Project 8: Measuring Neutrino Masses Using Radio-Frequency Techniques

该奖项支持一项旨在测量电子中微子绝对质量尺度的新颖实验。虽然中微子质量的存在现在已经在实验上得到了确凿的证实，但质量尺度本身仍然是未知的。该奖项支持的新技术依赖于对强磁场中电子回旋运动产生的相干辐射的探测和测量。由于发射回旋辐射的频率与粒子的洛伦兹升压成反比，因此探测和测量相干辐射就相当于测量电子的动能。这项新技术的一个直接应用是测量氚β衰变的终点光谱，它对中微子的绝对质量尺度直接敏感。更广泛的影响：关于中微子质量的知识对科学界有广泛的影响，特别是在核物理和粒子物理以及宇宙学领域。这项技术的广泛吸引力和新颖性预计会吸引本科生。这项建议中探讨的技术在国家安全方面也有潜在的应用，特别是在监测核不扩散方面。

This award supports a novel experiment designed to measure the absolute mass scale of the electron neutrino. Though the existence of neutrino mass is now firmly established experimentally, the mass scale itself remains unknown. The new technique supported by this award relies on the detection and measurement of coherent radiation created from the cyclotron motion of electrons in strong magnetic fields. Since the frequency of the emitted cyclotron radiation depends inversely on the particle's Lorentz boost, detection and measurement of the coherent radiation is tantamount to measuring the kinetic energy of the electron. One immediate application of this new technique is in the measurement of the endpoint spectrum from tritium beta decay, which is directly sensitive to the absolute mass scale of neutrinos. Broader Impact: Knowledge of neutrino masses has a broad impact to the scientific community, particularly in the fields of nuclear and particle physics, as well as cosmology. The broad appeal and novelty of this technique are expected to engage undergraduate students. The technique explored in this proposal also has potential applications in national security, specifically, in monitoring for nuclear non-proliferation.