HIP NEWS March 24th 2014
============================

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS / HIP JOINT COLLOQUIA / SEMINARS
——————————————————-
Tuesday 25 March 2014 at 10.15 in A315
Mikko Möttönen (Aalto University)
Observation of Dirac monopoles in a synthetic magnetic field

Abstract: Magnetic monopoles–particles that behave as isolated north or south magnetic poles–have been the subject of speculation since the first detailed observations of magnetism several hundred years ago. Numerous theoretical investigations and hitherto unsuccessful experimental searches have followed Dirac’s 1931 development of a theory of monopoles consistent with both quantum mechanics and the gauge invariance of the electromagnetic field. The existence of even a single Dirac magnetic monopole would have far-reaching physical consequences, most famously explaining the quantization of electric charge. Although analogues of magnetic monopoles have been found in exotic spin ices and other systems there has been no direct experimental observation of Dirac monopoles within a medium described by a quantum field, such as superfluid helium-3. Here we demonstrate the controlled creation of Dirac monopoles in the synthetic magnetic field produced by a spinor Bose-Einstein condensate. Monopoles are identified, in both experiments and matching numerical simulations, at the termini of vortex lines within the condensate. By directly imaging such a vortex line, the presence of a monopole may be discerned from the experimental data alone. These real-space images provide conclusive and long-awaited experimental evidence of the existence of Dirac monopoles. Our result provides an unprecedented opportunity to observe and manipulate these quantum mechanical entities in a controlled environment.

Utrecht Network ?Academic English? Summer School
30.06.-11.07.2014 for posgraduate students
——————————————-
https://flamma.helsinki.fi/portal/home/sisalto?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=content_view&contentId=HY313468&placeId=HY034203

Wondering where to publish your articles? Hear the tips of the publisher
————————————————————————–
Time: April 10th, 2014 at 9 pm – 12
Further information:
https://flamma.helsinki.fi/portal/units/farmasia?_nfpb=true&_windowLabel=T18802259611379669329428&contentId=HY313996&lang=en&_pageLabel=P12000359611379669328883

VISITORS
——–
V. Keus 28.3. – 1.4. (OL)

HIP NEWS March 17th 2014
============================

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS / HIP JOINT COLLOQUIA / SEMINARS
——————————————————-
Tuesday 18 March 2014 at 10.15 in A315
Mohammad Mirkazemi (MPI, Garching)
Brightest X-ray clusters of galaxies in the CFHTLS wide fields: Red sequence finder, optical mass estimator, and stellar mass estimation

Abstract: Red sequence technique is one of the robust tool to identify galaxy clusters. This talk will introduce a new multi-color red sequence method. Using a spectroscopic sample of early-type galaxies and different stellar population models, I determined red sequence configuration parameters such as color model and a characteristic magnitude. I will show that our red sequence finder is a robust tool for determining the clusters redshift. Moreover, the correlation between z-band luminosity and total mass of clusters (derived from the X-ray luminosity) will be discussed. At the end, I will also present my recent work on the stellar mass estimation in CFHTLS and dependence of galaxy stellar mass function on the environment.

COSMO-Seminar
—————
Thu 20 March at 14:15 in Exactum B121 (NOTE exceptional time and place!)
Subir Sarkar (Oxford)
Title: TBA

Utrecht Network “Academic English” Summer School
30.06.-11.07.2014 for posgraduate students
——————————————-
https://flamma.helsinki.fi/portal/home/sisalto?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=content_view&contentId=HY313468&placeId=HY034203

VISITORS
——–
S. Sarkar 20.3. – 21.3. (KE, SF)

HIP NEWS March 10th 2014
============================

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS / HIP JOINT COLLOQUIA / SEMINARS
——————————————————-
Tuesday 11 March 2014 at 10.15 in A315
Germano Nardini (Desy)
Higgs sector and collider signatures in the triplet extension of the MSSM

Abstract: The MSSM can accommodate the observed Higgs mass m_h ~ 126 GeV at the price of some unpleasant amount of tuning. This problem can be alleviated in scenarios with an enlarged field content. By requiring minimality, only two options are allowed to extend the MSSM: either a singlet or a SU(2)_L triplet can be added. This talk focuses on the latter possibility. In particular, we will discuss its Higgs sector and signatures at collider. Comments on loop-induced Higgs decays, as well as on constraints coming from dark matter analyses, will be also provided.

COSMO-Seminar
—————
Wed 12 March at 14:15 in A315
Kjell Rosquist (Stockholm)
Evolution of cosmological models with discrete sources.

In this talk I will report on general relativistic cosmological models in which the sources are discrete. The distribution of the sources is assumed to be homogeneous and isotropic on large scales. Such models belong to the class of locally inhomogeneous models. One motivation for considering this kind of models is to obtain a closer correspondence with the actual universe as compared to models in which the matter is a fluid. The relation between the evolution of exactly homogeneous vs. locally inhomogeneous models is a nontrivial and difficult problem because of the nonlinear nature of the Einstein equations. In the talk I will give examples of discrete models in which the evolution is tracked by analytical and semi-analytical methods. Their relation to exactly homogeneous and isotropic (FLRW) models will also be discussed.

University of Helsinki and Aalto University:
Experiencing Finland Event, March 13, 2014
——————————————–
Newly arrived international staff and their family members are welcomed to the next Experiencing Finland event, taking place in Thursday 13 March 2014, at 17.00-19.30 at Töölö Towers.

For more details and registration please follow the link to Flamma:
https://flamma.helsinki.fi/portal/home/fh?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=view&contentId=HY311656

Ms Tiina Kosunen
Head of Development, International Affairs, University of Helsinki
tiina.kosunen@helsinki.fi

PHYSICS DAYS
————-
Physics Days 2014 is organized in Tampere Hall, on March 11-13, 2014.
The theme of the event is Physics in human life – breakthroughs in nanotechnology, biological sciences, and energy production. Special emphasis is laid on physics in entertainment industry and on career prospects for young physicists.

HIP ANNUAL REPORT
————————————–
The second version of the Annual Report
(with language revision and updated links)
is available at
www.helsinki.fi/~chelmine/annual13
Please send corrections to
Christina.Helminen@helsinki.fi

VISITORS
——–
G. Nardini 7.3. – 13.3. (AV)
T. Koivisto 10.3. – 14.3. (KE)

HIP NEWS March 3rd 2014
============================

HIP Phone Directory
———————-
Please check, if your contact information is OK on the HIP web pages. For any corrections, contact Mikko.

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS / HIP JOINT COLLOQUIA / SEMINARS
——————————————————-
Tuesday 4 March 2014 at 10.15 in A315
Laura Covi (Göttingen)
SuperWIMPs at the LHC

Abstract: We will review the status of SuperWIMP Dark Matter and then discuss recent bounds and prospects at the LHC especially in the case of stop NLSP. We will then discuss an intriguing idea of connecting SuperWIMP gravitino DM with baryogenesis at the weak scale through R-parity breaking.

Monday 10 March 2014 at 10.15 in E206. Note place and time!
Miklos Långvik (Marseille)
Aspects of Locally Conformal Spinnetworks

Abstract: Spinnetworks are a 3d geometry employed as the kinematical states of Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG) and Spin Foam (SF) models, the covariant counterpart to the Hamiltonian formulation of LQG. In this talk we explore a particular representation (all 3 Casimirs proportional) of the cotangent bundle of the double cover of the conformal group T*SU(2,2) that sits inside T*SL(2, C). We find that the generator of dilatations changes the extrinsic curvature of the triangulation, something we interpret as curving the edges of the tetrahedra of the triangulation. This has previously been suggested to account for the cosmological constant in the SF-models, which is currently described by the quantum group T*SL_q(2, C). We also discuss a possible extension of the construction to locally conformal spinnetworks that take into account all possible values of the 3 Casimirs of the conformal group. This talk will be preceded by a relatively lengthy introduction to both LQG and SF-models to highlight the main ideas behind the quantization of geometry and the particular constructions.

University of Helsinki and Aalto University:
Experiencing Finland Event, March 13, 2014
——————————————–
Newly arrived international staff and their family members are welcomed to the next Experiencing Finland event, taking place in Thursday 13 March 2014, at 17.00-19.30 at Töölö Towers.

For more details and registration please follow the link to Flamma:
https://flamma.helsinki.fi/portal/home/fh?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=view&contentId=HY311656

Ms Tiina Kosunen
Head of Development, International Affairs, University of Helsinki
tiina.kosunen@helsinki.fi

HIP ANNUAL REPORT
———————-
The first version of the Annual Report 2013
is available at
www.helsinki.fi/~chelmine/annual13.
Please send corrections and missing material
to Christina.Helminen@helsinki.fi asap.

VISITORS
——–
M. Bastero Gil 3.3. – 7.3. (SN)
L. Covi 3.3. – 5.3. (OL)
S. Yokoyama 24.2. – 7.3. (KE)

HIP NEWS February 24th 2014
============================

HIP Staff News
==============
The Staff representatives in the HIP Board of Directors
for the 4-year period starting April 1st are Kenneth
Österberg and as substitute member Hannu Kurki-Suonio.

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS / HIP JOINT COLLOQUIA / SEMINARS
——————————————————-
Tuesday 25 February 2014 at 10.15 in A315
Alessandro Amato (Swansea)
Transport coefficients of quark-gluon plasma

Tuesday 25 February 2014 at 14.15 in E206 Note time and place!
Dirk Rischke (Frankfurt)
Inhomogeneous phases in dense strongly interacting matter – a generic
phenomenon?

COSMO-Seminar
—————–
Feb 26 (Wed), 14:15 in A315 (Cosmo Seminar)
Shuichiro Yokoyama (ICRR, Tokyo)
TBA

Swedish lunch in Kumpula
————————–
Practise your Swedish by having lunch with your colleagues 26.2.at
11.30, at restaurant Practikum in Kumpula! More information:
campuscoordinator Eva Åberg, eva.aberg@helsinki.fi

University of Helsinki and Aalto University:
Experiencing Finland Event, March 13, 2014
——————————————–
Newly arrived international staff and their family members are welcomed to the next Experiencing Finland event, taking place in Thursday 13 March 2014, at 17.00-19.30 at Töölö Towers.

For more details and registration please follow the link to Flamma:
https://flamma.helsinki.fi/portal/home/fh?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=view&contentId=HY311656

Ms Tiina Kosunen
Head of Development, International Affairs, University of Helsinki
tiina.kosunen@helsinki.fi

HIP ANNUAL REPORT
———————-
The first version of the Annual Report 2013
is available at
www.helsinki.fi/~chelmine/annual13.
Please send corrections and missing material
to Christina.Helminen@helsinki.fi asap.

FINNISH OFFICE OPENING HOURS in February 2014:
————————————————
Mon-Fri, 17.- 21.2.2014, 8:30-12.
NORMAL opening hours 24.2.2014 onwards.
Mon, Tues, Thur, Fri: 8:30-12, 14-16.
CLOSED on Wednesdays.

Chancellor’s Travel Grants 2014
———————————
Researchers and teachers at the University of Helsinki may apply for Chancellor?s Travel Grants to cover the costs of foreign travel for
academic purposes. The deadline for applications is Friday, February 28, 2014, at 3:45 p.m.

Applications are submitted online through an electronic application form, which can be found at: http://helsinki.fi/aava/kansleri/.

The call announcement and further instructions on applying for the grant are available at Flamma: https://flamma.helsinki.fi/en/HY278530.

VISITORS
——–
A. Amato 24.2. – 26.2. (KR)
D. Rischke 25.2. (KK)
S. Yokoyama 24.2. – 7.3. (KE)

HIP NEWS February 17th 2014
============================

Please note voting date !
==========================
Election of the HIP staff representative in the HIP Board
=========================================================
The election days are at CERN 14.2. (Suomi -office at 10-12)
and in Kumpula 17.2. (in room A311 at 13-15).

The names put forward as candidates for staff representative
in the HIP Board are:

Tuomas Lappi (substitute Janne Pakarinen)

Kenneth Österberg

In the election one can vote any HIP member eligible to vote.

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS / HIP JOINT COLLOQUIA / SEMINARS
——————————————————-
Tuesday 18 February 2014 at 10.15 in A315
Jörn Kersten (Hamburg)
New Physics in the Late Early Universe

Abstract: The measurements of the cosmic microwave background by the Planck satellite seem to confirm the standard LambdaCDM cosmological scenario. However, a closer look reveals some tension in this simple picture. There are hints for a larger radiation density than expected in the standard model (“dark radiation”). Planck results for some cosmological parameters do not agree completely with local measurements of these parameters at low redshift, which points to a hot dark matter component. Finally, the observed structures at relatively small scales do not quite agree with the predictions by simulations of structure formation. While all these problems might eventually be solved by astrophysics, they could also point to new physics beyond the standard models of particle physics and cosmology. I will discuss two scenarios for the latter, the production of dark radiation in late particle decays, and a model where the cold dark matter has self-interactions as well as interactions with sterile neutrinos.

COSMO-Seminar
—————–
Wednesday 19 February 2013 at 14.15 in A315
Shaun Hotchkiss (Sussex)
Voids, cosmology and the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect

More than half of the volume of the universe is made up of under-dense regions (“voids”). This means that light from distant objects spends the majority of its journey to us in voids. Therefore the analysis and classification of such voids (in both LCDM and other models) will be of great use in the era of precision large scale structure surveys we are about to enter. I will discuss methods that can be used to construct such catalogues, as well as listing various potential pitfalls that can (and have) occur(ed) when analysing voids. Regarding potential cosmological applications, I will make specific mention of the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect, where some results have been found that could be pointing to new physics (or they could just be a fluke).

Swedish lunch in Kumpula
————————–
Practise your Swedish by having lunch with your colleagues 26.2.at
11.30, at restaurant Practikum in Kumpula! More information:
campuscoordinator Eva Åberg, eva.aberg@helsinki.fi

HIP ANNUAL REPORT
———————-
The first version of the Annual Report 2013
is available at
www.helsinki.fi/~chelmine/annual13.
Please send corrections and missing material
to Christina.Helminen@helsinki.fi asap.

Chancellor’s Travel Grants 2014
———————————
Researchers and teachers at the University of Helsinki may apply for Chancellor?s Travel Grants to cover the costs of foreign travel for
academic purposes. The deadline for applications is Friday, February 28, 2014, at 3:45 p.m.

Applications are submitted online through an electronic application form, which can be found at: http://helsinki.fi/aava/kansleri/.

The call announcement and further instructions on applying for the grant are available at Flamma: https://flamma.helsinki.fi/en/HY278530.

VISITORS
——–
J. Kersten 17.2. – 18.2. (OL)
S. Hotchkiss 17.2. – 21.2 (SN)
S. Yokoyama 24.2. – 7.3. (KE)

HIP NEWS February 10th 2014
============================

Election of the HIP staff representative in the HIP Board
=========================================================
The election days are at CERN 14.2. (Suomi -office at 10-12)
and in Kumpula 17.2. (in room A311 at 13-15).

The names put forward as candidates for staff representative
in the HIP Board are:

Tuomas Lappi (substitute Janne Pakarinen)

Kenneth Österberg

In the election one can vote any HIP member eligible to vote.

University of Helsinki Collegium
———————————–
The representatives of the independent research institutes in the UH Collegium for the next 4-year period are Eero Castrén (Neuroscience Center) and Juha Äystö (Substitute member).

The 2014 European School of High-Energy Physics
————————————————–
Garderen, the Netherlands, 18.6.-1.7.2014
Application dead-line 14.2.2014, see
http://cern.ch/PhysicsSchool/ESHEP/ESHEP2014

Swedish lunch in Kumpula
————————–
Practise your Swedish by having lunch with your colleagues 26.2.at
11.30, at restaurant Practikum in Kumpula! More information:
campuscoordinator Eva Åberg, eva.aberg@helsinki.fi

HIP ANNUAL REPORT
———————-
The first version of the Annual Report 2013
is available at
www.helsinki.fi/~chelmine/annual13.
Please send corrections and missing material
to Christina.Helminen@helsinki.fi asap.

TUHAT database
—————-
Please check in the TUHAT database the status of your publications. Conference papers and scientific activities you are expected to feed in yourself. The refereed articles are taken care of by the library.

VISITORS
——–
J. Kersten 17.2. – 18.2. (OL)
S. Yokoyama 24.2. – 7.3. (KE)

HIP NEWS February 3rd 2014
============================

Election of the HIP staff representative in the HIP Board
=========================================================
The election days are at CERN 14.2. (Suomi -office at 10-12)
and in Kumpula 17.2. (in room A311 at 13-15). Please
check at the notice board, if you are entitled to vote.
Mail voting is also possible. Contact Mikko with any questions.

NOTICE OF MEETING: * GROUP OF RESEARCH INSTITUTES
NOMINATING OF CANDIDATES FOR THE UNIVERSITY COLLEGIUM

Date: Tuesday, February 5th, 2014 at 9.00 am
Place: Main building, Auditorium IV (address: Fabianinkatu 33)

Under discussion will be nominating candidates for the University
Collegium. Please contact Mikko, if there are any questions.

The 2014 European School of High-Energy Physics
————————————————–
Garderen, the Netherlands, 18.6.-1.7.2014
Application dead-line 14.2.2014, see
http://cern.ch/PhysicsSchool/ESHEP/ESHEP2014

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS / HIP JOINT COLLOQUIA / SEMINARS
——————————————————-
Tuesday 4 February 2014 at 10.15 in A315
Yann Mambrini (Orsay)
Phenomenological aspects of Dark Matter in the light of recent experimental results

Abstract:
In 2013, several results have been released from different experimental groups looking for dark matter in our galaxy, from the direct detection constraints obtained by XENON and LUX to possible smoking gun signals suggested by the FERMI data or to missing energy searches at LHC. I will review the simplest yet motivated extensions of the standard model and explain why they begin to be severely constrained (if not excluded) by a combination of these sets of new data.

Thursday 6 February 2014 at 10.15 in A315
Aleksi Kurkela (CERN)
Thermalization in weakly coupled nonabelian plasmas

Abstract: Nonabelian plasmas far from equilibrium are a generic feature of early universe cosmology and appear in the early stages of heavy ion collisions. In my talk, I will discuss how such systems relax towards equilibrium, and the physical processes that drive the thermalization in the weak coupling limit. In particular, I will discuss the role of screening, collinear splitting and plasma instabilities out of equilibrium.

HIP ANNUAL REPORT
———————-
The first version of the Annual Report 2013
is available at
www.helsinki.fi/~chelmine/annual13.
Please send corrections and missing material
to Christina.Helminen@helsinki.fi asap.

TUHAT database
—————-
Please check in the TUHAT database the status of your publications. Conference papers and scientific activities you are expected to feed in yourself. The refereed articles are taken care of by the library.

VISITORS
——–
T. Koivisto 3.2. – 7.2. (KE)
Y. Mambrini 4.2. – 7.2. (OL)
S. Yokoyama 24.2. – 7.3. (KE)
R. Zhang, 29.1. – 4.2. (AT)

HIP NEWS January 27th 2014
============================

Election of the HIP staff representative in the HIP Board
=========================================================
The election days are at CERN 14.2. (Suomi -office at 10-12)
and in Kumpula 17.2. (in room A311 at 13-15). Please
check at the notice board, if you are entitled to vote.
Mail voting is also possible. Contact Mikko with any questions.

The 2014 European School of High-Energy Physics
————————————————–
Garderen, the Netherlands, 18.6.-1.7.2014
Application dead-line 14.2.2014, see
http://cern.ch/PhysicsSchool/ESHEP/ESHEP2014

Wednesday 29. January 14:15
Seminar in Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) at Laboratory of Inorganic Chemistry, University of Helsinki, Chemicum (A. I. Virtasen aukio 1)

J. Härkönen, Applications of ALD thin films on radiation detectors

COSMO-Seminar
—————
Wednesday 29 January 2013 at 14.15 in A315
Massimiliano Rinaldi (Trento)
When Higgs met Einstein

Abstract:
The recent discovery of the Higgs boson at CERN triggered a great interest also in the cosmology and astrophysics community. In particular, a model of inflation based on the Higgs boson was recently proposed by Shaposhnkov and collaborators. Generally speaking, the (non minimal) coupling of the Higgs boson with a gravitational field generates interesting effects not only during inflation. In this seminar, I will show, for example, that classical “Higgs monopoles” may exist. These are stable and non singular particle-like solution of the field equation. I will also show that, under similar hypothesis, it is possible to explain the current accelerated expansion of the Universe.

HIP Annual Report
———————–
Please send your contributions to the HIP Annual Report
to christina.helminen@helsinki.fi asap.

TUHAT database
—————-
Please check in the TUHAT database the status of your publications. Conference papers and scientific activities you are expected to feed in yourself. The refereed articles are taken care of by the library.

VISITORS
——–
A. Bytsenko 17.1. – 28.1. (AT)
M. Rinaldi 28.1. – 31.1. (SN)
S. Yokoyama 24.2. – 7.3. (KE)
R. Zhang 29.1. – 31.1. (AT)

HIP NEWS January 20th 2014
============================

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS / HIP JOINT COLLOQUIA / SEMINARS
——————————————————-
Tuesday 21 January 2014 at 10.15 in A315
Blaise Goutéraux (Nordita, Stockholm)
Holographic metals and insulators

Abstract:
In this talk, we’ll comment on generic scaling properties of holographic metals and insulators, in particular through the low-temperature, low-frequency behaviour of their transport coefficients such as the optical conductivity.

HIP Annual Report
———————–
Please send your contributions to the HIP Annual Report
to christina.helminen@helsinki.fi asap.

TUHAT database
—————-
Please check in the TUHAT database the status of your publications. Conference papers and scientific activities you are expected to feed in yourself. The refereed articles are taken care of by the library.

VISITORS
——–
A. Bytsenko 17.1. – 13.2. (AT)
B. Goutéraux 20.1. – 21.1. (KK)
M. Rinaldi 21.1. – 24.1. (SN)
S. Yokoyama 24.2. – 7.3. (KE)