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DATE | SPEAKER | INSTITUTION | SEMINAR TITLE |
Fri Sep 5 | Duboscq, Heltsley | Cornell University | Highlights from the Lepton Photon Conference |
Fri Sep 12 | Rob Nelson | Princeton University | Nuclear Bunker Buster, Mini-Nukes and the Future of the U.S. Nuclear Stockpile |
Fri Sep 19 | Jon Rosner | U Chicago, LEPP | The quark model in spectroscopy POSTPONED to 10/31/03 |
Fri Sep 26 | Dan Ralph | Cornell University - LASSP | What's New in Nano-physics? |
Fri Oct 3 | Boris Kayser | Fermilab | The Neutrino World: Present and Future |
Thu Oct 9 | Giorgio Gratta | Stanford University | How much does a neutrino weigh? |
Fri Oct 17 | Bill Louis | LANL | Searching for neutrino oscillations: early results from miniBoone |
Fri Oct 24 | Georg Hoffstaetter | Cornell University | The Cornell Energy Recovery Linac Project |
Fri Oct 31 | Jon Rosner | U Chicago, LEPP | The Quark Model in Spectroscopy |
Fri Nov 7 | Seth Digel | Stanford U | GLAST: Astronomy with Silicon Strips in Space |
Fri Nov 14 | Raimond Snellings | NIKHEF Amsterdam | Heavy Ion Physics at RHIC |
Thu Nov 20 | Michael Woods | SLAC | The Weak Mixing Angle from SLAC E-158 |
Fri Nov 21 | Yibin Pan | U Wisconsin | Measurement of CP Violation At BaBar and Belle |
Fri Nov 28 | -- | No seminar - Thanksgiving | |
WATCH FOR NEW DATE | Alain Bellerive | Carleton University | New Results from SNO |
Fri Dec 12 | Ian Shipsey | Purdue University | Bringing Hearing to the Deaf -- a Technical and Personal Account |
Fri Dec 19 | --- | No seminar | |
Fri Dec 26 | --- | No seminar |
DATE | SPEAKER | INSTITUTION | SEMINAR TITLE |
Thu Jan 22 | Robyn Madrak | Fermilab | Measurement of the Lambda_b Lifetime in the Decay Mode Lambda_b -> J/Psi Lambda |
Fri Jan 23 | --- | No Journal Club - CLEO Meeting | |
Fri Jan 30 | Tim Meyer | National Research Council | Science Policy: Connecting Bucks with the Cosmos |
Fri Feb 6 | Gabriela Gonzalez | Louisiana State University | Searching for Gravitational Waves with LIGO: a progress report |
Fri Feb 13 | Urs Langenegger | University of Heidelberg | Inclusive Determination of |V_ub| |
Fri Feb 20 | James Beatty | Penn State | Particle Astrophysics and the Extreme Universe |
Thu Feb 26 | Phil Rubin | George Mason / U of Edinburgh | Recent Results from NA48 |
Fri Feb 27 | --- | No Journal Club - CLEO Meeting | |
Fri Mar 5 | David Tedeschi | U of South Carolina Columbia | Experimental Evidence for Pentaquark States |
Fri Mar 12 | Harry Nelson | UCSB | The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search |
Fri Mar 19 | Björn Lange | Cornell | Proposal for a precision measurement of |Vub| from inclusive B decay |
Fri Mar 26 | --- | No Journal Club - Cornell Spring Break | |
Fri Apr 2 | --- | No Journal CLub - CLEO Meeting | |
Fri Apr 9 | David Jaffe | BNL | KOPIO: An Experiment to Measure Br(KL->pi0,nu,nubar) |
Fri Apr 16 | Kurt Gottfried | Cornell | Scientific Knowledge and the Bush Administration |
Fri Apr 23 | Fred Goldhaber | Stony Brook | Looking for Mr. Glueball |
Fri Apr 30 | John Cumalat | U of Colorado Boulder | Recent Charm Meson Results from the FOCUS Collaboration |
Thu May 6 | Klaus Peters | Ruhr-Universität Bochum | Dalitz Plot Analysis Techniques |
Fri May 7 | Mikhail Voloshin | U of Minnesota | D mesons and charmonium near the open charm threshold |
Fri May 14 | Konstantin Matchev | U of Florida / Cornell | Dark Matter and Physics Beyond the Standard Model at Colliders |
Fri May 21 | Jim Thomas | LBNL | On the Trail of a Strongly Interacting Plasma at RHIC |
Fri June 11 | Alan Schwartz | U of Cincinnati |
New Results from the Belle Experiment: Observation of Large CP Violation in B->pi+pi- Decays |
Fri June 25 | Leslie Rosenberg | LLNL | The Axion Dark Matter Experiment |
Fri July 2 | --- | no Journal Club | |
Fri July 9 | Andy Hocker | U of Rochester | Top Physics Results From TeVatron Run II |
Fri July 16 | E. Blucher | U Chicago | A New Determination of |Vus| from KTeV |
Thu Aug 5 | Stephen Olsen | U Hawaii | The X(3872); charmonium or a new type of meson? |
Jan 22
Robyn Madrak, Fermilab
Measurement of the Lambda_b Lifetime in the Decay Mode
Lambda_b -> J/Psi Lambda
I describe a measurement of the Lambda_b lifetime in the
exclusive decay mode Lambda_b -> J/Psi Lambda,
with J/Psi -> mu^+ mu^- and Lambda -> p^+ pi^-.
This is the first measurement of the Lambda_b lifetime in a mode
where the Lambda_b is fully reconstructed, done at the CDF-II
experiment at Fermilab, with 65 pb^(-1) of p pbar collision data.
As a control sample, we use B^0 -> J/Psi K_s^0 with
J/Psi -> mu^+ mu^- and K_s^0 -> pi^+ pi^-. The lifetime of the
B^0 is well measured, and the decay mode J/Psi K_s^0 is
kinematically similar to Lambda_b -> J/Psi Lambda.
ppt
Jan 30
Tim Meyer, National Research Council
Connecting Bucks with the Cosmos: An Overview of Science Policy
and the National Academies
The National Academy of Sciences was chartered by Congress in 1863 under
President Abraham Lincoln to, "whenever called upon by any department of the
government, investigate, examine, experiment, and report upon any subject of
science or art." With the addition of the National Research Council by
Woodrow Wilson, the Academies have become a unique advice-giving institution,
providing science for policy and policy for science. In this presentation, I
will describe my perspective on science policy and the federal budget
process. I will also describe several exemplar projects that cover physics,
astronomy, fusion, and large facility research projects.
pdf
Feb 6
Gabriela Gonzalez, Louisiana State University
Searching for Gravitational Waves with LIGO: a progress report
The LIGO detectors at the Hanford and Livingston Observatories,
and the GEO detector in Hannover, Germany, have been improving their
performance and are getting close to achieve their designed sensitivity.
The LIGO Science Collaboration has taken data with the LIGO and
GEO gravitational wave detectors, and is developing the data analysis
methods to look for the elusive gravitational waves.
I will present some of the details of such an exciting quest, the
results setting up upper limits on strength of gravitational waves
using the data taken in the LIGO First Science Run in 2002, and
report on the progress in the Second and Third Science Runs in 2003.
Look here:
pdf
A picture.
Feb 13
Urs Langenegger, Universität Heidelberg
Inclusive Determination of |V_ub|
I present two measurements of inclusive charmless semileptonic B
decays obtained with the BABAR detector. The first is based on the
lepton endpoint spectrum and the second on the hadronic invariant
mass. I elaborate on the systematic errors in these measurements
and discuss yet another world average of |Vub| from inclusive
measurements.
pdf
Feb 20
James Beatty, Penn State
Particle Astrophysics and the Extreme Universe
Particle acceleration is ubiquitous in astrophysical contexts. The large
scale of cosmic accelerators allows them to reach energies above 10^19
electron-volts, where interactions with the cosmic microwave background become
significant. Experiments are now being constructed to probe this energy
frontier, with possible impact on our thinking about both astrophysics and
particle physisics at these energies. I will discuss the current status of
work in this area, with emphasis on the cosmic ray spectrum above the
Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin cutoff and prospects for the detection of ultrahigh
energy neutrinos resulting from the interaction of these cosmic rays with the
microwave background.
Feb 27
Phil Rubin, George Mason / U of Edinburgh
Recent Results from NA48
A survey of recent activities by the NA48 Collaboration at CERN,
including work which relates to CP-violation, rare and forbidden
processes, chiral perturbation theory, and fundamental electroweak
physics.
pdf
March 5
Dave Tedeschi, U of South Carolina Columbia
Experimental Evidence for Pentaquark States
Recent experimental results suggesting exotic 5 quark baryons (pentaquarks)
have been presented at international conferences and published in refereed
scientific journals. These data are claimed to herald a new chapter in
hadron spectroscopy. Taken collectively, the data paint a compelling
picture; however, valid criticism regarding the analysis methods and the
statistical significance of individual experiments can not be ignored. In
this presentation I will briefly review the theoretical interpretations of
these states and then present the world's data regarding pentaquarks.
pdf
March 12
Harry Nelson, UCSB
The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search
Over the past decade, the case for dark matter in the
Universe has continuously strengthened. One of the most
intriguing features of the dark matter abundance is that
it can be produced, during the Big Bang,
by a weak interaction cross section of the dark matter
with our matter. Supersymmetry restored near the weak
scale provides an attractive candidate for such a dark
matter particle: the lightest superpartner, which is
usually the neutralino. The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search
is devoted to detection of neutralino-type particles
which might consitute the dark matter. The experiment
uses Germanium crystals cooled to cryogenic temperature
and instrumented to record both the sound and ionization
caused by a nucleus that recoils due to interaction
with a dark matter particle. The latest revision of the
CDMS experiment has recently commenced data taking in the
Soudan mine in Northern Minnesota, and I will describe
its status, recent results, and future prospects.
pdf
March 19
Björn Lange, Cornell
Proposal for a precision measurement of |Vub| from inclusive B decays
Recently a calculational framework for inclusive B->Xu e nu decays has been
presented which combines perturbative and non-perturbative quantities in a
systematic fashion.
In this talk I will focus on the phenomenology of these new results and
discuss a few methods for the determination of |Vub|. Hadronic uncertainties
are reduced due to our improved knowledge about the shape function, which
will be discussed in some detail. It will be argued that cutting on a
kinematic variable called "P+" is favored by the theoretical framework and
provides us with an opportunity to improve the current accuracy for a |Vub|
measurement.
pdf
April 9
David Jaffe, BNL
K => pi,nu,nubar Results and Prospects
K => pi,nu,nubar decays have the potential to provide
unambiguous and precise information on the CKM matrix.
The latest results from BNL experiment
E949 on K+ => pi+,nu,nubar will be presented.
Prospects for the measurement of the K0L => pi0,nu,nubar
branching fraction with KOPIO experiment at BNL will also
be presented.
pdf
April 16
Kurt Gottfried, Cornell
Scientific Knowledge and the Bush Administration
A number of prominent scientists have charged the Bush administration
with distorting the input from science into its policy formation
process and in its public advocacy. This controversy and the
historical background will be discussed.
pdf video
April 23
Fred Goldhaber, Stony Brook
Looking for Mr. Glueball
A simplified form of quantum chromodynamics holding significant conceptual interest is pure-glue
QCD, in which no quarks appear, only gluon degrees of freedom. In such a theory the unique class
of stable, isolable excitations would be glueballs, objects with
zero net color charge made out of combinations of gluons.
A glueball would be unstable only if it could decay to two or
more glueballs with lower total mass.
By contrast, in realistic QCD with light quarks, any object
with the quantum numbers of a
glueball (meaning eigenstate of CPT with integer spin and no flavor charges)
could be mimicked by a suitable combination of quarks and antiquarks --
and so would be unstable against decay to combinations of conventional light
hadrons. Clearly then, any
convincing experimental detection of glueballs would have to overcome this
intrinsic ambiguity. For
some time, study of objects appearing in systems with heavy-quark pairs
produced in electron-positron collisions has been a recognized route towards
identifying glueballs.
The discussion in this talk will be focused on final states of the form
J/psi or Upsilon plus glueball.
Already there is some experimental evidence for the presence of the
lowest-mass glueball in such channels. From the theoretical side, heuristic
semiclassical reasoning and also perturbative QCD estimates give qualitative,
but not yet quantitatively precise, indications of the effects to be expected.
April 30
John Cumalat, U of Colorado Boulder
Recent Charm Meson Results from the FOCUS Collaboration
I will briefly describe the FOCUS experiment and
will comment on some of our ongoing analysis efforts and
analysis techniques. I will discuss our recent results on the
excited D** state and I will report on D0 and D+ decays into
four, five , and six body final states including the measurement
of a new Cabibbo favored D0 decay. I will also describe
our recent form factor results for D+(s) -> phi l nu. Finally,
I will also mention a FOCUS search for the charm pentaquark.
pdf
May 6
Klaus Peters, Bochum
Dalitz Plot Analysis Techniques
The discovery and investigation of broad resonances is a very
complicated and sometimes error-prone procedure. In the past
many meson and baryon resonances have been identified as analysis
artefacts due the limitations in the analysis process. Due to
small statistics and the absence of S-wave dominated channels
it was not possible to overcome this situation easily.
The investigation of high statistics data sets being available
from Crystal Barrel at LEAR and other experiments have changed
our knowledge of the methods, formalisms and their application
in partial wave analysis dramatically and many new techniques
have been developed since then.
The Dalitzplot analysis as one typical example of modern
partial wave decomposition will be discussed in great detail
emphasizing modern trends as well as technical and theoretical
problems which still have to be solved.
ppt
pdf
May 7
Mikhail Voloshin, UMinn
Charmonium at the open charm treshold
I discuss few topics that can be studied in e^+e^- annihilation in the
region of the psi(3770) resonance. The relative yield of pairs of
neutral and charged D meson pairs presents and interesting problem
related to strong dynamics of heavy mesons. I argue that this relative
yield should display an interesting variation across the resonance. A
study of transitions from psi(3770) to charmonium levels may help
understand the internal structure of this resonance. I discuss possible
hadronic transitions of this type. The dynamics of heavy meson pairs
near the threshold is likely to involve so-called "molecular" states.
Some properties of such states near the open charm threshold are
discussed.
ps
May 14
Konstantin Matchev, U Florida/Cornell
Dark Matter and Physics Beyond the Standard Model at Colliders
In this talk I will consider the implications of dark
matter for collider searches for new physics beyond the Standard
Model. I will first derive a model-independent prediction for
the production rates of dark matter particles at colliders (in
association with soft photons or jets). I will then introduce
several new physics scenarios with particle dark matter candidates
and discuss the potential of the high energy collider experiments
at the Tevatron, LHC and NLC to distinguish among them, and to
perform precision measurements of the dark matter properties.
I will also speculate on the precision with which the LHC and
the NLC can test the thermal relic hypothesis.
May 21
Jim Thomas, LBNL
On the Trail of a Strongly Interacting Plasma at RHIC
The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider was built for the purpose of
discovering the Quark Gluon Plasma. We may have achieved that goal.
I will describe the facilities at RHIC and discuss a few key pieces
of data that have lead our theoretical colleagues to declare success.
I will also discuss why the experimental community is more cautious
about drawing this conclusion.
My talk will be given from the detector builders point of view and I
will focus on those things we know for sure.
"A theory is something nobody believes, except the person who made
it.
An experiment is something everybody believes, except the person who
made it."
(Attributed to Albert Einstein.)
ppt
June 11
Alan Schwartz, Cincinnati
New Results from the Belle Experiment:
Observation of Large CP Violation in B->pi+pi- Decays
The Belle experiment began running in 1999 and
to-date has recorded over 260 fb^-1 of data.
Using 140 fb^-1 of data, we have observed large
CP Violation in B->pi+pi- decays, and first evidence
for direct CP violation in B decays. From this
measurement we set a model-independent constraint
on the CKM phase angle phi_2 (alpha) and also on
the ratio of penguin to tree amplitudes. The analysis
has undergone numerous checks; details of the
analysis will be reviewed.
pdf
June 25
Leslie Rosenberg, LLNL
The Axion Dark Matter Experiment
Recent measurements solidified what was already a strong
case for abundant cold dark matter in the universe. These
same measurements elevated the axion, a hypothetical
elementary particle, to a premier cold dark matter candidate.
Dark matter axions have almost no interactions with normal
matter and radiation, but in a RF cavity threaded by a large
static magnetic field, a handful per second would convert into
microwave photons. These photons can be detected by an
exquisitely sensitive microwave receiver. This detector is
fully operational and continues to search for axions in our
Milky Way halo. We are starting a high-sensitivity upgrade
that exploits advances in SQUID microwave amplifier technology.
The final stage of this upgraded experiment will be definitive,
sensitive to the entire range of plausible dark matter axion
masses and couplings.
pdf
July 9
Andy Hocker, Rochester
Top Physics Results From TeVatron Run II
Since its discovery in 1995, the top quark has been the
subject of an intense experimental program at Fermilab's
TeVatron collider. The higher luminosities at Run II
of the TeVatron allow us to more fully characterize the
properties of this heaviest quark. I will provide an
overview of the Run II top program and review recent
results from the CDF and D0 experiments in this area,
covering measurements of the production cross section,
mass, branching ratios, and other properties of top.
pdf
July 16
Ed Blucher, Chicago
A New Determination of |V_us| from KTeV
I will present a determination of the CKM parameter |Vus| based on new
measurements of the six largest KL branching fractions and semileptonic
form factors by the KTeV experiment at Fermilab. Several of the
results are not in good agreement with averages of previous
measurements. Our new determination of |Vus| is consistent with
unitarity of the CKM matrix.
pdf
August 5
Steve Olsen, Hawaii
The X(3872); charmonium or a new type of meson?
The X(3872) is a narrow charmonium-like state seen by Belle
in the pi+pi- J/psi system in exclusive B-->K pi+pi-J/psi
decays. Assignment to any of the as yet unseen charmonium
states that are expected to be narrow has proven to be
problematic. Its mass is higher and its gamma chi_c1 decay
width smaller than expectations for the 3D2 state and the
1D2 decay to pipi J/psi violates isospin and is expected to
be highly suppressed. The helicity angle distribution of the
J/psi rules out the 2(1P1) assignment. The close proximity of
its mass with M(D0)+M(D0*) suggests that the X(3872) may be a
"molecule-like" D-D*bar bound state. If this is the case, this
would imply a new spectroscopy in the 4 GeV mass region.
In this talk I will summarize recent searches for the X(3872)
in other decay channels and the implications on possible
interpretations of this particle. In addition I will present
some unpublished results from E_cm=4.03~GeV BES data that may
(or may not) be related and might have relevance to CLEO-c.
pdf