Phys10 Undergraduate Seminar Series - on Teams
Miriam
Diamond
University
of
Toronto
Particle physicists have built a remarkably successful theory, the Standard Model, to describe the fundamental constituents of matter and their interactions. Its predictions have been confirmed by decades of experimental tests, yet it is incomplete. A sister branch of inquiry, astrophysics, provides us with convincing evidence that the Standard Model describes only about 5% of the universe; approximately a quarter of the universe consists of something whose gravitational effects can be seen in a variety of astrophysical phenomena but which we have been unable to detect and identify in the laboratory. We label it “dark matter” (DM) because it does not give off light – in fact, it does not directly interact through any of the known forces except gravity. Most physicists agree that DM consists of new subatomic particle(s); the quest to discover its exact nature is among the foremost missions in modern physics and the greatest treasure hunts in history. This talk will introduce the basic principles of DM direct detection experiments, and how the next generation of these experiments seeks to shed some light on a wide range of DM particle candidates.
This talk is geared toward an upper year audience; as always, everyone is welcome to attend.