Neutrino Oscillation Physics

在过去的十年里，中微子物理学发生了一场引人注目的革命。我们现在知道，三种中微子中至少有一些具有有限的质量，而且中微子的变化发生在被称为中微子振荡的过程中。中微子味振荡由一个具有三个混合角的矩阵和一个电荷宇称(CP)破坏位相控制。目前认为，中微子区CP对称性破坏的可能性是解释宇宙中物质-反物质表观不对称性的最好可能性。三个混合角中的两个已经被以前的实验很好地确定了。该奖项为通过精确研究中国大亚湾核电站发射的反中微子的振荡来确定最终混合角(称为θ-13)的工作提供了基础支持。这项实验已经进行了几年，刚刚开始使用八个反中微子探测器中的两个获得数据。大亚湾实验最近公布了他们在theta-13上的初步结果。在本奖项所涵盖的期间，预计将获得改进的衡量标准。布罗德影响该组织计划利用他们与托马斯·杰斐逊国家加速器设施(JLab)的联系，与他们著名的科学教育办公室合作，使他们能够影响中学和高中的科学教育。他们将与JLab教师科学活动(JSAT)计划合作，更新和扩大他们在核能领域为中学教师提供的材料。自日本福岛核事故以来，公众对核电及其安全的兴趣有所提高。重要的是向教师和学生提供与核电有关的最新和准确的信息。这一主题很好地契合了该小组的兴趣，即让他们接触到该小组使用核电反应堆进行的中微子研究。

The last decade has produced a remarkable revolution in neutrino physics. We now know that at least some of the three flavors of neutrino have finite mass, and that flavor transformations occur through the process known as neutrino oscillations. Neutrino flavor oscillations are governed by a matrix with three mixing angles and a Charge-Parity (CP) violating phase. It is currently thought that the possibility of CP symmetry violation in the neutrino sector is the best possibility for explaining the apparent matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe. Two of the three mixing angles have been well determined by previous experiments. This award provides base support for work on determining the final mixing angle (known as theta-13) through the precision study of the oscillation of antineutrinos emitted from the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant in China. This experiment has been under construction for several years, and has just begun to acquire data using two of the full complement of eight antineutrino detectors. The Daya Bay experiment has recently published their initial results for theta-13. During the period covered by this award, it is expected that an improved measurement will be obtained.Broader Impacts The group plans to take advantage of their connection with the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (JLab) to partner with their renowned Office of Science Education to enable them to impact science education in middle schools and high schools. They will work with the JLab Science Activities for Teachers (JSAT) program to update and expand their materials for middle school teachers in the area of nuclear energy. Since the incident at Fukushima in Japan, the public interest in nuclear power and its safety has been heightened. It is important to provide teachers and students with up-to-date and accurate information related to the issues associated with nuclear power. This subject fits well with the group's interest in also exposing them to this group's neutrino research using nuclear power reactors.