Description:

Abstract: The existence of baryons, dark matter and dark energy is proof that there is physics beyond the standard model. But, where is this new physics? Historically, probes of new physics have largely explored particles that are heavy, but are coupled to the standard model with reasonably big interactions. The existence of the dark sector suggests that there might be new particles that are very weakly coupled to the standard model. New experimental techniques are necessary to probe these particles. In this talk, I will discuss three experimental approaches to search for three different kinds of weakly coupled particles: (1) interrogation of crystal defects to search for WIMP dark matter beyond the neutrino floor (2) the use of single molecule magnets to search for light dark matter (3) search for dark sector particles using nuclear gamma cascades.

Speaker: Surjeet Rajendran, Johns Hopkins

Host: CFP

Keywords: Physics, CFP, Colloquium