How to Record a Ghost: Getting Data Out of Particle Physics Detectors – Dr. Wes Ketchum

Particle physicists are constantly on the hunt for new discoveries about the fundamental nature of our universe. Whether it’s searching for new particles in supercolliders, exploring the expansion of the universe, or trying to capture the interactions of “ghostly” neutrinos, particle physicists build giant, state-of-the-art detectors to illuminate these mysteries. But, how do we get the data out of these detectors? And how do we cleverly and quickly find the data that is the most interesting to explore? Come along as we talk about the challenges of getting data out of particle physics detectors, and the tricks and techniques we use to record rare particle interactions in real time.

Wes has been a scientist at Fermilab for the past 5 years, where he studies neutrino interactions and looks for new kinds of particles. In addition to analyzing the data from our detectors, he helps design the systems to collect it, focusing on “data acquisition” for neutrino experiments like MicroBooNE, ICARUS, SBND, and DUNE. Before coming to Fermilab, Wes studied supernovae at the University of Oklahoma, and dug through high energy particle interactions at the Tevatron collider while he got my Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. When he’s not working, he likes to travel, go hiking, and make music.

For more details and free registration for this free event, please see here.