Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2017 Annual Meeting of the APS Mid-Atlantic Section
Volume 62, Number 19
Friday–Sunday, November 3–5, 2017; Newark, New Jersey
Session M5: Astro IV: Quantum Cosmology / Dark Matter / Energy |
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Chair: Eric Blackman, University of Rochester Room: Atrium, Campus Center, NJIT |
Sunday, November 5, 2017 10:00AM - 10:12AM |
M5.00001: ABSTRACT WITHDRAWN |
Sunday, November 5, 2017 10:12AM - 10:48AM |
M5.00002: Entanglement and the architecture of spacetime Invited Speaker: Eugenio Bianchi Entanglement is a hallmark of complex quantum systems: When the constituents of a system come into contact, they establish correlations that cannot be explained in terms of classical physics - they become entangled. Spacetime itself is no different. At small scales where quantum effects dominate, the geometry of spacetime manifests its quantum nature. In this talk I illustrate how entanglement plays a fundamental role in the description of the architecture of spacetime. In particular I discuss a scenario for the pre-inflationary state of the universe which is characterized by its entanglement structure and which can leave imprints in the cosmic microwave background. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, November 5, 2017 10:48AM - 11:00AM |
M5.00003: Searching for the radiative decay of sterile neutrino dark matter with Swift XRT Aaron Tohuvavohu In the past few years there have been multiple claimed detections of a 3.5 keV line consistent with the signature of sterile neutrino dark matter decay, from several astrophysical sources, using data from various X-ray missions (Chandra, XMM-Newton, Suzaku). We present recent results and ongoing work to constrain the sterile neutrino parameter space using archival observations performed by the Swift X-Ray Telescope (XRT). We discuss the relative merits and limitations of Swift XRT for this work as compared to other X-ray missions and present results from a search for the 3.5 keV line in deep ($>$ 1 Ms) observations of M31, several ultra-faint dwarf galaxies, and deep fields. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, November 5, 2017 11:00AM - 11:12AM |
M5.00004: A Generalization Of The Effective Field Theory Of Dark Energy Sina Bahrami, Eanna Flanagan The effective field theory of dark energy is generalized to incorporate dark matter, which is modeled using a complex scalar field with a global $U(1)$ symmetry. The dark matter model used here has similarities to models of ultralight axion. Generic interaction terms in the dark matter sector violate the weak equivalence principle. While the status of the weak equivalence principle with respect to dark matter is currently unknown, cosmological and astrophysical observations can be used to constrain the amount of weak equivalence principle violation in the dark matter sector. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, November 5, 2017 11:12AM - 11:24AM |
M5.00005: Quantum Gravity made from quantum polyhedra Pietro Dona The geometry of space at the Plank scale in Loop Quantum Gravity has a discrete structure. The grains of space have a quantum behavior and their semi-classical limit are classical euclidean polyhedra. The dynamics of the theory is encoded in transition amplitudes between geometries tessellated with polyhedra cells. I will review how the full space-time can be then thought as a collection of four-dimensional polytopes and how a discrete version of General Relativity is recovered in the semi-classical limit. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, November 5, 2017 11:24AM - 11:36AM |
M5.00006: Slow Control and Test Systems for Commissioning of LZ Dark Matter Detector Corey Herr, M. Carmen Carmona-Benitez, Luiz de Viveiros The LUX and ZEPLIN dark matter experiments have merged to construct a 7 tonne two-phase xenon detector, known as LUX-ZEPLIN or LZ, that will push the search for weakly-interacting dark matter particles to unprecedented sensitivity. This is achieved thanks to its larger mass of xenon, a new outer detection system, and lower radioactive backgrounds. A powerful cryogenic system based on a nitrogen gas thermosyphon is used to cool and liquefy the large xenon mass, and a xenon circulation system will constantly run the xenon through a purifier to keep background event rates to a minimum. Both the liquid xenon circulation system and thermosyphon components for the LZ detector need to be tested before implementation in the main detector. I retrofitted the instrumentation from the thermosyphon-based cryogenic system previously used in LUX for use in a cryogenics workbench at Penn State, which we can use to test these systems. I used LabVIEW to design the software for the Slow Control System using state machine based logic, and AutoCAD Electrical for the piping and instrumentation diagrams. This slow control system will allow operation of test systems being developed at Penn State. [Preview Abstract] |
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