Astronomers and astrophysicists expect that fast radio bursts (FRBs) happen all the time. Some estimates predict there are up to 10,000 per day. But they are not easy to detect. Telescopes with a wide field of view often don’t have good resolution. And the ones that have good resolution usually come with a much smaller field of view and might be missing them all the time.

FRBs are so short that regular follow-up observations by other radio or optical telescopes are not realistic. This could be a depressing scenario for scientists, but guess what: neutrinos might come to the rescue. 

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Geoff and Josie Fox combined backgrounds in physics and art history, an appreciation for adventure, and a willingness to change course to gain incredible traction in the action sports industry.

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“The big idea for dark matter detection is that it’s all around us right now, and it’s really important gravitationally, for how big structures—galaxies and bigger—form,” says UW particle astrophysicist Kimberly Palladino. “We know it doesn’t interact with light and with charge, and it doesn’t really interact much with itself.”

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Jenny Thomas, Senior Scientist with the IceCube group and Prof. at University College London, has been elected to a Fellow of the Royal Society in recognition of their outstanding contribution to science.

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Talk by Prof Peter Timbie at the Physical Sciences Laboratory (3725 Schneider Dr., Stoughton, Wi) entitled “Mapping the Universe with New Radio Telescopes”.

What is the nature of the inflation process that started the Big Bang expansion of the Universe? What is the Dark Energy that is causing that expansion to accelerate? And what is the origin of the recently discovered `fast radio bursts’ that flash on the sky 10,000 times per day? Professor Timbie will describe plans to build radio telescopes, with help of PSL, that will be optimized to solve these three mysteries.
 

Babara Jacak, Colloquium Speaker

Each colored square corresponds to a pixel in the camera.  The camera has 1024 pixels, each sensitive to single photons with time resolution of one billionth of a second.  The full camera weighs several hundred pounds and measures five feet across.  The image was created in the laboratory in Chamberlin Hall by flashing a light emitting diode at the camera, with pixels surrounding the W electrically suppressed by operating them at low bias voltage.  The color scale indicates how many photons were detected in each pixel, with the darkest red pixels corresponding to the most light.  The actual photons that were detected are blue.  The pixels have not yet been calibrated, which is why some artifacts are visible.  The camera will be installed on a prototype telescope at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory, where it will detect flashes of light produced by very high energy gamma rays produced in astrophysical sources and colliding with Earth’s atmosphere.  The prototype Schwarzschild Couder Telescope for the Cherenkov Telescope Array is supported by a Major Research Instrumentation grant from the National Science Foundation, award #1229792.  Image credit: Colin Adams, Thomas Meures, Justin Vandenbroucke, Physics Department.

A short video describes the project and details UW’s involvement.

Ten University of Wisconsin–Madison scientists are involved in designing and testing the LZ detector, and are part of a team of more than 200 researchers from 38 institutions in five countries working on the project. This month, the Department of Energy approved proceeding with the final stages of assembly and construction of LZ at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in South Dakota, with a total project cost of $55 million.

Illustration Credit: SLAC

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