CAREER: Neutrino Interactions in Matter

职业：中微子与物质的相互作用

• 批准号: 1352106
• 负责人: Camillo Mariani
• 金额: $ 63.88万
• 依托单位: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-05-01 至 2020-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1352106&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Neutrino; Interactions; Matter

Among the key areas of study currently in particle physics are precision measurements of neutrino oscillation parameters, the neutrino mass hierarchy and measurement of CP violation in the neutrino sector. To address these requires a more detailed understanding, both experimentally and theoretically, of neutrino interactions in nuclear matter. With the emphasis long baseline experiments, in which matter effects are important, and on Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers as the detectors of choice for many experiments, where the relevant atomic number is A=40 for Argon, such understanding is not only necessary, but fundamental. The research effort at Virginia Polytechnic and State University is aimed directly at these questions and is based on a complementary approach using experiment, theory and simulation. The objectives include: (1) to compare event generator predictions with experimental data, focusing on comparisons with measurements that the Virginia Tech group and collaborators will perform in Liquid Argon using the MicroBooNE detector; (2) to determine the impact of nuclear models, correlations and neutrino interaction uncertainties on the discovery of CP violation in the lepton sector and the experimental determination of the neutrino oscillation parameters; (3) to include state-of-the-art nuclear models in the neutrino interaction simulation and (4) to determine the level of detail needed in these models to achieve the required sensitivity to observe CP violation. The proposed research is potentially transformative, by altering and refining the scope of the GENIE neutrino event generator to predict events more precisely and interface it with the GLoBES simulator to understand the effect of neutrino interactions on the determination of neutrino oscillation parameters for past and future neutrino experiments worldwide.In parallel with the research, the program includes important educational components, directed at high school and more advanced levels. The group will build upon an already active PhysTec program at Virginia Tech and will create a QuarkNet center to attract high school teachers and students, with initial emphasis on neutrino physics. The group also actively encourages the participation in the research of students from underrepresented groups through the Virginia-North Carolina Alliance for Minority Participation (VT-AMP) program.

目前粒子物理学的主要研究领域是中微子振荡参数的精确测量、中微子质量等级和中微子领域CP破坏的测量。 为了解决这些问题，需要从实验和理论上更详细地了解核物质中的中微子相互作用。 随着强调长基线实验，其中物质效应是重要的，并在液体氩时间投影室作为许多实验的选择，其中相关的原子序数是氩A=40的检测器，这样的理解不仅是必要的，但基本的。 弗吉尼亚理工大学和州立大学的研究工作直接针对这些问题，并基于使用实验，理论和模拟的互补方法。这些目标包括：（1）将事件发生器的预测与实验数据进行比较，重点是与弗吉尼亚理工大学小组及其合作者将使用MicroBooNE探测器在液态氩中进行的测量进行比较;（2）确定核模型、相关性和中微子相互作用不确定性对发现轻子扇区CP破坏和实验确定中微子振荡参数的影响;（3）在中微子相互作用模拟中包括最先进的核模型;（4）确定这些模型所需的详细程度，以达到观察CP破坏所需的灵敏度。 拟议的研究可能具有变革性，通过改变和改进GENIE中微子事件发生器的范围来更精确地预测事件，并将其与GLoBES模拟器接口，以了解中微子相互作用对确定过去和未来世界各地中微子实验的中微子振荡参数的影响。与研究并行的是，该计划包括重要的教育部分，针对高中和更高的水平。 该小组将建立在弗吉尼亚理工大学已经活跃的PhysTec项目的基础上，并将创建一个QuarkNet中心，以吸引高中教师和学生，最初的重点是中微子物理学。 该小组还积极鼓励来自代表性不足群体的学生通过弗吉尼亚州-北卡罗莱纳少数民族参与联盟（VT-AMP）计划参与研究。