The Two Infinities: Exploring the Universe from the Smallest Particles to the Vast Cosmos
The universe is a stage where the tiniest particles and the vastness of the cosmos play leading roles. But how do they connect? What are the fundamental laws that govern them? And what secrets—like dark matter—remain hidden from our view?
This talk will journey through the fascinating world of particle physics, astrophysics and cosmology, from the discovery of the Higgs boson at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider to the hunt for dark matter in underground laboratories. It will explore how cutting-edge experiments push the boundaries of our understanding, revealing the invisible threads that link the smallest particles to the grand structure of the universe.
Speakers
Sara Diglio is a CNRS researcher at the Subatech Laboratory in Nantes, France, specializing in particle and astroparticle physics.
She began her career at the forefront of high-energy physics as a member of the University of Melbourne team within the ATLAS collaboration at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider. There, she contributed to the historic discovery of the Higgs boson and led searches for extended Higgs sectors in Beyond the Standard Model theories.
Since 2015, Sara has been part of the XENON Collaboration, one of the world’s most sensitive efforts to directly detect dark matter. She is currently leading the XENON group at SUBATECH and is involved in the development of the next-generation XLZD experiment.
Sara is also the Principal Investigator of an international research project between CNRS and Australian partners, including the University of Melbourne and the University of Sydney. In addition, she serves as an Partner Investigator of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Dark Matter Particle Physics, strengthening collaborations in the search for dark matter and advancing global particle physics research.
Luca Scotto Lavina is a CNRS Research Director at the Laboratoire de Physique Nucléaire et de Hautes Énergies (LPNHE) in Paris, France, specializing in dark matter searches and particle physics.
He began his research career in Naples, Italy, before pursuing his scientific work in Switzerland, building expertise in experimental particle physics, namely on studying neutrino properties and searching for dark matter. His research focuses on low-energy signal modeling for the direct detection of dark matter using liquid xenon detectors.
Luca has been a member of the XENON Collaboration since 2011 and leads the XENON group at LPNHE. He also serves as XENON Computing Coordinator, a role in which he has helped develop and coordinate the distributed computing infrastructure supporting data processing, storage, and scientific analysis across European computing centres and the international collaboration. Beyond XENON, Luca is also playing a leading role in the design of the next-generation XLZD observatory, contributing to the development of experimental platforms helping prepare the technologies needed for the next generation of dark matter experiments. In addition, he serves as an Partner Investigator of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Dark Matter Particle Physics.