The Department of Physics at IST (DF-IST) announces the first colloquium under the DF-IST Colloquia – 2nd semester 2020/2021.
- 14th April 2021, 16:00 – Online
- Speaker: professor Ruben Conceição (IST/DF; LIP Lisboa)
- Title: “Pierre Auger Observatory and SWGO: a window to the extreme energy Universe”
- Abstract: Ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) and very high energy gamma-rays are the highest energy known particles and radiation, respectively. Their study allows us to probe some of the most extreme phenomena in our Universe and to investigate its fundamental physics properties. Both can only be indirectly detected through the analysis of the huge extensive air showers that they induce upon their entry into the Earth atmosphere. The Pierre Auger Observatory and the future Southern Wide-field Gamma-ray Observatory (SWGO) are two of the largest and more ambitious experiments to study UHECRs and VHE gamma-rays. In this seminar, I shall present both experiments and the employed techniques to scrutinize the showers and learn about the nature and origin of the particles inducing them. I will also discuss the tests to fundamental physics that these experiments can conduct, some of which impossible to be reproduced by any present human-made laboratory.
The DF-IST colloquia will be organised according to the following topics:
1. The end of Nature
2. Trends and frontiers in Physics
3. Physics at the core of Technology
4. Paths and ways for a graduate in Physics
The DF-IST colloquia are organised by professors Amaro Rica da Silva, Bruno Gonçalves and Marta Fajardo.
