Faculty Candidate Seminar
Speaker: Phillip Barbeau
Title:Neutrino & Dark Matter Coherent Interactions: New Avenues for Precision Measurements
Host:Svoboda
Room: 185
Abstract: In the search for physics beyond the Standard Model, big physics can still be done with small detectors. One such endeavor, the Coherent Germaniun Neutrino Technology (CoGeNT) experiment, began as an attempt to observe the long predicted coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering cross-section to produce sensitive tests for sterile neutrinos, radiative corrections above the weak scale and non-standard neutrino interactions. Interestingly, the coherent cross-section for WIMP Dark Matter scattering is analogous to that for neutrinos, making the CoGeNT detectors ideal for light WIMP detection. I will present the status of the research program, including the recent provocative hint of an annual modulation, a characteristic signature of Galactic Dark Matter. I will then pivot to a next generation effort to develop an information-rich suite of detectors which has its roots in the early developmental years of CoGeNT: a detector technology (MAGNeT) that utilizes dozens of target nuclei to study the coherent cross-sections of neutrino and Dark Matter interactions in detail. The aim is to move beyond the limitations and imprecision of contemporary experiments and theoretical calculations to finally realize the promise of coherent scattering for illuminating new physics. Along the way, I will share some fun experiments performed with these unique detectors, including searches for neutrino magnetic moments, axion-like dark pseudoscalars, and tests of neutrinos as minimum ionizing particles.
