Astrophysics, Gravitation and Cosmology Seminar - Leah Jenks (University of Chicago) "Cosmological Probes of Higher Spin Fields "
- Event Type
- Seminar/Symposium
- Sponsor
- Department of Physics
- Location
- Loomis 464
- Date
- Oct 5, 2022 12:00 pm
- Speaker
- Leah Jenks
- Contact
- Brandy Koebbe
- bkoebbe@illinois.edu
- Views
- 81
- Originating Calendar
- Physics - Astrophysics, Relativity, and Cosmology Seminar
Higher spin (s > 2) particles appear in many areas of physics, but have generally been unexplored in the context of cosmology. In this talk, I will highlight recent work studying higher spins in several cosmological scenarios. I will first discuss the ‘cosmological collider’ framework and show how higher spin interactions during inflation can leave distinctive signatures on the non-gaussianity of the cosmic microwave background. I will then discuss higher spin particles as a dark matter candidate and show distinctive signatures that could arise in directional direct detection experiments.