In this seminar, I will present the analysis of data collected from an Optical Time Projection Chamber (OTPC) based on an argon gas mixture, aimed at evaluating its performance for potential integration into the DUNE near detector to improve control over systematic errors. The study focuses on the identification and analysis of ionization profiles from alpha particles and cosmic muons. A dedicated software tool was developed to characterize the OTPC\'s performance, specifically estimating its optical gain, which is critical for understanding the detector’s measurement capabilities. Notably, this work includes the first successful reconstruction of cosmic muon tracks using an argon-gas OTPC.

After a perturbation, black holes emit gravitational radiation at certain characteristic frequencies corresponding to their quasinormal modes (QNMs). These modes depend on the underlying gravitational dynamics and hence their detection in gravitational wave experiments provides an excellent test to look for deviations to Einstein gravity. In the case of Kerr black holes in General Relativity (GR), the study of QNMs is made possible by the Teukolsky equation. However, the study of perturbations of rotating black holes in theories beyond GR is a very challenging problem that has remained elusive for a long time. In this talk I will present a resolution to this problem by introducing (and solving) a "universal" Teukolsky equation that holds in modifications of GR. I will use this equation to obtain the QNM frequencies of black holes with substantial angular momentum in higher-derivative extensions of GR. I will also discuss the case of near-extremal black holes, which poses additional challenges and is the subject of ongoing investigations.

Esta sesión especial estará organizada en colaboración co Art.Lab do Instituto Galego de Física de Altas Enerxías (IGFAE) a partir da súa exposición Instrumentos de Visión, do artista Armin Linke e comisariada por Mónica Bello desde Arts at CERN. A actividade contará coa participación do físico teórico Carlos Salgado, director do IGFAE; Luísa Martínez, Responsable de Cultura Científica de CSIC-Galicia e o investigador e artista sonoro, Xoán-Xil. A conversa partirá do traballo exposto por Linke para facer unha analoxía entre os instrumentos da visión científica e as ferramentas da visión e da filmación e, a partir de aí, afondar nas analoxías e diverxencias dos métodos de investigación artística e científica.

Nos últimos anos, o IGFAE impulsou o programa ArtLab, un espazo de diálogo entre a arte e a ciencia desenvolvida neste centro de investigación, que fomenta as interaccións entre ambas áreas do coñecemento. Neste marco, e en relación á recente exposición organizada polo IGFAE, o centro súmase á programación de Curtocircuito, co obxectivo de explorar as analoxías entre os instrumentos de visión científica e as ferramentas da filmación, e afondar nos vínculos e diverxencias entre os métodos de investigación científica e artística.

The formation of short-range correlated nucleon-nucleon pairs (SRCs), primarily composed of neutron-proton pairs [1], appears to be a universal feature in atomic nuclei [2]. Interestingly, measurements in electron scattering indicate that protons become significantly more correlated in asymmetric nuclei as a function of neutron excess. This has potential implications for the description of cold dense nuclear matter as for neutron stars. However, available data are limited to stable nuclei which have maximum neutron excess of ~1.6 and, at the same time as they become more neutron-rich, they also become more heavy. To overcome these limitations, we performed a pilot experiment at the R³B setup at GSI-FAIR [3] as part of the FAIR Phase-0 experimental program to measure SRC in the most neutron-rich nucleus yet, 16C. We employ hard proton knockout reactions in inverse kinematics of 16C beam at 1.25 GeV/nucleon, as well as 12C beam as reference, to study SRC behavior. In this talk, I will discuss the results of this SRC investigation in neutron-rich nuclei and prospects for the follow-up research program at FAIR.

[1] R. Subedi, R. Shneor, Science, 1156675, 2008.

[2] M. Duer et al. (CLAS Collaboration), Nature, 560:617, 2018.

[3] https://www.gsi.de/work/forschung/nustarenna/nustarenna_divisions/kernreaktionen/activities/r3b.

An important question in heavy-ion collisions is how the initial far-from-equilibrium medium evolves and thermalizes while it undergoes a rapid longitudinal expansion. In this presentation, I will show how to use the two-particle irreducible (2PI) effective action to address this question, focusing on phi^4 scalar theory truncated at three loops. I will present numerical results for quantities such as the occupation number, the thermal mass, and the number density.

Exponentially fast scrambling of an initial state characterizes quantum chaotic systems. Given the importance of quickly populating higher energy levels from low-energy states in quantum battery charging protocols, we investigate the role of quantum scrambling in quantum batteries and its effect on optimal power and charging times. We adopt a bare representation with normalized bandwidths to suppress system energy dependence. To our knowledge, this is the first in-depth exploration of quantum scrambling in the context of quantum batteries. By analyzing the dynamics of out-of-time-order correlators, our findings indicate that quantum scrambling does not necessarily lead to faster charging, despite its potential for accelerating the process.

This seminar will provide a pedagogical overview of the current status of Beyond Standard Model (BSM) physics searches at the LHC, with a focus on new directions being explored within the CMS experiment during the Run 3 data taking period at 13.6 TeV (2022-2025). The discussion will highlight searches for long-lived particles (LLP), predicted by various BSM physics scenarios inspired by cosmological observations and neutrino experiment results. If these particles exist, they may be produced at the LHC and decay at macroscopic distances from the collision point, leading to unconventional experimental signatures that might have been missed in previous searches.

Dr. Alberto Escalante del Valle is a researcher at CIEMAT, a member of the CMS collaboration at the LHC since 2012, and an expert in BSM physics searches. He contributed to the first Run 3 search for new physics at the LHC, a search for long-lived dark sector particles decaying pairs of displaced muons: https://cms.cern/news/long-lived-particles-light-lhc-run-3-data.

Dirección: Thomas Dent, Juan Calderón Bustillo.

One of the few cases of AdS/CFT where both sides of the duality are under good control relates tensionless $k=1$ strings on AdS$_3$ to a two-dimensional symmetric product CFT. Building on prior observations, we propose an exact duality between string theory on a spacetime which is not asymptotically AdS and a non-conformal field theory. The bulk theory is constructed as a marginal deformation of the $k=1$ AdS$_3$ string while the spacetime dual is a single trace $T \\bar{T}$-deformed symmetric orbifold theory. As evidence for the duality, we match the one-loop bulk and boundary torus partition functions. This correspondence provides a framework to both learn about quantum gravity beyond AdS and understand how to define physical observables in $T \\bar{T}$-deformed field theories.