Abstract:
While the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics has been enormously successful in describing the world around us, there still remain many important and unanswered questions requiring Beyond the SM (BSM) physics. One way to experimentally probe the limits of the SM is to search for potential violations of its fundamental symmetries through precision low-energy tests involving nucleons or nuclei. Connecting experimental signals from nuclear environments to a particular BSM model involves the numerical solution of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), a cornerstone of the SM which governs the nuclear interactions. In this talk I will discuss the use of Lattice QCD as a tool for numerically calculating quantities relevant for experimental BSM searches. I will use neutrinoless double beta decay, which, if observed, could offer an explanation for the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the universe, as a key example.
Zoom link will be available via announcement email, or by contacting: stroberg[at]uw.edu.