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.
