CAREER: Optimization of a large water Cherenkov detector for the Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory

Duke University, Durham NC

Investigators

Abstract

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). Neutrinos may hold the imprint of actions in the beginning of the universe that determined the properties of the world today. Foremost among the questions it is hoped neutrinos may shed light on is 'Why is today's universe dominated by matter'? Studying neutrino oscillation with future powerful beams will allow testing the standard neutrino model and the origin of neutrino mass. Studying proton decay can directly probe energy scales at the Grand Unified Scale, and the observation of a galactic supernova would supply a treasure trove of data which would test models in particle, nuclear and astrophysics. This award will fund an R&D program to use data and Monte Carlo from the Super-Kamiokande detector to optimize a 500-kiloton scale water Cherenkov (WC) detector sited at DUSEL for long-baseline neutrino oscillation studies, along with searches for proton decay and astrophysical neutrinos. By leveraging the knowledge the PI has gained in the last decade of working with the world's only multi kiloton-scale WC detector, he plans to optimize the design of a large future detector, maximizing the mass and physics reach while minimizing the resources needed. The Broader Impacts of this project include involving undergraduate students who will be trained on the cutting edge of techniques used in large particle-astrophysics detectors. It is proposed to extend the scope of the extremely successful physics REU program at the TUNL nuclear laboratory on the Duke campus to also offer high energy physics projects to the students who are attending the program.