Playing dirty: Excavating new particles

Speaker: 
Jessica Howard
Event Date: 
Wednesday, August 23, 2023 - 6:00pm

Particles even smaller than atoms are the building blocks of matter, manifestations of energy, and might even describe gravity; they affect everything from technology to the evolution of our universe. What are these mysterious fundamental particles like, and how do they interact with each other? Scientists are engaged in a massive effort to construct a theory of particles that answers those questions, and sophisticated computational and mathematical techniques have become an integral part of their toolkit. Over dinner and drinks, KITP Postdoctoral Scholar Jessica N. Howard will share one way machine learning and math originally designed for moving dirt might help us answer the fundamental question: what is our universe made of?