RUI: Neutrino Studies with Experiments in the NuMI Beam

明尼苏达大学德卢斯分校正在通过美国国家科学基金会本科院校研究（RUI）项目，利用NuMI中微子束实验研究中微子振荡。最近在日本进行的超级神冈实验利用宇宙射线与上层大气相互作用产生的中微子表明，μ子中微子在穿越地球到达探测器的过程中会振荡成τ中微子。这意味着中微子具有质量，这一发现对粒子物理学和天体物理学都具有根本性的重要性。K2K实验的进一步工作，以及现在的MINOS（主注入器中微子振荡搜索）实验已经明确证实了这一结果。MINOS将使用费米实验室主注入器产生的强烈的、校准良好的中微子束来精确测量振荡参数。这个中微子束于2005年初投入使用，目标是明尼苏达州东北部的苏丹地下物理实验室，那里是MINOS远距探测器的所在地和运行地点。UMD组负责探测器控制系统，该系统监测实验设备和环境的状态。UMD计划为MINERvA开发一个类似的系统，并为NOvA数据采集系统的开发做出贡献。重要的是，UMD小组通过参与这个具有挑战性的中微子物理学项目，为本科生提供了一个重要的研究机会。

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.