Neutrino Oscillation Physics

中微子振荡物理学

• 批准号: 1205411
• 负责人: Robert McKeown
• 金额: $ 47.2万
• 依托单位: College of William and Mary
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-09-15 至 2016-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1205411&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Neutrino; Oscillation; Physics

The last decade has produced a remarkable revolution in neutrino physics. We now know that at least some of the three flavors of neutrino have finite mass, and that flavor transformations occur through the process known as neutrino oscillations. Neutrino flavor oscillations are governed by a matrix with three mixing angles and a Charge-Parity (CP) violating phase. It is currently thought that the possibility of CP symmetry violation in the neutrino sector is the best possibility for explaining the apparent matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe. Two of the three mixing angles have been well determined by previous experiments. This award provides base support for work on determining the final mixing angle (known as theta-13) through the precision study of the oscillation of antineutrinos emitted from the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant in China. This experiment has been under construction for several years, and has just begun to acquire data using two of the full complement of eight antineutrino detectors. The Daya Bay experiment has recently published their initial results for theta-13. During the period covered by this award, it is expected that an improved measurement will be obtained.Broader Impacts The group plans to take advantage of their connection with the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (JLab) to partner with their renowned Office of Science Education to enable them to impact science education in middle schools and high schools. They will work with the JLab Science Activities for Teachers (JSAT) program to update and expand their materials for middle school teachers in the area of nuclear energy. Since the incident at Fukushima in Japan, the public interest in nuclear power and its safety has been heightened. It is important to provide teachers and students with up-to-date and accurate information related to the issues associated with nuclear power. This subject fits well with the group's interest in also exposing them to this group's neutrino research using nuclear power reactors.

过去十年中微子物理学发生了一场引人注目的革命。我们现在知道，三种味道的中微子中至少有一些具有有限的质量，并且味道的转变是通过称为中微子振荡的过程发生的。中微子风味振荡由具有三个混合角和电荷宇称（CP）破坏相的矩阵控制。目前认为中微子扇区CP对称破缺的可能性是解释宇宙中明显的物质-反物质不对称性的最佳可能性。之前的实验已经很好地确定了三个混合角度中的两个。该奖项为通过对中国大亚湾核电站排放的反中微子振荡的精确研究确定最终混合角（称为theta-13）的工作提供基础支持。该实验已经建设了好几年，刚刚开始使用八个反中微子探测器中的两个来获取数据。大亚湾实验最近公布了theta-13的初步结果。在该奖项涵盖的期间，预计将获得改进的测量结果。 更广泛的影响 该小组计划利用与托马斯·杰斐逊国家加速器设施 (JLab) 的联系，与其著名的科学教育办公室合作，使他们能够影响初中和高中的科学教育。他们将与 JLab 教师科学活动 (JSAT) 计划合作，为中学教师更新和扩展核能领域的材料。自日本福岛核事故发生以来，公众对核电及其安全的兴趣日益浓厚。为教师和学生提供有关核电问题的最新、准确的信息非常重要。这个主题非常符合该小组的兴趣，即让他们接触该小组使用核动力反应堆进行的中微子研究。