Stop, Collaborate, and Listen: Advancing Dark Matter Science and Silicon Pixel Sensors through Field Complementarity

Amanda Steinhebel, PhD; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Efficient particle detection and reconstruction is paramount for physics advancements in high-energy astrophysics as well as collider-based particle (high-energy) physics and nuclear physics. Though originally designed for very different science cases, the instrument philosophies and scientific value of these related fields are not as different as one may think. This talk will consider complementarity through a scientific lens (the search for dark matter) and also through a technology development lens (active pixel sensor development). The AstroPix CMOS silicon sensor will be emphasized as an enabling technology for future instruments in space-based and collider-based environments, which will permit further scientific discovery potential.

Bio: Dr. Steinhebel earned her PhD from the University of Oregon, during which time she studied the Higgs boson at CERN. After earning her doctorate she has been a postdoctoral research fellow at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, where she is the deputy PI and detector lead of A-STEP.