Geneva University
École de physique - Département de physique nucléaire et corspusculaire
24, quai Ernest-Ansermet
1211 GENÈVE 4
Tél: (022) 379 62 73 - Fax: (022) 379 69 92
Wednesday 25 February 2009
PARTICLE PHYSICS SEMINAR
at 17:00 – Stückelberg Auditorium
Physics insights from recent HESS AGN observations
by Dr. Francesca Volpe / Max-Planck-Institute for Nuclear Physics, Heidelberg
The extragalactic sources are still the most powerful, variable and brightest objects in the VHE gamma-ray sky. The improved sensitivity of the new generation of ground-based instruments have increased the VHE emitting population, providing information about cosmology and giving new clues about particle acceleration mechanisms at play in active galactic nuclei.
Emphasis will be put on the contribution of the H.E.S.S. experiment to the temporal variability of extragalactic gamma-ray sources, including an update on the most recent detections and on the giant flares from PKS 2155-304.
Information:
http://dpnc.unige.ch/seminaire/annonce.html
Organizer : J.-S. Graulich
Monday 9 March 2009
COLLOQUIUM
at 17:00 – Stückelberg Auditorium
Are We Descended From Heavy Neutrinos?
Prof. Boris Kayser / Fermilab (Fermi National Accelerator Center, Geneva, Illinois, USA)
Neutrinos are among the most abundant particles in the universe. The discovery that they have nonzero masses has raised a number of very interesting questions about them, and about their connections to other areas of physics and to cosmology. After briefly reviewing what has been learned about the neutrinos so far, we will identify the major open questions, explain why they are interesting, and discuss ideas and plans for answering them through future experiments. We will highlight a particularly intriguing question: Are neutrinos the key to understanding why the universe contains matter but almost no antimatter, making it safe for life?
Organizer: Prof. Markus Büttiker