522. WE-Heraeus-Seminar: Exploring the Neutrino Sky and Fundamental Particle Physics on the Megaton Scale
Exploring the Neutrino Sky and Fundamental Particle Physics on the Megaton Scale
Seminar
- Datum:
- Mo, 21.01.2013 08:30 – Mi, 23.01.2013 14:50
- Sprecher:
- C. Spiering (DESY Zeuthen), Elisa Resconi (TU München), M. Wurm (U Hamburg)
- Adresse:
- Physikzentrum Bad Honnef
Hauptstr. 5, 53604 Bad Honnef, Germany
- Sprache:
- Englisch
- Veranstaltungspartner:
- Wilhelm and Else Heraeus-Foundation
- Kontaktperson:
- Dr. C. Spiering,
Beschreibung
Scientific Background
Large underground neutrino detectors have produced an extremely rich harvest of discoveries: solar neutrinos, neutrinos from a supernova, neutrino oscillations via solar and atmospheric neutrinos, neutrinos from the interior of the Earth (geo-neutrinos), the non-vanishing mixing angle 13 (using an accelerator beam). This legacy is intended to be continued by one or several multi-purpose detectors on the mass scale of 20-500 ktons. The physics potential of a large multi-purpose facility would cover a large variety of questions: The search for the decay of protons, the precision study of solar, atmospheric and geo-neutrinos, the registration of neutrinos from a possible galactic Supernova burst, the study of the diffuse flux of all past supernovae. Together with an accelerator beam, the mass hierarchy of neutrinos could be determined and the CP violating phase measured. The determination of the mass hierarchy might be also possible with the help of underwater/ice detectors, with volumes up to several Megatons. For this specific question there is the hope that underwater/ice detectors could provide a faster and cheaper answer than huge detectors underground. The seminar will cover the main physics motivation of the field, compare the different approaches and their technical realization. Emphasis will be on projects where Germany is particularly engaged: LENA as an example for a large detector underground, and PINGU as an example for a multi-Megaton detector in a natural medium.
Large underground neutrino detectors have produced an extremely rich harvest of discoveries: solar neutrinos, neutrinos from a supernova, neutrino oscillations via solar and atmospheric neutrinos, neutrinos from the interior of the Earth (geo-neutrinos), the non-vanishing mixing angle 13 (using an accelerator beam). This legacy is intended to be continued by one or several multi-purpose detectors on the mass scale of 20-500 ktons. The physics potential of a large multi-purpose facility would cover a large variety of questions: The search for the decay of protons, the precision study of solar, atmospheric and geo-neutrinos, the registration of neutrinos from a possible galactic Supernova burst, the study of the diffuse flux of all past supernovae. Together with an accelerator beam, the mass hierarchy of neutrinos could be determined and the CP violating phase measured. The determination of the mass hierarchy might be also possible with the help of underwater/ice detectors, with volumes up to several Megatons. For this specific question there is the hope that underwater/ice detectors could provide a faster and cheaper answer than huge detectors underground. The seminar will cover the main physics motivation of the field, compare the different approaches and their technical realization. Emphasis will be on projects where Germany is particularly engaged: LENA as an example for a large detector underground, and PINGU as an example for a multi-Megaton detector in a natural medium.
Goals of the seminar:
The seminar has the following primary goals:
Give a competent and didactic overview over the present status and all facets of the physics potentials of these detectors
Flank the activities of LENA and PINGU within the ASPERA common call for low-energy neutrino physics
Involve young scientists in the preparation of large neutrino detectors
Broaden the community behind such a project (involve neighbored fields like particle physics, geophysics, solar physics, involve new countries)