High Energy Physics Seminar

The Standard Model of particle physics provides a remarkably predictive and well-tested theory for describing the interactions of the known elementary particles. However, experimental and observational evidence suggests that it is not a complete description of Nature. The observed matter/antimatter asymmetry, the existence of small neutrino masses, and cosmological constraints on dark matter and dark energy point strongly to the existence of fundamental physics beyond the Standard Model. In the past few decades, ultra-low-background liquid xenon time projection chambers (TPCs) have emerged as a powerful experimental technique to search for low energy signatures of new physics. I will describe their application in two different areas: searches for neutrinoless double beta decay and direct searches for dark matter. In particular, I will discuss the discovery potential of the upcoming generation of experiments, as well as ongoing work to extend their physics reach.

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