Probing physics beyond the standard model with modern nuclear theory

Speaker

Jason Holt, TRIUMF

Abstract

As science probes ever more extreme facets of the universe, the role of nuclear theory in confronting fundamental questions in nature continues to deepen. Long considered a phenomenological field, breakthroughs in many-body methods together with our treatment of nuclear and electroweak forces are rapidly transforming modern nuclear theory into a true first-principles, or ab initio, discipline. 

In this talk I will discuss recent advances which expand the scope of ab initio calculations to essentially all properties of light, medium-mass nuclei and beyond. When based on consistently derived two- and three-nucleon forces, these powerful approaches allow first predictions of the limits of nuclear existence and the evolution of magic numbers far from stability.In particular I will focus on recent extensions to fundamental problems in nuclear-weak physics, including a proposed solution of the long- standing quenching puzzle in beta decays, calculations of neutrinoless double-beta decay for determining neutrino masses, and WIMP-nucleus scattering cross sections relevant for dark matter direct detection searches.