Physics Events
[PAST EVENT] Physics Colloquium - Chia Chang
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- Open to the public
Chia Chang, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Title of Talk: Predicting the neutron lifetime from the Standard Model
Abstract: From quarks and gluons, the emergence of nucleons and their properties can be predicted from the modern theory of the strong interaction, quantum chromodynamics. Precise predictions from the Standard Model in tandem with observations from experiments provides a window for revealing new physics beyond. One such example is the neutron lifetime, where tension at 4 standard deviations is measured between independent experiments. With the maturation of lattice quantum chromodynamics over the past decades, I will present our published result of $g_A$, which governs the neutron lifetime, to one percent precision commensurate with measurements from experiment. With the arrival of near-exascale computing made available by the largest supercomputers in the world, I will show improvements to $g_A$ which are approaching enough precision to start revealing possible hints of physics beyond the Standard Model. I will conclude by discussing future calculations with promising potential towards predicting the radius of the proton, and other observables that may help us understand the origin of matter.