrons, relative to their kinetic energy, plays a central role in determining their emergent quantum mechanical phases of the many body system. In the quintessential case of copper-oxide superconductors, those interactions can lead to magnetism, superconductivity and charge density wave (CDW) states. However, the exact form of the screened Coulomb interaction between electrons and how it can lead to other phases is still difficult probe directly.
I will focus my presentation on resonant x-ray scattering experiments on Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ, a prototypical cuprate superconductor, that probe electronic correlations within the CuO2 plane. We discovered a dynamic quasi-circular pattern in the x-y scattering plane with a radius that matches the wave vector magnitude of the well-known static charge order [1]. This quasi-circular spectrum is likely a fingerprint of the interactions composed of (screened) short- and long-range Coulomb interactions, resulting in an effective non-monotonic potential (see figure). These quasi-circular correlations also resemble Brazovskii-type fluctuations, which has immediate consequences to our understanding of rotational and translational symmetry breaking in the cuprates.
[1] F. Boschini, et al. Nature Communications 12, 597 (2021). -
Dr. Chien Yeah Seng, the University of Bonn, "Radiative corrections in Kaon semileptonic decays and the Cabibbo angle anomaly", Particle, Astrophysics, And Nuclear Physics Seminar2:00pm
11/15
Dr. Chien Yeah Seng, the University of Bonn, "Radiative corrections in Kaon semileptonic decays and the Cabibbo angle anomaly", Particle, Astrophysics, And Nuclear Physics Seminar
Monday, November 15th, 2021
02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Other Online
Dr. Chien Yeah Seng, the University of Bonn
Radiative corrections in Kaon semileptonic decays and the Cabibbo angle anomaly
In recent years we observe a series of mutually inconsistent determinations of the Cabibbo angle which is responsible for the mixing between the up and down quark. These anomalies, that occur in various beta decay experiments, are at the level of 3 sigma and provide strong evidence of the deviation from precise Standard Model (SM) predictions. To sharpen them to a level sufficient to declare a discovery, we must improve the theory precision of all the precise SM inputs to these decay processes. In this talk I describe recent progress along this direction: A new high-precision calculation of the electroweak radiative corrections in Kaon semileptonic decays is
performed. It features a chiral resummation of the large
infrared-singular terms in the radiative corrections and a
well-under-control strong interaction uncertainty based on the most recent lattice QCD inputs (by UConn physicists and collaborators). While being consistent with the previous state-of-the-art results obtained from chiral perturbation theory, we reduce the existing theory uncertainty from \(10^{-3}\) to \(10^{-4}\). Our result suggests that the SM electroweak effects cannot account for the anomaly in the Vus sector.
URL: https://zoom.us/j/5411604824?pwd=aUlzM1pDVjlvTVpmR0VhTmpLR0pCdz09#success -
Dr. Francisco Villaescusa-Navarro, Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, "The CAMELS Project: Cosmology and Astrophysics with MachinE Learning Simulations", UConn Physics Colloquium3:30pm
11/12
Dr. Francisco Villaescusa-Navarro, Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, "The CAMELS Project: Cosmology and Astrophysics with MachinE Learning Simulations", UConn Physics Colloquium
Friday, November 12th, 2021
03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Other online
Dr. Francisco Villaescusa-Navarro, Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University
The CAMELS Project: Cosmology and Astrophysics with MachinE Learning Simulations
In this talk, I will present the Cosmology and Astrophysics with MachinE Learning Simulations --CAMELS-- project, whose main goal is to provide theoretical predictions for cosmological observables as a function of cosmology and astrophysics. CAMELS contains a collection of 4,233 cosmological simulations, 2,049 N-body simulations and 2,184 state-of-the-art (magneto-)hydrodynamic simulations employing three different codes: Gadget-III, AREPO, and GIZMO. The simulations, designed to train machine learning models, span a very wide range in the value of the cosmological and astrophysical parameters. I will illustrate the potential of CAMELS by showing a few examples of tasks that we have carried out, such as teaching neural networks to extract cosmological information and marginalize over baryonic effects at the field level, finding a new universal relation between subhalo/galaxy properties, inferring the mass of a dark matter halo from the positions and properties of its galaxies, using neural networks to reconstruct masked data, doing cosmology with one single galaxy, and teaching neural networks to learn about cosmology and astrophysics with fast radio bursts. I will conclude by discussing how CAMELS will escalate in the coming years to generate millions of hydrodynamic simulations covering gigaparsec volumes for thousands of different cosmological and astrophysical models that will be used to extract the maximum cosmological information from upcoming cosmic surveys across the entire wavelength spectrum.
The Webex URL for the colloquium:
https://uconn-cmr.webex.com/join/daa19013 -
Graduate Student Kevin Wei, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, "The Response of Polarized Protons in Solid Hydrogen-Deuteride (HD) to Electron Beams", PhD Dissertation Defense1:30pm
11/12
Graduate Student Kevin Wei, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, "The Response of Polarized Protons in Solid Hydrogen-Deuteride (HD) to Electron Beams", PhD Dissertation Defense
Friday, November 12th, 2021
01:30 PM - 03:30 PM
Other Video meeting
Graduate Student Kevin Wei, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut
The Response of Polarized Protons in Solid Hydrogen-Deuteride (HD) to Electron Beams
Solid frozen-spin polarized targets of hydrogen-deuteride (HD) have proved advantageous in photon beam experiments, where they exhibit immeasurably long spin-relaxation times (T1). The present research investigates their potential applicability to experiments with minimum-ionizing charged-particle beams. Studies have been conducted with sub-nanoAmp CW currents of 10 MeV electron beams at the newly commissioned Upgraded Injector Test Facility (UITF) at Jefferson Lab (JLab). Since the energy deposition is almost independent of electron beam energy, these UITF experiments provide insight into the expected performance at the GeV energies required in typical JLab experiments. A horizontal in-beam dilution refrigerator equipped with superconducting solenoids has been used to maintain solid HD samples at 0.1 K and 1 tesla. Internal NMR coils have been used to monitor hydrogen polarization. Thermal equilibrium polarizations of targets not in the frozen-spin state (with intentionally short T1) have been used to deduce the in situ temperature of solid HD while under electron bombardment. The behavior of a 40% H-polarized frozen-spin target has been tracked while exposed to beams under various conditions. Polarization loss has been observed to be approximately proportional to dose, with the target polarization dropping to 1/e of its initial value after 6 uC/cm2 (4 x 1013 beam particles/cm2). A model for depolarization by beam-associated paramagnetic impurities largely accounts for the data and suggests that improvements in heat removal could lead to significant increases in the in-beam T1.
Meeting URL: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85611298531?pwd=KytpaWpxcjIyaVB3SzhGbGUvQy8zQT09#success