Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS April Meeting 2021
Volume 66, Number 5
Saturday–Tuesday, April 17–20, 2021; Virtual; Time Zone: Central Daylight Time, USA
Session K05: #BlackinPhysics-Women Scientists Probe the Cosmos From Different Disciplines (Physics, Astronomy, & Chemistry) and ScalesDiversity Invited Live Undergrad Friendly
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Sponsoring Units: CSWP Chair: Angela Hight Walker, NIST |
Sunday, April 18, 2021 1:30PM - 2:06PM Live |
K05.00001: Toward a Differential Measurement of the Electron Neutrino CC1eNp Cross Section in MicroBooNE Invited Speaker: Katrina Miller Neutrino oscillation research is at the forefront of new and exciting experimental searches for physics beyond the Standard Model. MicroBooNE, the longest running liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC), is the first of several detectors in Fermilab’s leading-edge LArTPC program working toward stringent measurements of neutrino oscillation parameters. At energy scales relevant to accelerator-based experiments, charged-current (CC) interactions producing an electron and at least one proton (1eNp) in the final state are a dominant contribution to electron neutrino event rates. To date, no experimental verification of the CC1eNp cross section on argon exists, though such a measurement is crucial for next-generation LArTPCs to reach discovery precision in the appearance channel. While MicroBooNE’s primary physics analyses utilize the on-axis Booster Neutrino Beam, a significant neutrino flux is also received from the higher energy, off-axis Neutrinos at the Main Injector (NuMI) beam. The greater νe to νμ ratio of the NuMI flux provides a unique opportunity for MicroBooNE to perform world-leading measurements of electron neutrino cross sections. This work presents a selection of NuMI events as progress toward the first differential measurement of CC1eNp interactions in argon, demonstrating our ability to successfully measure and reconstruct electron neutrinos in MicroBooNE. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, April 18, 2021 2:06PM - 2:42PM Live |
K05.00002: Detecting Biosignatures in the Atmospheres of Gas Dwarfs with JWST Invited Speaker: Caprice Phillips No planet in the Solar System exists that is analogous to super-Earths and mini-Neptunes, a class of exoplanets with radii between those of Earth and Neptune. Because of stronger gravity than Earth, the new class of exoplanet can retain a sizable hydrogen-dominated atmosphere. We call these planets gas dwarf planets, in contrast to gas giant planets. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will offer unprecedented insight into the atmospheric composition of potentially habitable gas dwarf planets through transmission and emission spectroscopy, whose reducing atmospheres have entirely different chemistry from an inhabited Earth-like planet with an oxidizing atmosphere. We investigate the detectability of NH3 (ammonia, a potential biosignature) in the atmospheres of seven potentially habitable gas dwarf planets using various JWST instruments (NIRISS, NIRSpec, and MIRI). We use open-source package petitRADTRANS and PandExo to model planet atmospheres and simulate JWST observations. We consider different scenarios by varying cloud conditions, mean molecular weights (MMWs), and NH3 mixing ratios, and define a metric to quantify detection significance and provide a ranked list for JWST observations in search of biosignature in gas dwarf planets. Generally, it is challenging to search for the 10um NH3 with MIRI given a noise floor of 100 ppm for emission spectroscopy. NIRISS and NIRSpec are feasible under optimal conditions such as a clear sky and low MMWs for a number of gas dwarf planets. The study shows that searching for biosignature is now feasible with a reasonable investment of JWST time (~10 orbits) if we consider gas dwarf planets as potential places to harbor life. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, April 18, 2021 2:42PM - 3:18PM Live |
K05.00003: Condensation of SiC Stardust in CO Nova Outbursts Invited Speaker: Kathleen Rink This study on presolar grains compares high-precision isotopic compositions of individual SiC grains with low 12C/13C ratios, low 14N/15N ratios, large 30Si excesses, and high 26Al/27Al ratios, all available in the presolar grain database, to new CO and ONe nova models with white dwarf (WD) masses from 0.6 to 1.35 Me. The models were designed to match the Large Binocular Telescope high-dispersion spectra acquired for nova V5668 Sgr. These CO nova models provide elemental abundances up to calcium and include mixing of WD material into the accreted material in a binary star system under several scenarios, including one where mixing occurs only after temperatures >7x107 K are achieved during a thermonuclear runaway (TNR). The 1.15–1.35 Me simulations where 25% of the WD core matter mixes with 75% of the accreted material (assumed solar) from its binary companion provide the best fits to the measured isotopic data in the M11-151-4 presolar grain. For these five presolar grains, less than 25% of solar system material is required to be mixed with the CO and ONe nova ejecta to account for the grains’ compositions. [Preview Abstract] |
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