Freedman Awardee: Bringing Darkness to Light: Searching for New Physics with Low Energy Techniques

Among the most prominent questions in modern physics are those addressing the nature and origin of the neutrino masses and the identification of invisible or ``dark matter’’ in the universe.  These questions, which involve some of the most fundamental aspects of matter and its interactions, often have implications for the development of the cosmos at the largest scales.  Searches for new particles that could comprise the dark matter, and for undiscovered processes such as neutrinoless double-beta decay, often rely on interactions with--and transformations of—nuclei in highly sensitive detectors, or on precision measurements of nuclear properties that reveal unexpected results.  This often requires the detection of tiny recoils, transitions, or other signals that are extremely difficult to detect.

In this talk, we discuss the combination of recent developments in detector technology, cryogenics, and quantum sensing with novel search techniques to conduct low-energy experimental searches for new physics and explore weak interactions with a light touch.