Quantum Aspects of Inflationary Cosmology
In the summer of 2024, I am co-organizing a workshop at the Munich Institute for Astro-, Particle, and bioPhysics (MIAPbP). The 4-week meeting will cover an array of exciting topics at the interface of particle physics and cosmology including: the inflationary paradigm, the epoch of reheating, cosmological relics (dark matter, baryogenesis, gravitational wave radiation), and the phenomenon of gravitational particle production.
Texas TACOS 2023
The second iteration of the Texas Theoretical Astroparticle and Cosmology Symposium (TACOS) is hosted by Rice University from Oct 9-10, 2023.
Texas TACOS 2022
The inaugural meeting of the Texas Theoretical Astroparticle and Cosmology Symposium (TACOS) was held at Southern Methodist University from Oct 10-11, 2022. I am co-organizing this workshop with professors at neighboring universities in the Houston-Austin-Dallas area: Kimberly Boddy (UT-Austin), James Dent (SHSU), Joel Meyers (SMU), and Louis Strigari (TAMU). The meeting will provide an annual opportunity for the local community of researchers (especially students and postdocs) with interests in cosmology and related topics to exchange ideas, advertise their work, and develop new collaborations.
Mega Dark Matter: Theory and Detection
In the spring of 2022, from May 2-20, the Mainz Institute for Theoretical Physics hosted a workshop entitled “Mega Dark Matter” that I co-organized with Yang Bai, Joe Bramante, Dorota Grabowska, and Jessica Turner. The workshop’s goal was to better understand the nature of dark matter by focusing on the frontiers of high mass and large size. Lectures by the workshop’s 26 participants were the driving force behind three weeks of engaging discussions and the spark for new collaborations. The workshop led to the development of (or refinement of) robust theoretical models for mega dark matter, an assessment of mega dark matter production mechanisms, and an extensive exploration of novel stratgies for mega dark matter detection (including both laboratory-based and astrophysical-based probes).
CAP@Rice
With my co-organizer Prof. Mustafa Amin, we hosted a workshop from Oct 14-15, 2019 on the campus of Rice University. The goal of the meeting was to bring together theoretical physicists who share common research interests in the fields of early universe cosmology and relativistic astro-particle physics including topics such as inflation and reheating, dark matter, neutrinos, and gravitational waves. The scientific program consisted of 16 invited talks including 6 Texas-area researchers and 10 visitors from out of state. In coordination with the Physics and Astronomy Department, the workshop also featured a public lecture by Prof. Rocky Kolb of the University of Chicago, entitled The Inner Space of the Quantum and the Outer Space of the Cosmos.
Towards Dark Matter Discovery
In collaboration with Profs. Dan Hooper and Carlos Wagner, we organized a workshop at the University of Chicago’s Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics from April 11-13, 2018. The meeting explored new directions on the path toward discovering the nature of dark matter. The invited speakers were encouraged to share their expertise in the fields of primordial black holes, thermal relic dark matter, nonthermal relic dark matter, ultralight dark matter, superheavy dark matter, kinda-chubby dark matter, new strategies for direct detection, newer strategies for direct detection, avant-garde strategies for direct detection, and axions. We hosted 18 talks and several informal chalkboard presentations from a total of over 25 visitors.
Theoretical Advances in Particle Cosmology
From Oct 13-15 of 2016, the University of Chicago’s Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics hosted a workshop to address several of the most pressing, outstanding problems in particle physics and cosmology including the origin of the matter-antimatter asymmetry, the nature of dark matter, tests of cosmological relics, and alternative theories of gravity. I had the pleasure to co-organize this meeting along with Profs. Wayne Hu, Rocky Kolb, and Lian-Tao Wang at the University of Chicago. We were happy that 21 invited speakers were able to share their research with us.
