CAREER: Next-Generation Liquid Scintillator Detectors: Picosecond Timing and Quantum-Dot-Doped Scintillator

即使经过十多年的重大发现，中微子仍然是已知基本粒子中最神秘的。关于它的性质的基本问题仍然存在;最基本的是中微子是否是它自己的反粒子。如果这是真的，中微子的马约拉纳性质将对粒子物理学和宇宙学产生深远的影响，包括对宇宙中物质-反物质不对称性的解释。唯一可行的实验探测中微子的马约拉纳性质的实验是寻找罕见的核过程，无中微子双β衰变。目前的一组实验将探测倒质量层次中马约拉纳中微子的参数空间。下一代实验将需要推进到正常的质量层次，这需要质量和背景抑制的数量级增加。液体闪烁体探测器可以很好地扩展到大质量，但需要取得进展以获得增加的背景抑制。该奖项将支持一项研究计划，该计划的重点是将光电探测器的进步与使用称为量子点的纳米晶体形式的新型波长转换器从液体闪烁体探测器中提取方向性信号相结合。更广泛的影响：本科研究对于招募和留住物理学生至关重要。该奖项将用于改善转学生的机会。一个关于成功的物理学专业的系列研讨会将在加州大学洛杉矶分校举行。该系列的修改版也将在圣莫尼卡学院展出。此外，这笔赠款将赞助加州大学洛杉矶分校的本科生研究经验（REU）计划的额外插槽。

Even after more than a decade of great discoveries, the neutrino remains the most mysterious of the known fundamental particles. Basic questions about its properties endure; the most basic being whether the neutrino is its own antiparticle. If true, this Majorana nature of the neutrino would have profound implications to particle physics and cosmology, including an explanation for the matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe. The only feasible experimental probes of the Majorana nature of the neutrino are experiments searching for the rare nuclear process, neutrinoless double-beta decay. The current set of experiments will probe the parameter space for Majorana neutrinos in the inverted mass hierarchy. The next generation of experiments will need to push into the normal mass hierarchy which requires an order of magnitude increase in mass and background suppression. Liquid scintillator detectors scale well to large masses but advances are needed to obtain increased background suppression. This award will support a program of research that focusses on combining advances in photodetectors and the use of novel wavelength shifters in the form of nanocrystals called quantum dots to extract a directional signal from liquid scintillator detectors.Broader impacts: Undergraduate research is critical for recruiting and retaining physics students. This award will be used to improve opportunities for transfer students. A seminar series on succeeding as a physics major will be developed and presented at UCLA. A modified version of the series will also be presented at Santa Monica College. Furthermore, this grant will sponsor an additional slot in UCLA's Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program.