Measuring the Elusive - New Results from the NOvA Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment
by
Prof.Bruno Sousa(University of Cincinnati)
→
Portugal
211 (LIP Seminar Room)
211
LIP Seminar Room
Eficio 3Is, Av. Gama Pinto 2
Description
The weakly-interacting neutrino remains the most elusive and difficult to
measure of all elementary particles. Yet, it may hold long-sought answers to some of
the most profound questions on our understanding of the evolution of the universe, most
prominently: why is the universe matter-dominated? The answer to this question may be
crucially linked to parameters in neutrino physics that remain unmeasured. By analyzing
the most powerful neutrino beam in operation at two different locations, one close to
beam production at Fermilab, and one 810 km downstream in Ash River, Minnesota, the
NOvA long-baseline experiment can probe the neutrino parameters by precisely
measuring how neutrinos change from one flavor to another. The precision
measurement of neutrino oscillations is the focal point of the US experimental high-
energy physics program and, as the present flagship experiment at Fermilab, NOvA is
in a unique position to produce the next major advances in our understanding of
neutrino properties. In this talk, I will review our current knowledge of the neutrino
landscape, describe the current status of the NOvA experiment, and present the latest
results obtained with three years of data taking, corresponding to an exposure of 9x10 20
protons-on- target, I will conclude with a discussion of how NOvA and future US neutrino
experiments may contribute to solving some of the universe’s deepest mysteries.
