Deeper Talks: SURF Seminar Series
The Institute and SURF is proud of its researcher community and this series aims to strengthen the sense of intellectual community. It provides a platform for researchers to discuss their work, share insights, and foster interdisciplinary connections.
January 14, 2025
Topic: The (Im-?)Possibility of a Neutrino Laser (register here)
Speaker: Dr. Joseph Formaggio of MIT
Many analogies exist between neutrino physics and optics because the neutrino is a nearly massless particle whose feeble interactions with its environment permit coherent quantum effects. However, it is only relatively recently that we have begun to explore the potential of quantum phenomena in neutrino physics, with neutrino oscillations and coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering as prominent examples. Superradiance — which emerges from collective spontaneous emission in optically pumped gases — may also have a parallel counterpart in neutrino physics.
In this talk, Dr. Formaggio will discuss some of these analogies and introduce a new — and highly speculative — concept of superradiant neutrino emission from a radioactive Bose-Einstein condensate, which could form the basis for a superradiant neutrino laser.
Download the flyer here.
Event Details
When: Monthly on 2nd Wednesday from 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. MT
How: online or in person at the Sanford Lab Homestake Visitor Center
Who attends: Deeper Talks is intended primarily for a research-focused audience. Most participants are specialists within the featured discipline, though researchers from related fields frequently attend and contribute valuable interdisciplinary perspectives. Attendees represent a broad spectrum of career stages, including undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and senior investigators.
Event details:
8:45 a.m. Informational Video begins
9:00 a.m. Presentation begins
9:40 a.m. Q&A with speaker
9:50 a.m. Program concludes