NBIA Seminar: Lucas Johns

Particle oscillations are a cornerstone of the Standard Model and figure prominently in many of its extensions. This talk will focus on two frontier problems of astrophysics and cosmology where oscillation microphysics may be crucial. The first is the question of how core-collapse supernovae explode. I’ll survey our current understanding of how neutrinos oscillate in these environments and what the stakes are for supernova dynamics. The second problem is to account for the anomalous absorption feature reported by EDGES in that experiment’s radio search for cosmic dawn. I’ll describe a new scenario that might solve the mystery: hydrogen oscillates into a mirror state over the course of the cosmic dark ages, leaving the remnant gas cooled and the anomaly imprinted.