One of the major intellectual achievements of the 20th century was the development of the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics. This model succeeded in classifying all of the elementary particles known at the time into a hierarchy of groups having similar quantum properties. The validity of this model to date was confirmed by the discovery of the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. However, the Standard Model as it currently exists leaves open many questions about the universe, including such fundamental questions as to why the Higgs mass has the value it has and why there is no antimatter in the universe. One of the primary areas to search for answers to these and other open questions about the universe, how it came to be and why it is the way it is, is to focus on a study of the properties of neutrinos and to use what we know and can learn about neutrinos as probes of science beyond the Standard Model. Neutrinos are those elementary particles that interact with practically nothing else in the universe. They have no electric charge and were once thought to be massless. We now know there are three kinds of neutrinos that are distinguishable through the different interactions that they undergo whenever there is an interaction. We also know that neutrinos do have a mass and because they do, they can actually change from one type to another. Detailed measurements of these changes, along with other current neutrino experiments, form one of the most promising ways to probe for new physics beyond the Standard Model. Such measurements lie at the heart of this project which include activities of the Syracuse University neutrino group on the MicroBooNE, NOvA, SBND, and DUNE experiments. These activities include measurements with NOvA?s test beam that will impact the experiment?s ability to resolve the neutrino mass hierarchy; on the MicroBooNE experiment, analyses of low-energy activity that has relevance for supernova physics and basic neutrino interaction studies, and on the DUNE experiment the group will make significant contributions to the construction of the anode plane assemblies needed to realize this enormous detector.
There is currently a large interest in experimental particle physics in Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers (LArTPC) spurred in part by the proposed DUNE project at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL) and in neutrino physics in general. This award supports work that refines LArTPC technology, using a test beam and at the MicroBooNE experiment at FNAL. LArTPC detector technology is scalable to the very large masses (perhaps 10 kiloTons) needed by next generation neutrino experiments and is capable of recording three-dimensional digital images of particle trajectories. MicroBooNE is making a variety of interesting physics measurements, as well as serving as a proving ground for new hardware techniques relevant for future experiments. Another aspect of the work in this award is the analysis of data from a large LArTPC detector at CERN called ProtoDUNE. The lessons learned here will inform the future DUNE detector design. The broader impact of this work will involve undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers, all of whom will receive valuable experience and training in experimental research that will be applicable in their future career trajectories. The Syracuse group will continue with several outreach efforts as part of this award. The public will be informed about the exciting research in particle physics via the hosting of in-person Masterclass activities. Finally, the group will take advantage of Syracuse University?s unique commitment to the education of veterans of the U.S. armed services and engage this population of students in the DUNE hardware efforts on campus, providing valuable technical and scientific training.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
