Abstract: New acceleration technology is mandatory for the future of high energy particle physics. A promising approach is to exploit the properties of plasmas. An experimental program has started at CERN, the AWAKE experiment, where proton bunches will be used for the first time ever to drive plasma wakefields. The information gained from this suite of experiments will provide the basis for designing next-generation accelerators. In the presentation, the ideas behind plasma wakefield acceleration will be explained, as well as the pros and cons of different approaches. The goals and status of the AWAKE experiment will then be described.

Prof. Allen Caldwell will visit CoSMS from the Max-Planck Physics Institute in Munich to discuss the Advanced Wakefield Experiment (AWAKE).

Abstract:  New acceleration technology is mandatory for the future of high energy particle physics. A promising approach is to exploit the properties of plasmas. An experimental program has started at CERN, the AWAKE experiment, where proton bunches will be used for the first time ever to drive plasma wakefields. The information gained from this suite of experiments will provide the basis for designing next-generation accelerators. In the presentation, the ideas behind plasma wakefield acceleration will be explained, as well as the pros and cons of different approaches. The goals and status of the AWAKE experiment will then be described.

Please see the flyer here.

On March 3, 2016 CoSMS  hosted a colloquium discussing LIGO’s observation of gravitational waves from a binary black hole merger. The talk can be viewed below.

Abstract: On September 14, 2015 at 09:50:45 UTC the two detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory simultaneously observed a transient gravitational-wave signal. The signal sweeps upwards in frequency from 35 to 250 Hz and matches the waveform predicted by general relativity for the inspiral and merger of a pair of black holes and the ringdown of the resulting single black hole. I will discuss the LIGO detectors, the implications of this observation, and prospects for the new field of gravitational-wave astronomy.

Speaker:  Dr. Patrick Brady, Director of the Leonard E. Parker Center for Gravitation, Cosmology, and Astrophysics at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.

Gravitational waves flyer

Video of the presentation

The Institute for Cosmology, Subatomic Matter & Symmetry is proud to bring Neutrino Day 2015–an annual event of the Sanford Underground Research Facility–to the triangle in partnership with SURF and the NC Museum of Natural Sciences Astronomy and Astrophysics Laboratory. Join us at the Daily Planet to travel nearly a mile underground where CoSMS Institute scientists study these elusive particles.

The CoSMS Institute is proud to co-sponsor Fifty-one Erg 2015, an international workshop on the physics and observations of supernovae and supernova remnants.

 

Read about the CoSMS Institute in the UNC Department of Physics and Astronomy Spring 2015 newsletter! Also featured, Nobel Laureate Peter Higgs is presented with an honorary degree by UNC Chancellor Carol Folt.

The Institute for Cosmology, Subatomic Matter & Symmetries is partnering with the Sanford Underground Research Laboratory and the NC Museum of Natural Sciences Astronomy and Astrophysics Laboratory to bring Neutrino Day–an annual celebration of neutrino science in Lead, South Dakota–to the triangle. Join us at the Daily Planet as we venture nearly a mile underground the Homestake mine.

The Institute for Cosmology, Subatomic Matter & Symmetry is cosponsoring Fifty-one Erg 2015, an international workshop on the physics and observations of supernovae and supernova remnants. The conference will take place at NC State University June 1-5, 2015. To find out more and register to attend, visit: F.O.E. 2015

On May 7, 2015, more than 40 members of the UNC, NC State, and Duke faculties gathered with colleagues from Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the NC Museum of Natural Sciences Astronomy and Astrophysics Laboratory to kick-off the CoSMS Institute’s inaugural year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The retreat focused on the big questions in physics and astronomy, connections between subfields, and plans for the upcoming academic year.