The PA-Supported Neutrino Program at MIT

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

There is only one area of particle physics with an accumulation of potentially-related anomalies: neutrino oscillations, where neutrinos change their character as they propagate through space. For more than two decades, deviations from the Standard Model three-neutrino expectation have been observed in short baseline neutrino oscillation experiments. Most commonly, new-physics explanations introduce a single sterile neutrino in addition to the three active flavors, electron, muon, and tau, called a 3+1 model. However, within this model, the anomalies and relevant null results are not self-consistent. Given these discrepancies, if all, or even some, of the signals are due to new physics, then the underlying physics must be more complicated than a 3+1 model. Resolving the situation has become a high priority for the field. Unlike many beyond-Standard-Model searches, this is a case where the parameter space we must probe is relatively well-understood. This coordinated IceCube and IsoDAR program, which is developed as part of this project, will explore this space in depth, and offer new approaches involving all three flavor signatures -- even tau-neutrinos. This PI has developed two ongoing, unusually-impactful programs. The first is the $100 desktop muon counter, which has been featured in the press. She will continue to improve the design and instructions, and to present the device at conferences, schools, and science festivals. The second is development of a modestly modified IsoDAR cyclotron to produce rare medical isotopes, including Ac-225. IceCube can uniquely search for sterile-induced matter-effect resonances. As the only on-going experiment with tau-neutrino identification capability, recently demonstrated in a successful astrophysical tau-neutrino candidate search, the group will use IceCube data for the first search for anomaly-related muon-neutrino -> tau-neutrino resonances. They will integrate the results of their searches into global fits that the group has performed for more than a decade. IsoDAR is transitioning from R&D to construction of equipment. The group plans to calibrate and commission the transformative radio-frequency quadrupole technology that they have developed, establishing that IsoDAR can meet its flux goals. Thus, along with a coordinated physics program, the IceCube+IsoDAR combination offers the junior scientists experience at every stage of particle physics: phenomenology, hardware, software, and analysis. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.