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Research Seminar

November 21, 2024

Location: SB 145

Time: 12:00 pm

Presenter: Daisy Kalra

Searching for Rare Physics Processes with Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber based Neutrino Detectors

Abstract: 
Neutrinos are some of the most abundant but elusive particles in the universe. The groundbreaking discovery of neutrino oscillations, recognized by the 2015 Nobel Prize, revealed the existence of non-zero neutrino masses, providing compelling evidence for new, beyond-the-Standard-Model (BSM) physics. This discovery has sparked up a wealth of fascinating questions, including the hypothesized presence of additional neutrino states, the connection between neutrinos and cosmology, and the connection of neutrinos and astrophysics, e.g. through the study of neutrinos from supernova bursts. This talk will discuss how current and future-generation neutrino experiments, employing Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LArTPC) detector technology, are tackling key questions about neutrinos and their properties, while simultaneously providing a platform for an expansive and rich BSM physics program. The latter includes searches for rare and exotic physics processes such as baryon number violation, neutrinos from supernova bursts, and dark matter scattering. Furthermore, this talk will discuss the technological advancements in the field of data-driven decision making that are required to enable sensitive searches for such rare physics signals in future-generation LArTPC experiments. This is a very exciting time in neutrino physics, characterized by not only exciting physics results but also the development and implementation of advanced technologies and search strategies at existing experiments, paving the way for groundbreaking discoveries with the next-generation of neutrino experiments.


Dr. Daisy Kalra is an experimental neutrino physicist, currently working as a postdoctoral research scientist at Columbia University and Nevis Labs, New York and primarily based at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory near Chicago. With over eight years of experience in neutrinophysics, Dr. Kalra has contributed extensively to several key neutrino experiments, including NOvA, MicroBooNE, SBND and DUNE. She hold leadership roles within these collaborations, notably as the MicroBooNE Astroparticle and Exotic Physics group convener and the SBND DAQ commissioning leader. Her research focuses on searching for rare and exotic physics signals within LArTPC-based neutrino detectors and developing novel data driven data selection methods often leveraging deep learning, to enhance detection capabilities for rare physics signals in these detectors.

Light lunch will be served.