Explorations in Dark Matter and Neutrino Physics

该奖项资助芝加哥洛约拉大学的沃尔特·坦加里夫教授的研究活动。坦加里夫教授的研究重点是粒子物理学中两个最有趣的问题之间的界面：暗物质的性质和中微子的性质。暗物质指的是宇宙的一种成分，它对星系和其他天体的天体物理效应可以测量，但还不知道其他性质。中微子是在所谓的“粒子物理标准模型”中预测没有质量的粒子。然而，实验表明，中微子轻得令人难以置信，但并不是没有质量。对这些主题的研究通过努力发现和理解支配宇宙的规律来促进科学进步，从而促进国家利益。在他的研究中，坦加里夫教授的目标是探索中微子物理和暗物质问题交织在一起的可测试模型。该项目还将产生重大的更广泛的影响。坦加里夫教授将让本科生参与他的研究，为他们提供在学术和私营部门职业生涯中都非常有用的关键技能。他还将就他的研究成果进行公开演讲，并在当地社区高中组织外展活动。更严格地说，坦加里夫教授将在存在自我相互作用的情况下研究Kev无菌-中微子暗物质模型。新的相互作用增强了生产机制，并提供了在包括沙丘在内的下一代实验中探索的信号。此外，自相互作用的稀薄中微子是自相互作用暗物质的良好候选者，这可能与小结构现象有关。该项目还将研究天体物理环境中秘密中微子相互作用的影响，如双星系统中的能量损失和超新星的冷却。这将允许对新交互的参数空间进行新的约束。最后，这个项目将调查原子系统中通过宇称破坏的双中微子交换力的探测，以及在强烈中微子背景下新的可观察到的效应。这一裁决反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award funds the research activities of Professor Walter Tangarife at Loyola University Chicago.The research of Professor Tangarife focuses on the interface between two of the most intriguing problems in particle physics: the nature of dark matter and the properties of neutrinos. Dark matter refers to an ingredient of the Universe whose astrophysical effects on galaxies and other astrophysical objects can be measured, but no other property is yet known. Neutrinos are particles within the so-called "Standard Model of particle physics” which are predicted to have no mass. However, experiments have shown that neutrinos are incredibly light but not massless. Research in these topics advances national interest by promoting the progress of science through the efforts to discover and understand the laws that govern the Universe. In his research, Professor Tangarife aims to explore testable models where neutrino physics and the dark matter problem are intertwined. This project will also have significant broader impacts. Professor Tangarife will involve undergraduate students in his research, providing them with critical skills of great utility in both academic and private-sector careers. He will also give public lectures on his research results and organize outreach events in local community high schools.More technically, Professor Tangarife will investigate keV sterile-neutrino dark-matter models in the presence of self-interactions. New interactions enhance the production mechanism and provide signals to be probed in next-generation experiments, including DUNE. Additionally, self-interacting sterile neutrinos make good candidates for self-interacting dark matter, which may be relevant for small-structure phenomena. This project will also study the effects of secret neutrino interactions in astrophysical environments, such as the energy loss in binary systems and the cooling of supernovae. This would allow new constraints on the parameter space of new interactions. Finally, this project will investigate probes of the two-neutrino-exchange force via parity violation in atomic systems and new observable effects in intense neutrino backgrounds.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.