RUI: Neutrino Physics at Daya Bay

Siena University, Loudonville NY

Investigators

Abstract

This award will provide funding for a new group to work on the Daya Bay project in China. This two-detector reactor neutrino experiment will attempt to measure the last unmeasured neutrino mixing angle theta_13 in a way that is entirely complementary to long baseline experiments such as T2K. Determining the value of theta_13 is one of the most important questions in neutrino physics, and certainly the one most amenable to experimental progress in the near future. Observing a non-zero value for this angle allows for the possibility of CP violation in the neutrino sector, which in turn would support the notion of leptogenesis in the early universe as the explanation for the matter-antimatter asymmetry observed today. The Daya Bay electric generator facility is situated on the southeast coast of China, north of Hong Kong, presently consisting of two reactor plants, each of which has two reactor cores separated by 88 m. The Siena group will contribute to the water pool muon veto shield for the Daya Bay detectors. Specific contributions include development of waterproof bases for photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), potting of MACRO PMTs for use underwater, testing of PMTs and Tyvek under pressure, and simulation studies of the muon veto. The broader impact of the program includes activities involving undergraduates in the research and exposes them to exciting particle physics developments at Brookhaven National laboratory and in China. Developing an educational and research collaboration with Chinese scientists will be an important goal.