Precision Studies of Neutrino Interactions and Neutrino Mixing

College Of William And Mary, Williamsburg VA

Investigators

Abstract

The possibility of charge parity (CP) violation in the neutrino sector may be crucial to understanding the evolution and matter dominance of the Universe. Neutrino oscillations are of fundamental interest, probing new phenomena at both subatomic and cosmological scales. The William and Mary particle physics group is heavily invested in the neutrino program at Fermilab, and active on MINOS, MINERvA, and NOvA experiments. While the data taking phase of MINOS will come to a close in the near term, analysis will continue for the first year of this grant. MINOS will make a final statement on compelling problems in neutrino physics, such as the search for muon neutrino to electron neutrino transitions, the value of the neutrino oscillation parameters, and the existence of sterile neutrinos. As the statistical precision of these measurements improves, the ultimate precision of MINOS, other current experiments, and the optimal design of future experiments, is hampered by the poor understanding of neutrino interactions. The William and Mary group will continue to exploit its investment in MINERvA to measure neutrino reactions across a wide energy range. Furthermore, the William and Mary group has adopted a strong role in NOνA, the next generation experiment designed to study muon neutrino to electron neutrino transitions. Indications of a potentially large value of theta_13 from the Daya Bay Experiment imply that the NOvA physics program will indeed be rich, perhaps able to resolve the neutrino mass hierarchy. Finally, the William and Mary group will capitalize on the opportunity to run the MINOS detectors in the NOvA era. The neutrino flux in the new beam configuration will peak at energies above the oscillation maximum, but the high rates will enable sensitive studies of the energy dependence of the oscillation probability. On broader impacts, William and Mary is committed to engaging undergraduates in research as a vital component of their education. The group's program provides summer research opportunities for undergraduates and enables senior research thesis topics. Beyond promoting science education, the group will team-teach an Emerging Scholars program at a local elementary school. The debut of this program will be in winter 2012 and will consist of ten weekly after-school sessions. An inherent goal of the after-school program is to expose students from historically underrepresented communities to the sciences and to practicing physicists and exciting science activities. The program will be developed in collaboration with the Coordinator for Gifted and Talented Students of the Williamsburg-James City County schools, and specialists will base assessment on feedback from follow-up discussions with the students and notes from in-session observations.