University of Pennsylvania Physics & Astronomy Colloquium

Exploring Beyond the Standard Model with Lattice QCD

While the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics has been enormously successful in describing the world around us, there still remain many important and unanswered questions requiring Beyond the SM (BSM) physics. One way to experimentally probe the limits of the SM is to search for potential violations of its fundamental symmetries by utilizing properties of special atomic nuclei which enhance these rare events. Connecting experimental signals from nuclear environments to a particular BSM model requires the numerical solution of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), a cornerstone of the SM which governs the nuclear interactions. In this talk I will discuss the use of Lattice QCD as a tool for numerically calculating matrix elements relevant for experimental BSM searches. I will use neutrinoless double beta decay, which, if observed, could offer an explanation for the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the universe, as a key example.

Date & Time

January 22, 2020 | 4:00pm

Location

David Rittenhouse Laboratory (209 South 33rd Street), Room A8

Speakers

Amy Nicholson

Affiliation

University of North Carolina