The discovery that neutrinos have mass and that lepton flavor is not conserved has been one of the most exciting developments in particle physics in the last 15 years. It was the first disagreement with the Standard Model and it may well lead to a deeper understanding of why our world is the way it is. The program consists of two experiments, MINOS and NOvA. MINOS is a mature experiment, slated to take data at most for two more years. On the other hand, the civil construction for NOvA has just started and data taking will not start before the end of 2012. Both experiments utilize the NuMI neutrino beam line at Fermilab. The MINOS detector is located underground in a former iron mine in Soudan, MN, and is located 735 km from Fermilab.
The most exiting possibility in the field is the question of CP violation. If CP is violated in neutrino physics, that would make more likely the hypothesis of leptogenesis, the scheme which might explain the preponderance of matter over antimatter in our universe and thus explain how is it that we exist. The impact of these studies extends beyond particle physics. The intellectual content of these investigations is such that it excites the public-at-large and especially the young people. Many young people are drawn to science because it can answer fundamental questions like the origin and eventual fate of the universe. We believe that the neutrinos are fundamental particles; they existed from the very beginning and played an important role in the evolution of today's world. They help shape the lives of the stars and carry away most of the energy in a supernova explosion. Thus neutrino physics studies are closely connected with those in astrophysics and cosmology.
The program will provide training ground for future scientists and engineers; while doing their PhD and post-PhD research, young men and women will learn modern techniques in software and analysis and become familiar with the state of the art instrumentation. It also will have an impact on the local population, many of whom have never been exposed before to science and scientific way of thinking. MINOS already has an active outreach program and NOvA is planning to emulate a lot of it.
