Magnetism is the posterchild of how the interplay between electron-electron interactions and quantum physics promotes novel macroscopic phenomena. Historically, the evolution of our understanding of magnetism has been related to the discovery of new paradigms in condensed-matter physics, as exemplified by the connections between antiferromagnetism and Mott insulators, spin glasses and non-ergodic states, and spin liquids and fractionalized excitations. Recently, a new framework proposed to classify magnetic phases brought renewed interest in unconventional magnetic states, which are qualitatively distinct from ferromagnets and standard Néel antiferromagnets. Among those, altermagnetic phases have been met with enthusiasm by the scientific community, as they display properties found in both ferromagnets (like the splitting of electronic bands with opposite spins) and conventional antiferromagnets (like the absence of a net magnetization). Formally, what distinguishes these three different magnetic states are the crystalline symmetries that, when combined with time reversal, leave the system invariant. In the case of altermagnets, because these symmetries involve rotations, the system is endowed with unique properties such as nodal spin-splitting and piezomagnetism. In this talk, I will introduce the concept of altermagnetism and discuss its connection to long-standing problems in the field of quantum materials, such as multipolar magnetism and electronic liquid-crystalline phases. I will also present the predicted experimental signatures of altermagnetic order in thermodynamic and transport properties, and show that altermagnets provide a fertile ground to realize non-trivial topological and superconducting phenomena in quantum materials.

Observing neutrinoless double-beta decay (0νββ) would confirm the neutrino has a Majorana nature and offer critical evidence to understanding the universe’s matter/antimatter asymmetry. The LEGEND collaboration targets half-lives greater than T1/2>1028 years using the high-purity germanium (HPGe) detectors enriched in the isotope 76Ge. Achieving this unprecedented sensitivity – 18 orders of magnitude beyond the age of the universe – requires a detector environment with exceptionally low background radiation. While HPGe detectors are central to the measurement, sensitivity to 0νββ decay hinges on the scintillating materials surrounding them to actively detect and reject ambient background radiation.

This seminar explores the critical role of radiopure scintillating materials in LEGEND, focusing on poly(ethylene-2,6-naphthalate) (PEN). We will present technical results detailing the radiopurity, scintillation performance, and mechanical stability of these materials, highlighting their successful deployment as both a structural element and an active background veto in LEGEND-200. Furthermore, we will detail ongoing efforts in additive manufacturing to realize complex, ultra-pure components for the future LEGEND-1000 phase.

Beyond these technical results, we will discuss the opportunities of cross-disciplinary collaboration, bridging the fields of material science and particle physics to solve unique and complex challenges vital for fundamental discovery. This talk will conclude with a discussion on the communication journey of working on an “enabling technology” within the framework of a large-scale collaboration, with insights on how to effectively communicate the profound scientific impact of support technologies.

Nearly thirty years after the Nobel-prize-winning discovery of the exoplanet 51 Pegasi b, astronomers have discovered thousands of planets outside the solar system, and the field of exoplanetary astronomy has shifted from purely being driven by discovery to performing demographic analysis, and detailed characterization of properties like mass, radius, and atmospheric composition. However, even today, basic questions remain, like “why do some systems end up looking like the Solar System with orderly co-planar architectures, with small planets close-in, and giant planets orbiting far from their stars, while others, like the so-called Hot Jupiters, are dramatically different?” My team and I are tackling this question from both sides: understanding the evolutionary origins of hot Jupiters and understanding the properties of compact multi-planet systems. Using data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and Kepler/K2 missions, we are working to find keystone planetary systems around bright stars (those well suited for atmospheric observations) that can help address specific questions about planet formation and evolution. I will review our efforts to discover and characterize hundreds of hot Jupiters while investigating the compact architectures of small rocky planets. Finally, uncertainty in planetary orbital solutions for hundreds of planets have accumulated since their initial detection to the extent that they are not accessible with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to study their atmospheres. I will also discuss how we are addressing this problem on a large scale to make hundreds of planets accessible for JWST.