Presenter Status
Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Physics and Astronomy
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Session
D
Location
Chan Shun 108
Start Date
19-5-2017 3:55 PM
End Date
19-5-2017 4:15 PM
Presentation Abstract
The big bang and inflation are experimentally confirmed by multitudes of astronomical observations, yet theoretical tension still exists upon a very important question: why is there something rather than nothing? In other words, why are there unequal amounts of matter and antimatter? Why did a supposedly initially symmetric state not annihilate perfectly?
The breaking of this symmetry has allowed for all of material existence--also known as baryogenesis, the prevalence of matter over antimatter--and yields the theoretical possibility of direct detection by observation of baryon number violating mechanisms, which have previously never been observed.
One such plausible mechanism can be found in neutron-antineutron oscillation, which is currently planned to be searched for at the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), the future tentpole of particle physics in the United States. Such a process could single-handedly lead to the baryon asymmetry, and tantalizing new physics barely above current particle accelerator energies.
Biographical Sketch
Joshua attended The McCallie School, and graduated Summa Cum Laude from Southern Adventist University with degrees in Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry and Biology in 2015. There, he studied under Professor Ray Hefferlin in periodic systems of triatomic molecules, making the cover of The International Journal of Quantum Chemistry in 2016.
He joined The University of Tennessee at Knoxville in Fall 2015 as a Birkhoff fellow before passing his PhD qualification exams in Fall 2016 and joining Professor Yuri Kamyshkov as a full graduate research assistant. He currently studies fundamental experimental high-energy particle and nuclear physics in beyond standard model processes related to the baryon asymmetry of the universe (neutron-antineutron oscillation and post-sphaleron baryogenesis), the restoration of left-right symmetry of the universe, and dark matter (both related to neutron-mirror neutron oscillation).
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Searching for the Origins of Matter
Chan Shun 108
The big bang and inflation are experimentally confirmed by multitudes of astronomical observations, yet theoretical tension still exists upon a very important question: why is there something rather than nothing? In other words, why are there unequal amounts of matter and antimatter? Why did a supposedly initially symmetric state not annihilate perfectly?
The breaking of this symmetry has allowed for all of material existence--also known as baryogenesis, the prevalence of matter over antimatter--and yields the theoretical possibility of direct detection by observation of baryon number violating mechanisms, which have previously never been observed.
One such plausible mechanism can be found in neutron-antineutron oscillation, which is currently planned to be searched for at the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), the future tentpole of particle physics in the United States. Such a process could single-handedly lead to the baryon asymmetry, and tantalizing new physics barely above current particle accelerator energies.
Acknowledgements
Professor Yuri Kamyshkov, UTK
Dr. Ben Rybolt, UTK
Dr. Leah Broussard, ORNL
Matthew Frost, UTK