Physics & Engineering Physics Colloquium

Jessica Esquivel, Ph.D., associate scientist within the particle physics division in Fermilab’s Muon Department, will present, “Can Wobbling Muons Probe Physics Beyond the Standard Model? Fermilab’s Muon g-2 Run 1 Results.”

On April 7, 2021, Fermilab’s Muon g-2 experiment announced its first results of the precision measurement of the anomalous muon magnetic moment based on its 2018 Run-1 dataset. These results align with the Brookhaven National Laboratory experimental value, and the combined values increase the tension between experiment and theory from 3.7 to 4.2 sigma. This talk will give an overview of the Fermilab Muon g-2 experiment, discuss the steps necessary to precisely measure wobbling muons, why this result has the physics community abuzz, and what’s next.

About the Speaker
Esquivel has recently been promoted to associate scientist at Fermilab, where she works on the Muon g-2 experiment. She is one of roughly 100 Black women with a Ph.D. in physics in the country, the second black woman to graduate with a Ph.D. in physics from Syracuse University, and the third Black woman to hold an associate scientist position at Fermilab. She identifies as female, Black, Mexican, lesbian, neurodivergent, a physicist, and Texan. Esquivel is a recognized advocate for creating just and equitable spaces in physics and focuses on the intersections of race, gender, and sexuality in her community-engagement efforts. She is a member of APS-IDEA, co-founder of BlackInPhysics, part of the Change-Now collective, and is an AAAS IF/THEN Ambassador. Esquivel has also appeared on CBS’s Emmy-nominated educational program Mission Unstoppable, on which she discussed the physics behind makeup, and on the Science Channel’s How the Universe Works, on which she discussed how neutrinos could be the key to the mysteries of our universe.