E-lab Seminar
Upcoming
| Date | Mon May 25 2026 (13:00 - 14:00) |
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| Speaker |
Katsuki Aoki (Saitama University) |
| Title | EFT approaches to cosmology |
| Abstract | Our Universe is spatially homogeneous and isotropic on large scales. This high symmetry of the Universe enables us to systematically investigate various possibilities of cosmological scenarios using the powerful tool from high-energy physics, namely, effective field theory (EFT). In this approach, the difference in field contents is translated into the difference in symmetry-breaking patterns, encapsulating phenomenological features of each scenario into effective operators in a model-independent manner. In this talk, starting with a brief review of the so-called EFT of inflation/dark energy, I will talk about how we can extend this framework to different phenomena of cosmology, such as coupled dark matter and dark energy, and chiral gravitational waves. |
| Remarks | |
| Slide/Video |
| Date | Mon Jun 01 2026 (13:00 - 14:00) |
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| Speaker |
Kohsaku Tobioka (Florida State Univ.) |
| Title | Big Bang Nucleosynthesis: Advances in Hadronic Injection and New Bounds on Heavy QCD Axions |
| Abstract | Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) provides a powerful probe of hadronic injection from new physics that modifies the neutron-to-proton ratio, thanks to the precisely measured primordial helium-4 abundance. In this talk, I apply this probe to long-lived particles, specifically heavy QCD axions which are well-motivated candidates that can address the strong CP problem and predominantly decay into hadrons. We compute the axion-induced modification of the neutron-to-proton ratio and derive robust upper bounds on the axion lifetime, as short as 0.017 seconds, well before 1 second, the onset of BBN. While motivated by the axion study, we also make several significant and broadly applicable advances in the treatment of hadronic injection during BBN. These include new or updated hadronic cross sections, scattering processes involving energetic neutral kaons (KL), and the effects of secondary hadrons. Neglecting these effects can lead to significant misestimates of the primordial helium-4 abundance. In addition, we derive a semi-analytic solution that allows us to estimate theoretical uncertainties and demonstrate the robustness of our bounds. Reference: arXiv:2510.23695. |
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| Slide/Video |
| Date | Tue Jun 16 2026 (17:00 - 18:00) |
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| Speaker |
Vinicius Massami, Mikuni (KMI) |
| Title | TBA |
| Abstract | TBA |
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| Slide/Video |
| Date | Mon Jun 22 2026 (13:00 - 14:00) |
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| Speaker |
Kusuki yuya (Kyushu) |
| Title | TBA |
| Abstract | TBA |
| Remarks | Online |
| Slide/Video |
| Date | Tue Jun 30 2026 (17:00 - 18:00) |
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| Speaker |
Amitabh Virmani (Chennai Mathematical Institute (online)) |
| Title | TBA |
| Abstract | TBA |
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| Date | Tue Jul 21 2026 (17:00 - 18:00) |
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| Speaker |
David Turton (U of Southampton (online)) |
| Title | TBA |
| Abstract | TBA |
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| Slide/Video |
| Date | Mon Jul 27 2026 (13:00 - 14:00) |
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| Speaker |
Dan Kondo (Kavli IPMU, The University of Tokyo) |
| Title | TBA |
| Abstract | TBA |
| Remarks | |
| Slide/Video |
