Physics Department Colloquia |
Events on Friday, November 10th, 2017
- Neutrino Oscillations - A Door to New Physics
- Time: 3:30 pm
- Place: 2241 Chamberlin Hall
- Speaker: Brian Rebel, Fermi Lab
- Abstract: One of the biggest surprises in Particle Physics was the discovery of neutrino mass - a result that proves the Standard Model governing Particle Physics is incomplete! This fundamental property of neutrinos was discovered through neutrino oscillations, or changing of neutrino flavor, between the points of neutrino production and interaction. For example, about two thirds of the electron neutrinos produced in solar fusion reactions have been shown to change into a mixture of muon and tau neutrinos as they propagate out of the Sun. Similarly, about half the muon neutrinos produced from cosmic ray interactions in the atmosphere change into tau neutrinos. These neutrino oscillations allow us to make precision measurements of neutrino properties using man-made sources such as neutrino beams and nuclear reactors.
In this talk I will present the current understanding of neutrino oscillations and the outstanding questions about neutrinos. I will present the current results from the NOvA experiment, which uses the most powerful accelerator neutrino beam in the world, and a look to the future with the DUNE experiment and the exciting new detector technology it uses. - Host: Sridhara Dasu