EAPSI: Reducing Uncertainty in the Simulation of the T2K Neutrino Particle Beam

EAPSI：减少 T2K 中微子粒子束模拟的不确定性

• 批准号: 1614093
• 负责人: Andrew Cudd
• 金额: $ 0.54万
• 依托单位: Cudd Andrew B
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-06-01 至 2017-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1614093&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EAPSI; Reducing; Uncertainty; Simulation; T2K

Neutrino physics are poorly understood currently. This project seeks to enhance our understanding of these fundamental particles using the T2K (Tokai to Kamioka) experiment to make precise measurements of neutrino properties. Neutrinos are produced by accelerating a beam of protons to high energies and then colliding them with a target. The T2K measurements depend on the properties of this proton beam and how it interacts with a target. The properties of the beam are studied with physical measurements and computer simulation. These simulations are important for predicting and assessing the observed behavior of the proton beam. This project will improve neutrino beam simulations for the T2K experiment by incorporating new advancements in simulation technology to improve accuracy, and by incorporating new physics data collected by other experiments to improve precision. These improvements will enhance the accuracy of the measurements made by the T2K experiment. This research will be conducted in collaboration with Dr. Tetsuro Sekiguchi, the leader of the T2K beam group, of the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK) in Japan.The T2K neutrino beam simulation currently is built using a custom framework utilizing the FLUKA and GEANT Monte Carlo simulation packages. Part of this project will involve migrating the beam simulation to an updated version of GEANT and then testing and validating its performance. The performance of the neutrino beam simulation is tuned and checked against experimental data, which needs to be updated when new and more precise data sets are available. Recent data sets from the NA61/SHINE experiment are available and will be used for this purpose. Finally, this project will involve the calculation of new correlated systematic uncertainties between the two T2K near detectors to allow for both new and more precise measurements of neutrinos to be made by T2K.This award under the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes program supports summer research by a U.S. graduate student and is jointly funded by NSF and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

目前人们对中微子物理学知之甚少。该项目旨在通过T2K（东海到神冈）实验来精确测量中微子的性质，从而提高我们对这些基本粒子的理解。中微子是通过将质子束加速到高能量，然后与目标物碰撞而产生的。T2K的测量取决于质子束的特性以及它如何与目标相互作用。通过物理测量和计算机模拟研究了光束的特性。这些模拟对于预测和评估质子束的观测行为是重要的。该项目将通过采用最新的模拟技术来提高精度，并通过采用其他实验收集的新物理数据来提高精度，从而改进T2K实验的中微子束模拟。这些改进将提高T2K实验测量的准确性。这项研究将与日本高能加速器研究组织（KEK）的T2K束流组负责人Tetsuro Sekiguchi博士合作进行。T2K中微子束模拟目前是使用FLUKA和GEANT蒙特卡罗模拟软件包的定制框架构建的。该项目的一部分内容将涉及将波束模拟迁移到GEANT的更新版本，然后测试和验证其性能。中微子束模拟的性能是根据实验数据进行调整和检查的，当有新的和更精确的数据集时，需要更新这些数据。来自NA61/SHINE实验的最新数据集是可用的，并将用于此目的。最后，该项目将涉及计算两个T2K近距离探测器之间新的相关系统不确定度，以允许T2K对中微子进行新的和更精确的测量。该奖项隶属于东亚和太平洋暑期研究所项目，由美国国家科学基金会和日本科学促进会共同资助，支持一名美国研究生进行暑期研究。