Fermilab's Tevatron collider experiments (DZero and CDF) have devoted major efforts to find the elusive Higgs boson. Together, their results are just beginning to reach the level required to exclude potential Higgs boson masses. My presentation will cover the details of the Tevatron's road to the Higgs, including the recent Higgs mass exclusion of mH=170 GeV. I will also discuss the Tevatron's newest landmark in the Higgs search: the first evidence for semileptonic diboson decays (WW/WZ->lvjj) at a hadron collider.

I will present two examples of roles that theorists play during the dawn of the new experimental renaissance in high energy physics. The first will be based on model building and making predictions for the LHC. The second example will focus on the recent PAMELA/ATIC experimental anomalies and the role that theorists can play once data is released.

I will discuss a model of supersymmetry breaking in which supersymmetry is spontaneously broken in a strongly coupled hidden sector and transmitted to the Standard Model via semi-direct gauge mediation. This model is calculable via the gauge/gravity correspondence. The gravity dual is a background where supersymmetry is broken at the end of a warped throat, and then transmitted to the Standard Model via gauginos living in the bulk. The leading effect arises from the splitting of "messenger mesons", which are Kaluza-Klein modes on the D-branes supporting the Standard Model.

This model illustrates some applications of String Theory D-branes: engineering quantum field theories, understanding their (non-perturbative) dynamics and providing a tool for performing calculations at strong coupling via the gauge/gravity correspondence.

Can we learn about New Physics with astronomical and
astro-particle data? Understanding how this is possible is key to
unraveling one of the most pressing mysteries at the interface of
cosmology and particle physics: the fundamental nature of dark matter. Rapid progress may be within grasp in the context of an approach which combines information from high-energy particle physics with cosmic-ray and traditional astronomical data. I discuss recent puzzling data on cosmic-ray electrons and positrons and their interpretation. I show how the Fermi Space Telescope will soon shed light on those data as well as
potentially on several dark matter particle properties. I then introduce a novel approach to particle dark matter searches based on the complementarity of astronomical observations across the electromagnetic spectrum, from radio to X-ray and to gamma-ray frequencies.

Modern cosmology is at once glorious and absurd - detailed measurements of various types all fit the now standard LCDM cosmological model, but this model demands that ordinary matter is sub-dominant to mysterious dark matter, and even more mysterious dark energy. This last is particularly troubling because it implies that the expansion of the Universe is accelerating, and will continue to do so forever! One of the main pillars of the standard cosmology is observations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). After reviewing what
the CMB is and how it tells us about the Universe I will focus on a series of experiments conducted over the last ten years at the South Pole in Antarctica, and the push to the final frontier of CMB research --- the search for the polarized imprint of gravitational waves spawned in the first instant of creation.

This is the public portion of Mr. Brown's PhD thesis defense.

With the third generation ground-based gamma-ray telescopes delivering over a hundred new TeV emitting objects and with the new Fermi satellite providing greatly improved sensitivity in the GeV energy regime, gamma ray astronomy is entering a golden age. I will review the basics of ground-based gamma-ray astronomy and the Air Cherenkov Telescope method of detection and then describe my work on VERITAS - an array of four gamma ray telescopes located at Mt. Hopkins, Arizona. I will describe some of the recent results from the first two years of the VERITAS observing program, paying attention to the observations of several new active galactic nuclei and the discovery of the starburst galaxy M82 in TeV gamma rays. I will then summarize investigations using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and Fermi to look for potential new VHE gamma-ray targets.

Since July 2007, Galaxy Zoo has involved through the Internet ¼ million members of the general public in providing morphological classifications by eye of nearly a million galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Scientists utilizing this unique database produced by “citizen scientists” have published thirteen peer-reviewed papers to date and more are on their way. NASA and the NSF have recently funded an initiative called the Zooniverse to expand the Galaxy Zoo model and construct a virtual facility that centralizes the ability for researchers across many disciplines to utilize human perception and pattern matching acumen in data processing pipelines. In this talk, I will provide an overview of Citizen Science and describe why humans are needed to process the veritable flood of data arriving from telescopes, satellites, remote sensing devices and scanned print. I will then present the plans for the Zooniverse giving brief overviews of the exciting new “Zoos” we are launching over the next 18 months and describe some of the excellent education opportunities available through the Zooniverse.

Using the history of understandings about gravity as a template Dr. Quinn talks about how science works and show how our understanding is driven forward by the interweaving of threads that arise in observations and in theory building. Dr. Quinn stresses the importance of seeking consistent interpretations of apparently inconsistent ideas or observations as a key to progress in science.

The lecture will be held at 7:00 p.m., Tuesday, October 6, 2009 in Memorial Hall, McNamara Alumni Center, 200 Oak Street S.E., Minneapolis. Dr. Quinn’s presentation is the fourth in the William I. Fine Theoretical Physics Institute’s annual Misel Family Lecture Series.

The William I. Fine Theoretical Physics Institute at the University of Minnesota is proud to host the Irving and Edythe Misel Lecture Series. Mr. Fine’s bold vision and generous gift to the University, inspired by his genuine interest in physics, were instrumental in the establishment of the Institute and its successful development over the past two decades.

The Misel Lecture Series is endowed by a generous gift from Irving and Edythe Misel. The Series honors the life-long friendship between Irving and Edythe Misel, their family, and William and Bianca Fine.

For more information, please visit www.ftpi.umn.edu

Please join us for The School of Physics and Astronomy Chili Cook
Off! Come and taste some delicious chili, vote for your favorites,
socialize, and raise some money for the CFD! Costumes are welcome!