RUI: Neutrino Studies with Experiments in the NuMI Beam

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The University of Minnesota Duluth is studying neutrino oscillations using experiments in the NuMI neutrino beam, through the NSF Research at Undergraduate Institutions (RUI) program. Recent work on the Super-Kamiokande experiment in Japan have used neutrinos produced by cosmic ray interactions with the upper atmosphere to show that muon neutrinos oscillate to tau neutrinos as they travel the tens to thousands of kilometers through the earth to the detector. This implies that neutrinos have mass, a finding of fundamental importance to both particle physics and astrophysics. Further work with the K2K experiment, and now with the MINOS (Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search) experiment have unambiguously confirmed this result. MINOS will precisely measure the oscillation parameters using the intense, well-calibrated beam of neutrinos generated using Fermilab Main Injector. This neutrino beam was commissioned in early 2005 and is aimed toward the Soudan Underground Physics Laboratory in northeastern Minnesota where the MINOS far detector is situated and operating. The UMD group is responsible for the Detector Control System, which monitors the status of the experimental equipment and environment. UMD plans to develop a similar system for MINERvA and contribute to the development of NOvA Data Acquisition System. Importantly, the UMD group offers a significant research opportunity for undergraduates through participation in this challenging program in neutrino physics.