Dipartimento di Fisica

Winner over 40 category: Prof. Jo Dunkley Princeton University USA   Motivazione: Per lo sviluppo di metodi innovativi di analisi dei dati di anisotropia e polarizzazione del fondo cosmico di microonde, che hanno vincolato efficientemente sia la cosmologia che la fisica fondamentale, producendo una descrizione unificata dell’Universo Fisico.

Winner under 40 category: Dr. Karoline Schäffner Max-Planck-Institute for Physics, Werner Heisenberg Institut Germany   Motivazione: La dr.ssa Schäffner ha sviluppato un nuovo approccio per esperimenti volti a dimostrare l’esistenza della materia oscura. Mettendo a frutto la sua solida conoscenza della fisica al mK, ha realizzato un prototipo per un esperimento di ricerca della Materia Oscura ai LNGS basato su una nuova tecnica di soppressione attiva del fondo con rivelatori criogenici che è alla base dell'esperimento COSINUS per l’osservazione diretta della materia oscura.

Lunedi 23 Novembre 2020 - Seminari delle due vincitrici per l’anno 2020

Meet: meet.google.com/twa-qvtg-fxd 

Ore 15.00: Dr. Karoline Schaeffner (Winner under 40 category)
Max-Planck-Institute for Physics (Werner Heisenberg Institut, Germany)
Title
COSINUS - A unique perspective to shine light on the long-standing dark matter claim of DAMA/LIBRA

Abstract
Dark matter is a main ingredient of the cosmos, its nature, despite of enormous progress in terrestrial direct dark matter searches, is still undiscovered. Most prominently, the results from DAMA/LIBRA, since more than two decades, create a controversial situation in the field of direct dark matter detection. Their latest results from DAMA phase 2 add further constraints since they imply that any interpretation of DAMA in terms of dark matter requires non-standard interactions of dark matter particles, or non-standard astrophysical assumptions, or both.
For a fully model-independent investigation of the nature of the DAMA/LIBRA claim, experiments which use the same material as DAMA/LIBRA are essential. Therefore, experiments applying sodium iodide (NaI) crystals are planned or are right on their way to solve the long-lasting discrepancy.
 
COSINUS willalso use crystals of NaI, however not operates them as mere scintillation detectors, but as so-called cryogenic scintillating calorimeters operated at milli-Kelvin temperatures. COSINUS detectors provide a simultanous and independent measurement of both the temperature signal and the scintillation light signal caused by a particle interaction. Since the amount of produced light depends on the particle type (light quenching), this detection technique yields identification of the type of interacting particle on an event-by-event basis.
In this talk I will present results of our first generation prototype detectors and I will discussion future steps and prospects of COSINUS currently installing its own experimental facility at LNGS.
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Ore 15.40: Prof. Jo Dunkley (Winner over 40 category)
Princeton University (USA )
Title
The Millimeter Sky from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope
 
Abstract
I will show new images of the Cosmic Microwave Background made by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope in Chile, capturing the universe as it was at 380,000 years after the Big Bang. I will describe how they are advancing our knowledge of cosmology, and how the new data let us weigh in on the concordance cosmological model known as ‘Lambda-Cold-Dark-Matter', the local expansion rate of the universe, and its spatial geometry.