UK Accelerator Institutes Seminar Series Winter 2025 (Session 12)

23 Jan 2025, 15:15 → 14 Mar 2025, 00:30 Europe/London

Emmanuel Tsesmelis (CERN), Ian Bailey (Lancaster University / Cockcroft Institute of Accelerator Science and Technology), Lee Jones (ASTeC (STFC Daresbury Laboratory) & The Cockcroft Institute)

UK Accelerator Institutes Seminar Series

Further abstracts will be added in due course.  Seminar slides and recordings can be found in the timetable.

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Thursday 30 January

15:15 → 17:15 Special JAI Student Lectures - Effective Science Communication in Particle and Accelerator Physics

Communicating effectively can make the difference in a selection process for a new position or accessing funding for your project. For that reason, both in academia and in industry, strong communication skills became an essential asset. These lectures aim to empower particle and accelerator physics researchers to communicate their findings effectively, both internally and externally, foster collaboration, and potentially ensure funding and ultimately drive research career success. The first part of the lectures will cover the basic aspects of effective science communication: adapting the message to different audiences and increasing engagement, improving public speaking skills using compelling narratives, and managing uncertainty. In the second part we will put into practice some of the points discussed in the first part, including short pitches, writing exercises, and discussions about ethics and trust in communication. The lectures are tailored to graduate students and researchers willing to improve their communication skills.

Speaker: Dr Hector Garcia-Morales

SciComm_Workshop_2025_Oxford.pdf

Thursday 6 February

15:15 → 16:15 University Neutrons: The High-Flux Accelerator Facility at Birmingham

The University of Birmingham has operated several accelerators since the 1940s and in December 2023, the new High Flux Accelerator-Driven Neutron Facility (HF-ADNeF) was commissioned. At its heart is a high-current 2.6 MV proton / deuteron accelerator, capable of 30-50 mA. A high-power, rotating lithium target can generate 1e12 neutrons/cm^2/s via the Li-7(p,n)Be-7 reaction. Additionally, from the Birmingham Cyclotron Facility, lower fluxes of higher energy neutrons are available using deuteron beams on a cooled beryllium target.

These two facilities will be presented along with a selection of the research carried out and planned at the accelerators.

Speaker: Carl Wheldon (University of Birmingham)

UK AI Seminar - Birmingham Neutron Facility - Audio.m4a

UK AI Seminar - Birmingham Neutron Facility - Presentation.pdf

UK AI Seminar - Birmingham Neutron Facility - Video.mp4

Thursday 27 February

15:15 → 16:15 The TWOCRYST Project at the CERN Large Hadron Collider: Pioneering a Novel Experiment to Explore Charmed Baryons

The study of magnetic and electric dipole moments (MDM and EDM) of charm baryons, such as the ΛC, offers an unprecedented opportunity to explore fundamental physics beyond the Standard Model. However, these particles have incredibly short lifetimes—just 10⁻¹³ seconds—making such measurements extremely challenging. A breakthrough becomes possible by confining their motion within the atomic lattices of ultra-pure bent crystals, where strong electromagnetic fields can induce measurable spin precession.

In early 2025, a pioneering set-up called TWOCRYST was installed at the LHC to test this concept at TeV energies for the first time. This proof-of-principle experiment consists of a solid fixed target, two bent crystals, and two precision detectors. The data collected from TWOCRYST will be critical in assessing the feasibility of a full-scale experiment, potentially to be realized during LHC Run 4, aimed at directly measuring the dipole moments of charm baryons. This talk will cover the motivation behind TWOCRYST, the innovative technologies involved, and how its results will shape the future of high-precision charm physics at the LHC.

Speaker: Dr Pascal Hermes (CERN)

Thursday 6 March

15:15 → 16:15 TBA

Thursday 13 March

15:15 → 16:15 TBA