Fermilab colloquium calendar archive 2023

Appropriate for physicists Appropriate for all lab staff and members of the public

Event date	Title	Speakers	Host	Summary	Links
Jan. 4, 2023	No colloquium
Jan. 11, 2023	Space Observatories for the Highest Energy Cosmic Particles: POEMMA & EUSO-SPB	Angela V Olinto, University of Chicago	Chris Stoughton	What are the mysterious sources of the most energetic particles ever observed? What astrophysical sources produce very energetic neutrinos? How do particles interact at extreme energies? Building on the progress achieved by the ground-based observations we are developing space and sub-orbital missions to answer these questions. The Extreme Universe Space Observatory (EUSO) on a super pressure balloon (SPB) is designed to detect ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) from above. EUSO-SPB1 flew in 2017 with a fluorescence telescope. Buit to observe both fluorescence and Cherenkov from UHECRs and neutrinos, EUSO-SPB2 is on its way to Wanaka, New Zealand for launch in April 2023. These sub-orbital missions lead to POEMMA (the Probe Of Extreme Multi-Messenger Astrophysics) a space mission designed to discover the sources of UHECRs and to observe neutrinos above tens of PeV from energetic transient events. POEMMA will open new Multi-Messenger windows onto the most energetic events in the Universe, enabling the study of new astrophysics and particle physics at these extreme energies.	Video
Jan. 18, 2023	Postponed/no colloquium	Adam Anderson, Fermilab	Chris Stoughton	Measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) have been fundamental in establishing the cosmological standard model, ΛCDM, which describes the evolution of the universe from the earliest moments to the present day. Upcoming measurements with increasingly powerful cameras are now poised to search for physics beyond the standard model, including new particles that could leave an imprint in the pattern of the CMB. I will review the physics we can learn from these new CMB surveys and present the upcoming CMB-S4 project to which Fermilab is a major contributor.
Jan. 25, 2023	Accelerator Directorate's Robotics Initiative	Mayling Wong-Squires, Fermilab	Chris Stoughton	The mission of the Accelerator Directorate’s (AD) Robotics Initiative is to develop and operate robotic platforms to enhance personnel safety and increase efficiency of accelerator operations. The use of robots in accelerator enclosures and near targets can empower personnel to accomplish tasks too hazardous or difficult for humans alone. We are a multi-disciplinary team with widely-ranging expertise and experience from different AD departments and other parts of the lab. We routinely support summer interns through Fermilab’s internship programs and collaborate with university students. We present recent accomplishments and current projects.	Video
Feb. 1, 2023	Using anti-Neutrinos for precision measurements on free protons at MINERvA	Tejin Cai, University of Rochester and York University	Chris Stoughton	Antineutrino scattering on free protons (or neutrino scattering off free neutrons) gives a unique measurement of neutron and proton structure and is a building block for predicting neutrino scattering on more complex nuclei. Previous measurements have had to rely on scattering neutrinos off deuterium and then correct for nuclear effects, or use low intensity anti-neutrino beams. In this talk MINERvA will present the first high statistics cross section measurement of the charged current elastic process νμp → μ+n using the plastic scintillator (CH). The carbon background is significantly reduced and constrained with minimal model dependency using the kinematics of the reconstructed neutrons. The result can be directly compared with lattice QCD computations, and to electron scattering off free protons	Video
Feb. 8, 2023	The Edge of Tomorrow: Real-time Artificial Intelligence for Science	Nhan Tran, Fermilab	Chris Stoughton	Pursuing answers to fundamental questions about our nature requires searches for the ultra-rare, very subtle, and the inspection of nature at extremely fine spatial and temporal scales. Cutting-edge experiments are often confronted with massive amounts of very rich data on which Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques provide powerful insights. To accelerate scientific discovery, enabling powerful AI algorithms across the data processing continuum, as close to sensor front-ends as possible, is becoming increasingly valuable. To deploy AI in these challenging scientific environments, we require robust and efficient learning and usable and accessible tool flows for optimized training and implementation across a broad range of scientific domains. This talk will introduce the motivations and requirements for real-time AI applications for physics and connections to broader science and industry applications, the development of modern techniques for deploying them into our experiments, and open research questions and challenges.	Video
Feb. 15, 2023	Exploring the Universe with Cosmic Surveys	Alex Drlica-Wagner, Fermilab	Chris Stoughton	Cosmic surveys use observations of stars and galaxies to help ascertain the fundamental laws that govern the Universe. Over the last several decades, cosmic surveys using large optical and near-infrared telescopes, advanced digital cameras, and intricate spectroscopic instruments have revolutionized our understanding of the Universe. Measurements of the cosmic expansion history and the growth of cosmic structure have been shown to be sensitive to physics beyond the Standard Model, including the nature of dark energy, the properties of dark matter, the mass of neutrinos, and the initial conditions of the Universe (e.g., inflation). I will summarize some recent results from cosmic surveys and discuss the exciting future on the horizon.	Video
Feb. 22, 2023	LBNF/DUNE: the Science, the Experiment, the Facility	Sam Zeller, Fermilab		Fermilab and the worldwide particle physics community are in the process of launching the most ambitious and exciting accelerator-based neutrino program in the world. The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) enabled by the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF) is the flagship neutrino program in the U.S. that is bringing the world together to perform cutting edge neutrino physics. LBNF/DUNE will include intense wideband beams of neutrinos and antineutrinos, massive liquid argon detectors positioned 800 miles away and a mile underground in South Dakota, as well as innovative near detectors that will precisely characterize the neutrinos closer to their source at Fermilab. Nothing quite like this exists any place else in the world. This talk will provide an overview and status of this endeavor with a focus on the physics we hope to uncover and the technological advances making this possible.
March 1, 2023	The Engineering & Commissioning of the James Webb Space Telescope	Charlie Atkinson, Northrop Grumman	Chris Stoughton	“The Engineering & Commissioning of the James Webb Space Telescope” will describe the history of JWST from the very early days, all the way through final integration and test, launch, and commissioning and will provide the viewers with insight into what it took to put the Observatory together.	Video
March 8, 2023	Science at Jefferson Laboratory: The amazing world of quarks and gluons	David Dean, Jefferson Lab	Chris Stoughton	Nuclei make up 99% of the mass in the visible universe, and all but the lightest nuclei are produced in cataclysmic stellar events such as supernova explosions and neutron star mergers. Every proton (and neutron) within all nuclei is governed by QCD, the theory of quarks, gluons, and their interactions. Understanding the amazing world inside... More »	Video
March 15, 2023	Energy Research at Idaho National Laboratory: Nuclear energy and integrated energy systems for the nation’s low-carbon energy future	Marianne Walck, Idaho National Lab	Chris Stoughton	As the nation moves toward a new paradigm for the low-carbon energy system of the future, the role of nuclear energy is at a turning point. The future system requires an integrated approach that uses all available sources to produce electricity, fuels, and heat for the full spectrum of applications, including commercial uses, buildings, and... More »	Video
March 22, 2023	Open
March 29, 2023	Probing Fundamental Physics with the Cosmic Microwave Background and CMB-S4	Adam Anderson, Fermilab	Chris Stoughton	Measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) have been fundamental in establishing the cosmological standard model, ΛCDM, which describes the evolution of the universe from the earliest moments to the present day. Upcoming measurements with increasingly powerful cameras are now poised to search for physics beyond the standard model, including new particles that could leave... More »	Video
April 5, 2023	Open
April 12, 2023	The Dark Cube: Hunting for lost German WWII Uranium	Tim Koeth, University of Maryland	Rick Tesarek	The Manhattan Project was spurred by the fear that Germany was building their own nuclear weapons and Allied anxiety continuously pondered the Nazi atomic progress. General Groves commissioned the military and scientific intelligence mission code-named Alsos, which uncovered that indeed the Germans had a two-year lead on the American nuclear program. In April 1945, in... More »	Video
April 19, 2023	The Science of SLAC	JoAnne Hewett, SLAC	Dan Hooper	SLAC is a vibrant multi-purpose laboratory with national leadership in selected high energy physics programs. I will survey the principal programs of the SLAC science frontiers, including upgrades to the Linear Coherent Light Source which employs cryomodules fabricated at Fermilab, and I will review the SLAC HEP program in more detail.	Video
April 26, 2023	No colloquium
May 3, 2023	Major R&D Thrusts at the National Energy Technology Lab	David Miller, National Energy Technology Laboratory	Chris Stoughton	For over a century, the National Energy Technology Laboratory has been a world-class center of innovation with global impact across the energy sector and beyond. Today, NETL continues to address critical energy, infrastructure, and manufacturing challenges by accelerating cutting-edge technology solutions to achieve the government’s net zero carbon emissions goals for 2035 and 2050. NETL works closely with the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management to implement DOE programs resulting in a broad intramural and extramural research and development portfolio focused on carbon management and resource sustainability. This presentation will provide an overview of the laboratory and our unique role within the national laboratory ecosystem. Recent activities in two growing areas – carbon dioxide removal and critical minerals – are highlighted to demonstrate the lab’s capabilities and collaborations with industry, universities, and other national laboratories.
May 10, 2023	The Road Towards an African Light Source	Sekazi Mtingwa, IUPAP C13 Commission on Physics for Development	Chris Stoughton	Africa is the only habitable continent without a synchrotron light source. In this presentation, we will describe the history of synchrotron light source usage by African researchers and the 20-year effort to bring a multinational synchrotron facility to the African continent. We will highlight two major efforts. The first is LAAAMP (Lightsources for Africa, the Americas, Asia, Middle East and Pacific), whose goal is to enhance advanced light source and crystallographic sciences in developing countries. The second is the African Light Source Conceptual Design Report, which is due to be completed by June 2023. Finally, we will report on a new initiative to bring a multinational synchrotron light source to the Greater Caribbean Region.
May 17, 2023	From ALPs to 'ZILLAS: Discovering Dark Matter In Novel Laboratories	Gordan Krnjaic, Fermilab	Chris Stoughton	Although the astrophysical evidence for the existence of dark matter is overwhelming, its microscopic properties remain elusive, despite decades of dedicated searches for the dominant weakly-interacting massive particle (WIMP) paradigm. In light of this experimental situation, there has recently been a surge of activity to broaden the search program by utilizing previously overlooked strategies, which... More »	Video
May 24, 2023	CP-Violation or Nuclear Excitation: The crucial role of neutrino-nucleus interaction modelling in neutrino oscillation measurements	Stephen Joseph Dolan, CERN	Chris Stoughton	Accelerator-based neutrino oscillation experiments have the potential to revolutionise our understanding of fundamental physics, offering an opportunity to characterise charge-parity violation in the lepton section, to determine the neutrino mass ordering and to explore the possibility of physics beyond three-flavour neutrino mixing. However, as more data is collected the current and next-generation of experiments will... More »	Video
May 31, 2023	Open
June 7, 2023	Ames National Laboratory: Delivering Critical Material Solutions for the Nation	James Morris, Ames National Laboratory	Chris Stoughton	For over 75 years, Ames National Laboratory has been delivering critical material solutions for the nation. From its start in the Manhattan project to today, Ames has used its foundational materials and chemical sciences, and translated that into practice. This talk will provide an overview of current research activities, grounded in fundamental science, and how... More »
June 14, 2023	No colloquium
June 21, 2023	Overview of research highlights, growth, and diversification at PPPL	Jonathan E. Menard, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory	Chris Stoughton	The Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) is pursuing three complementary research missions: (1) Developing the scientific knowledge and advanced engineering to enable fusion power, (2) Advancing the science of nanoscale fabrication and sustainable manufacturing, and (3) Furthering the development of the scientific understanding of the plasma universe, from laboratory to astrophysical scales. For Mission 1,... More »	Video
June 28, 2023	No colloquium
July 5, 2023	No colloquium
July 12, 2023	The Bird Conservation Network	Eric Secker & Bob Fisher, Bird Conservation Network	Donna Kubik & Chris Stoughton	The Chicago region is a stronghold for breeding birds, representing an impressive green space that is of global importance for key avian species and notable for a metropolitan area. At the same time, many species face declines as a result of habitat loss and degradation, pesticide use, invasive species, climate change, and other threats. These... More »	Video
July 19, 2023	Towards coherent synchrotron x-ray sources: the Upgrade of the Advanced Photon Source and Beyond	John Byrd, Argonne	Chris Stoughton	Synchrotron light sources are now transitioning to 4th generation storage rings with several new sources and upgrades of existing facilities around the world with the goal of decreasing the electron beam emittance, increasing the x-ray beam brightness and increasing the coherence of the x-ray beam with the goal of transforming x-ray science. The $815B Upgrade... More »	Video
July 26, 2023	Open
Aug. 2, 2023	Breaking the Quantum Double-Slit Experiment to Peer Deep Within Atomic Nuclei	Daniel James Brandenburg, Ohio State University	Victor E Scarpine	ameThe quantum double-slit experiment is a powerful demonstration of the wave-particle duality of electrons, photons, and other quantum objects. When a single electron is shot through a double-slit, its wave-like nature leads to an interference pattern caused by the ‘particle’ traveling through both slits at once. However, quantum mechanics tells us that interference takes place... More »	Video
Aug. 9, 2023	Cancelled		Chris Stoughton/Minerba Betancourt
Aug. 16, 2023	Phenomenology with Massive Neutrinos in 2023	Maria Conception Gonzalez Garcia, Stony Brook University	Chris Stoughton/Minerba Betancourt	Neutrino oscillation experiments have provided us with our only direct proof of physics beyond the standard model in the form of lepton flavour violation in neutrino propagation due to neutrino masses and flavour mixing in the leptonic sector. In this talk I will briefly review the present status of neutrino masses and mixing in the... More »	Video
Aug. 23, 2023	Open
Aug. 30, 2023	Open
Sept. 6, 2023	Open
Sept. 13, 2023	Open
Sept. 20, 2023	Excitement and Challenges in Nuclear Structure: Science of Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (a 30,000-foot view)	Witold Nazarewicz, Michigan State University	Chris Stoughton	The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) at Michigan State University is a world-class research, teaching and training center, hosting what is designed to be the most powerful rare isotope accelerator. FRIB will be essential for gaining access to key regions of the nuclear chart, where the measured nuclear properties will challenge established concepts. The... More »	Video
Sept. 27, 2023	No colloquium
Oct. 4, 2023	Open
Oct. 11, 2023	Thinking about Agriculture while Thinking like a Physicist	Chrstopher Fasano, Monmouth College	Chris Stoughton	Farmers and their modern machinery collect prodigious amounts of data. Thinking about agriculture and agricultural data like a physicist is an unusual but very fruitful way of approaching the complex problems of helping farmers maximize their profits and production while managing their environmental impact. The techniques that physicists regularly use for a wide range of... More »	Video
Oct. 18, 2023	From the Nuclear Mill" to the Large Hadron Collider and Beyond	Chris Quigg, Fermilab	Chris Stoughton	A richly illustrated tour of a century of high-energy collisions featuring people, ideas, and stories, free of dense equations and impenetrable jargon.	Video
Oct. 25, 2023	Open
Nov. 1, 2023	Patience is a virtue: The 15-year NANOGrav Gravitational Wave Results	Scott Ransom, National Radio Astronomy Observatory - University of Virginia	Chris Stoughton	Earlier this summer, the pulsar timing array community announced strong evidence for the presence of a stochastic background of nanoHertz frequency gravitational waves. This has been the primary goal of the community for the past two decades, and it took thousands of hours of telescope time, over 500,000 pulse arrival times from ~70 millisecond pulsars,... More »	Video
Nov. 8, 2023	Open
Nov. 15, 2023	Open		Chris Stoughton
Nov. 22, 2023	No colloquium
Nov. 29, 2023	Open
Dec. 6, 2023	No colloquium
Dec. 13, 2023	Science & Symphony Films	Jose Francisco Salgado, KV265	Mike Albrow	Since 2006 José Francisco Salgado (BS in Physics, Univ. of Puerto Rico; PhD in Astronomy, Univ. of Michigan) has been collaborating with orchestras, chamber musicians, and composers to present original science films that provoke curiosity and a sense of wonder about Earth and the Universe. The films are meticulously edited to accompany orchestral works and feature scientific visualizations, space probe images, historical documents, and Salgado’s photography of natural phenomena. The success of the first two films led to the formation of KV 265, a non-profit organization whose mission is the communication of science through the arts. To date, these Science & Symphony films have been presented in 257 concerts and 185 talks reaching a combined audience of 480,000 people in more than 100 cities spanning all continents. In this presentation, Salgado will talk about KV 265’s mission and the creative process of making these Science & Symphony films.	Video
Dec. 20, 2023	No colloquium
Dec. 27, 2023	No colloquium
Jan. 10, 2024	Open
Jan. 17, 2024	Open
Jan. 24, 2024	Generation, Detection and Application of Twisted Waves of Light and Neutrons	Charles Clark, Joint Quantum Institute, National Institute of Standards and Technology and University of Maryland	Doğa M. Kürkçüoğlu	Dislocations in wave trains were manifest in the 1830s studies of ocean tides by William Whewell, who discovered “amphidromic points” in the sea, where there is no tidal motion. John Nye and Michael Berry’s 1970s investigations, of fine structure in radio echoes from the bottom of the Antarctic ice sheet, revealed wavefront dislocation as a generic phenomenon. It became a broad field of science in the 1990s, when “orbital angular momentum states” of light were produced, followed by similar realizations in beams of atoms, molecules. x-rays, electrons and neutrons. Robert R. Wilson's “Tractricious” sculpture at Fermilab provides a good framework for visualizing the unity of these phenomena.	Video
Jan. 31, 2024	Open
Feb. 7, 2024	Muon Colliders –The hard part	Robert B Palmer, BNL (Emeritus}	Diktys Stratakis	If you can build a Muon Collider and do physics with it, that is great. But can you? Much of what is needed has been simulated on paper but still requires a lot of engineering and demonstration to know if they are buildable. For a few parts, like the final stages of emittance cooling, we do not even have even a paper solution. I will discuss this and other challenges. What sort of effort is needed?	Video
Feb. 14, 2024	Quantum computing with neutral ytterbium atoms	Jeff Thompson, Princeton University	Chris Stoughton	Neutral atom quantum computing is a rapidly developing field. Exploring new atomic species, such as alkaline earth atoms, provides additional opportunities for cooling and trapping, measurement, qubit manipulation, high-fidelity gates and quantum error correction. In this talk, I will present recent results from our group on implementing high-fidelity gates on nuclear spins encoded in metastable 171Yb atoms, including mid-circuit detection of gate errors that give rise to leakage out of the qubit space, using erasure conversion. I will conclude by discussing ongoing experiments on quantum error correction and reaching very high gate fidelities, and the important role of real-time FPGA control electronics developed by Fermilab in reaching these goals.
Feb. 21, 2024	Open
Feb. 28, 2024	Open
March 6, 2024	Saving the World 101: Teaching After Staying too Long at the Fair.	George Gollin, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	Chris Stoughton	During five decades in HEP, I have seen remarkable discoveries: three generations, Higgs, support for inflationary cosmology…; ideas that were so very, very compelling but were wrong (SU(5) ⟹ proton decay); a necessary evolution in how we work: larger collaborations and devices, longer time scales; growing preferences for the crippling, pyrrhic victories of turf protection... More »	Video
March 13, 2024	Inside Nature	Federico Levi, Nature Magazine	Anna Grassellino	Since its launch in 1869, Nature has seen its mission as two-fold: facilitating the prompt communication of the most important scientific developments to the relevant research communities, while at the same time fostering a greater appreciation of these great works of science amongst the wider public. In this talk, I will endeavour to explain how Nature editors apply these principles in practice, in particular by determining which few of the many excellent research submissions that we receive make it through to publication.	Video
March 20, 2024	Open
March 27, 2024	Open
April 3, 2024	Open
April 10, 2024	Open
April 17, 2024	There and Back again: Low mass physics at the LHC	Cristina Mantilla, Fermilab	Don Lincoln	The Large Hadron Collider has exceeded expectations in many ways, from the machine to the detector performance. Its general purpose experiments, ATLAS and CMS, have produced results that were thought to be unattainable or extremely unlikely to be reached with the current dataset. This is in part due to changes in the trigger strategy and identification techniques of both quarks and leptons in the "low mass" regime. In this talk, I will go through a few of the outcomes of these changes during the last 5 years and show prospects of what we are poised to uncover in the near future.
April 24, 2024	Nature-Inspired Design: the way to a biobased material future	Joanne Rodriguez, Mycocycle, Inc.	Chris Stoughton	With a global rise in population we are faced with the unprecedented need to manufacture more materials for industrial and consumer markets. Within the built environment space specifically, 11% of greenhouse gas emissions come from materials used within the sector. Organizations like the World Economic Forum, Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the DOE National Labs, the U.S. EPA and White House are all looking at how we accelerate and promote the usage of biobased materials and nature-inspired design in an effort to lower greenhouse gases. This presentation will consider principles like biomimicry in design and the influence nature can have to a greener material future.	Video
May 1, 2024	Open
May 8, 2024	Open
May 15, 2024	Cumulative Impacts – Science, Policy, Practice	Alan Walts, U.S. EPA Region 5, Environmental Justice, Community Health, and Environmental Review Division (EJCHERD)	Chris Stoughton	In everyday life, some people are exposed to numerous pollutants from a wide array of sources through multiple media and pathways. Chemical stressors in environmental media (air, water, land) and non-chemical stressors (e.g., social determinants of health, extreme weather events) aggregate and accumulate over time from one or more sources in the built, natural, and social environments, affecting individuals and communities. This is referred to as “cumulative impacts.” Such impacts disproportionately fall on communities with unequal environmental conditions and exposure to multiple stressors. And changes in climate can exacerbate many of these disproportionate impacts. As part of a historic investment to advance environmental justice and equity, EPA is working to improve its policy and practice in order to better assess and address cumulative impacts. This Colloquium will discuss some of the scientific and organizational work that is involved in this undertaking.
May 22, 2024	Cancelled
June 5, 2024	Open
June 26, 2024	A Scalable Quantitative Imaging Platform with Integrated Machine Learning	Christopher R. Field, Theia Scientific	Chris Stoughton	Image analysis workflows are currently a non-scalable, biased process that requires extensive time and expertise. Attempts to generate a scalable and non-biased automated image analysis workflow using Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) technologies have been thwarted by (i) limited, or impossible, access to external cloud computing resources and environments, (ii) lack of a consistent, streamlined end-user experience for distribution and deployment within these network-constrained environments, and (iii) poor interactivity of real-time image analysis results in closed image processing and analysis software. In collaboration with the University of Michigan and Idaho National Laboratory with support from the Department of Energy, Theia Scientific has developed a platform that addresses these deficiencies to enable real-time and post-acquisition quantitative image analysis with AI/ML-powered workflows. The platform utilizes a novel combination of edge or near-edge computing hardware and a modern web-based technology software stack to provide a fully customizable, simplified User Experience (UX) to run in-house or community developed AI/ML models. The platform embraces scalability by scaling hardware with AI/ML models through a novel ad-hoc clustering protocol enabling users to expand their computational resources on-the-fly. Results from recent in situ microscopy experiments at the University of Michigan and Idaho National Laboratory for nuclear materials characterization workflows will be presented along with a live demonstration and walkthrough of the web-based technology stack.	Video
July 10, 2024	Open
Aug. 7, 2024	Cooking, Fishing and Jogging through Phase Space: A Practical Guide to Discovering and Understanding New Materials	Paul Canfield, Distinguished Professor of Physics, Iowa State University Senior Scientist, Ames Laboratory	Chris Stoughton	The design, discovery, characterization and control of novel materials is perhaps the most important research area for humanity as it moves into the 21rst century. A myriad of societal problems concerning energy, clean water and air, and medicine all need to be solved by the discovery of new compounds with dramatically improved, or even new, properties. The search for such materials requires a blending of skills and mindsets that, traditionally, have been segregated into different academic disciplines: physics, chemistry, metallurgy, materials science. In this colloquium I will outline the basic philosophy and techniques that we use to search for novel materials. These include a combination of intuition, experience, compulsive optimism and a desire to share discovery.[1] In the second half of the lecture, the specific case of superconductivity will be used as an example of one such search. Over the past couple of decades, a growing sense of where and even how to search for new superconductors has been developing, with the recent discoveries of MgB2 and the FeAs based materials providing, at least for me, clear guidance. [2] [1] Paul C. Canfield, Rep. Prog. Phys. 83 [2020] 016501. [2] Paul C. Canfield, Nature Materials 10 [2011] 259.
Aug. 14, 2024	Open
Aug. 22, 2024	Getting to a Fusion Pilot Plant	Sir Steven Cowley, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory	Sam Posen	We are pleased to announce a special colloquium by Sir Steven Cowley, a renowned theoretical physicist, and an international authority on fusion energy. In March 2022, the White House announced a “bold decadal vision” to develop an electricity-producing fusion pilot plant by the end of the 2030s. During this lecture, Sir Steven Cowley will discuss... More »
Sept. 11, 2024	Open
Sept. 18, 2024	Open
Sept. 25, 2024	Open
Oct. 2, 2024	Terrestrial tests of quantum gravity	Daniel Carney, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory	Chris Stoughton	I will give an overview of recent activity based on the idea that we can test quantum properties of the gravitational field in experiments. I will emphasize the need to state precisely what hypotheses are being tested, discuss some explicit models of low-energy gravity that violate the usual rules of effective quantum field theory, and discuss some of the basic experimental challenges to getting these tests done.
Oct. 9, 2024	Open
Oct. 16, 2024	Open
Oct. 23, 2024	The Vector Calculus of Insect Navigation	Larry Abbott, Columbia University	Chris Stoughton	To navigate through the world, insects perform many of the vector computations that are taught in introductory physics classes. They do this using methods that are rigorous but would not be recognized by students in these classes. Recent advances in the techniques used to study the brains of fruit flies have revealed what these methods are. I will describe how flies construct, add, rotate, multiply and integrate vectors, and how they use these calculations to navigator to goals such as the sources of odor plumes.
Oct. 30, 2024	Open
Nov. 6, 2024	Open
Nov. 13, 2024	Open
Nov. 20, 2024	Open
Dec. 4, 2024	Open
Dec. 11, 2024	Open
Dec. 18, 2024	National Lab Research SLAM	Varied	Natalie Johnson	In a 3-minute presentation, early career scientists (earned a Ph.D. in the last six years) will compete to represent Fermilab in Washington, DC! In DC, researchers will have the opportunity to highlight DOE’s impact on innovative research programs that educate policy makers and others about the key role that Fermilab plays in building the STEM... More »
Jan. 15, 2025	No colloquium
Jan. 22, 2025	Physics & Astronomy Our Galactic Center: A Unique Laboratory for the Physics & Astrophysics of Black Holes	Andrea Ghez, UCLA Galactic Center Group		The proximity of our Galaxy's center presents a unique opportunity to study a galactic nucleus with orders of magnitude higher spatial resolution than can be brought to bear on any other galaxy. After more than a decade of diffraction-limited imaging on large ground-based telescopes, the case for a supermassive black hole at the Galactic center has gone from a possibility to a certainty, thanks to measurements of individual stellar orbits. The rapidity with which these stars move on small-scale orbits indicates a source of tremendous gravity and provides the best evidence that supermassive black holes, which confront and challenge our knowledge of fundamental physics, do exist in the Universe. This work was made possible through the use of speckle imaging techniques, which correct for the blurring effects of the earth's atmosphere in post-processing and allow the first diffraction-limited images to be produced with these large ground-based telescopes. Further progress in high-angular resolution imaging techniques on large, ground-based telescopes has resulted in the more sophisticated technology of adaptive optics, which corrects for these effects in real time. This has increased the power of imaging by an order of magnitude and permitted spectroscopic study at high resolution on these telescopes for the first time. With adaptive optics, high-resolution studies of the Galactic Center have shown that what happens near a supermassive black hole is quite different than what theoretical models have predicted, which changes many of our notions of how galaxies form and evolve over time. By continuing to push on the cutting-edge of high-resolution technology, we have been able to capture the orbital motions of stars with sufficient precision to test Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity in a regime that has never been probed before.
Jan. 29, 2025	No colloquium
Feb. 5, 2025	Towards a Future High-Energy Collider - European Strategy Process on Particle Physics -	Professor Karl Jakobs, University of Freiburg/Germany		After the successful data taking at the LHC over the past decade, the profile of the Higgs boson has been well established. However, since the Higgs field is linked to deep structural questions of the Standard Model such as flavor, naturalness and the stability of the vacuum, it calls for further exploration. There is consensus in the particle physics community that a Higgs factory should be build to explore the properties of the Higgs boson with high precision. After the 2020 update of the Strategy for Particle Physics in Europe, a feasibility study for the realization of the Future Circular Collider (FCC) at CERN was launched. The outcome of the study is expected to become available in 2025. Together with developments on the international landscape of the field it will provide important input to the new update of the European Strategy, which is currently ongoing. This update has the ambition to develop the preferred option for the realization of the next flagship project at CERN and to discuss alternatives. In this colloquium, our present understanding of the properties of the Higgs boson as well as prospects at future colliders are summarized. In addition, the present status of the FCC feasibility study as well as the European Strategy process are discussed.	Presentation
Feb. 6, 2025	Special Colloquium: Neural Networks and the 2024 Physics Nobel Prize	Pushpa Bhat, Fermilab		The 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics to John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton recognizes the transformational impact artificial neural networks, and machine learning more broadly, are having on science, technology, and society, and honors the foundational contributions of these Laureates to the development of artificial neural networks. After a brief overview of their seminal contributions, I discuss the applications of these methods in high energy physics, particularly in the discoveries and studies of the top quark and the Higgs boson, and comment on recent trends and future plans.
Feb. 12, 2025	No colloquium
Feb. 19, 2025	Large Cryogenic Containment Systems for Studying Neutrinos and Shipping Liquid Hydrogen	Eduardo Andrade, GTT North America, Inc.	Sam Zeller	Fermilab has long been involved in the use of large-scale membrane cryostats to enable various cutting edge neutrino detectors, such as protoDUNE, SBND, and DUNE. The latest iteration of cryogenic neutrino detectors for DUNE will each be filled with a record-setting 17,000 tons of liquid argon (LAr) and sited a mile underground in Lead, South Dakota. The DUNE detectors will ultimately enable the study of neutrinos from a new and improved beamline originating from Fermilab and characterized by a Near Detector cryostat using the same membrane technology. This presentation focuses on the free-standing cryostats designed in collaboration with the engineering firm: Gaztransport and Technigaz (GTT). These cryostats feature a membrane system like the one used by liquefied natural gas transport ships. After an overview of the cryostat design, we’ll discuss the latest advancements in the design of cryogenic cargo containment systems for the transoceanic shipping of liquid hydrogen (LH2), including a brief description of CERN’s collaboration with GTT as well as other relevant industry collaborations that are spearheading the development of this promising, but challenging technology.
Feb. 26, 2025	No colloquium
March 5, 2025	No colloquium
March 12, 2025	Top Quark at 30	Prof. Mel Shochet, University of Chicago	Pushpa Bhat	It has been 30 years since the discovery of the top quark at Fermilab by the CDF and D0 collaborations. I will begin with the need for the top quark in the Standard Model and searches that were carried out prior to the Tevatron. Then I will discuss the Tevatron era, from the early searches, to the discovery in 1995, to the investigations of top quark properties that have continued almost up to the present. I will conclude with our current understanding of the top quark based on higher statistics studies at the LHC, as well the use of the top quark as a tool in searches for new phenomena.	Presentation
March 19, 2025	No colloquium
March 26, 2025	Atoms to applications and the future of electronics	Prof. Tony Levi, University of Southern California	Charles Thangaraj	Electronics' profound contribution and impact on everyday life is well understood and appreciated, but what about the future? The commonly adopted ad-hoc and incremental search for materials, devices, and application-specific functionality should be replaced by automated methods. While system synthesis and fabrication tools capable of full-stack optimal design and implementation from atoms to applications remain an elusive objective, my talk will illustrate some elements necessary to achieve such a goal. This includes the automated discovery of non-intuitive material properties and geometries at the device level, the special role of symmetries, the level of abstraction, the application's architecture selection, and the co-evolution of system design with low-latency manufacturing. And there are, as I hope to show with examples, exciting opportunities for new perspectives and understanding along the way.
March 28, 2025	Special Colloquium: Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) – a Physical Science Perspective	Washington Taylor, MIT	Pushpa Bhat	As atmospheric carbon dioxide levels continue to rise, there has been increasing interest from both the public and private sectors in methods and technologies for directly removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (CDR). Large-scale CDR may be a useful complement to emissions reductions in achieving specific carbon or climate goals. The American Physical Society's Panel on Public Affairs (POPA) has recently released a report that focuses on the physical constraints and requirements of large-scale CDR efforts. This talk will present the main aspects of the science analysis and policy conclusions of the report. In particular the talk will describe the energy, land area, and materials requirements for a variety of CDR approaches, as well as uncertainties in effectiveness and impact. These basic scientific observations can help inform sensible carbon management policies.
April 9, 2025	From Dark Matter to Distant Worlds: Innovation in Low-Noise Silicon Imagers at Fermilab	Juan Estrada, Fermilab	Pushpa Bhat	Over the past two decades, Fermilab has led the development of cutting-edge instrumentation based on low-noise silicon imagers. What began with the deployment of CCDs for the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) has grown into a broad and impactful program. Today, these technologies support a diverse range of scientific efforts—from direct dark matter searches and cosmic surveys to dark sector experiments in particle beams and the search for biosignatures on exoplanets. In this talk, I will trace the evolution of this instrumentation program and highlight the latest advancements in skipper-CCD technology and its emerging applications across multiple fields.
April 22, 2025	Higgs and Neutrinos: Portal to the Future of Particle Physics	Yifang Wang, IHEP	Pushpa Bhat	After the discovery of Higgs, the Standard Model (SM) is basically completed and particle physics is now at a turning point. For the future of particle physics, Higgs and Neutrinos are the two main portals. I will describe our efforts along these two directions. One is based on the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) which will start the data taking soon. Another one is the Circular Electron-Positron Collider (CEPC). After 12 years of efforts, CEPC is almost ready for construction. I will describe its design, R&D and the construction planning.
April 30, 2025	Chicago Wilderness Alliance, Building a Resilient Region through Partnerships	Laura Reilly & Ted Haffner, Chicago Wilderness Alliance	Alyssa Rodway	There is no doubt that our planet is under pressure as never before. Our region is home to a spectacular assemblage of rare ecosystems and diverse plant and animal species. The time to protect these vulnerable assets and take conservation action is now, and we need all hands-on deck! In largely urbanized areas of the four-state Chicago Wilderness Alliance region, the capacity to deliver on conservation and ecological goals will come not just from traditional conservation land and waters, but from activating every land type - agriculture, residential, corporate - to contribute meaningfully to landscape-scale conservation. As a regional collaborative of hundreds of partner organizations and individuals working to implement landscape-scale approaches to conservation in and around the southern shores of Lake Michigan, the Chicago Wilderness Alliance is proactively addressing the conservation challenge! Fermilab restoration is part of this in many ways. The Green Vision Initiatives include seven key thematic areas and use a centralized framework to guide, track and implement progress toward a common vision and an inclusive approach to thriving nature for people and wildlife.
May 7, 2025	Open
May 14, 2025	What is inside the electron?	Bogdan Dobrescu, Fermilab	Patrick Fox	All objects that we see around us are made of protons, neutrons and electrons. At a deeper level, the protons and neutrons have also been shown to be made of quarks. It behooves us to ask whether the electron and the quarks have themselves substructure. So far, there is no evidence for such substructure, despite particle physics experiments that probed the structure of matter at distances billions of times smaller than the atoms. I will discuss some theoretical ideas about possible constituents of the particles currently considered elementary (electron, quarks, neutrinos, etc.) that can be probed in upcoming experiments.	Slides