H2020Индивидуална стипендия2020–2022

TheDarkNeutrino · Search for the dark neutrino at the NA62 experiment at CERN

„Хоризонт 2020“ — Действия „Мария Склодовска-Кюри“

Период: 2020-04-01 → 2022-03-31
Финансиране от ЕС: 166 320 €
Участници: 1
Схема: MSCA-IF

Линиите свързват координатора с партньорите.

Накратко на български

Търсенето на „тъмното неутрино“ се фокусира върху анализ на разпадите на каони в ускорителите на CERN. Откриването му би помогнало да се разбере как неутриното придобива маса и би наложило пренаписване на Стандартния модел във физиката на частиците.

Този кратък обзор е генериран от изкуствен интелект

Кратко обяснение, генерирано от езиков модел по текста на CORDIS. Оригиналът е по-долу.

Резултати накратко

Search for the dark neutrino at the NA62 experiment at CERN

The fundamental particles that make up everything in our universe, and the interactions between them, are described by the Standard Model of particle physics. One type of fundamental particle is the neutrino, and the Standard Model contains 3 of them. Recent experimental observations have proven that the neutrinos are not massless, contradicting the predictions of the Standard Model. Understanding the mechanism that generates the neutrinos masses is one of the key goals of modern particle physics. Solutions to the neutrino mass puzzle often predict ‘heavy neutrinos’. A special type of heavy neutrino, which interacts with hypothetical ‘dark’ particles, is known as the dark neutrino. Dark neutrinos could be produced in copious amounts in the decays of kaons produced using the proton accelerators at CERN. The NA62 experiment at CERN collected an enormous sample of kaon decays in 2017-2018. By using novel experimental methods this sample can be analysed to seek the signature of dark neutrinos. Moreover, the NA62 experiment started a new data-taking period that will extend from 2021-2024, including new detector systems such as the ANTI0 detector. The limiting factor to dark neutrino searches at NA62 is the amount of kaon decays that can be collected, which is dictated by the trigger system. Improvements to the trigger system for the 2021-2024 data-taking will allow more kaon decays to be collected, providing a larger sample with which to seek the dark neutrino in the future. A discovery of the dark neutrino would be a redefining moment for particle physics. The discovery would solve the puzzle of neutrino mass generation, would require a fundamental re-write of the Standard Model, and would pave the way for investigation of new ‘dark’ particles. In particular, the discovery would lead us towards an understanding of Dark Matter as well as the matter-dominance of the universe. It will be a huge leap in our understanding of the universe at its most fundamental level. The objectives of the project are: to seek the dark neutrino in the sample of kaon decays collected by NA62 in 2017-2018; to commission NA62 for its 2021-2024 data-taking period, including improvements to the trigger system; and to stimulate discussion and collaboration between experimental physicists at NA62 and theoretical physicists working on heavy/dark neutrino models. The conclusions of the project are: that novel data-analysis techniques were developed and employed to seek the dark neutrino at NA62; that NA62 was successfully commissioned for its 2021-2024 data-taking period, including the initial set-up of the ANTI0 detector and new developments to the trigger system; and that new connections between NA62 and key theorists working on dark neutrino models were established.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз

Цел на проекта

This project aims to discover a new particle, the dark neutrino, in K+ decays at the NA62 experiment at CERN. This scientific breakthrough would be a major leap in our understanding of particle physics, answering several profound questions related to neutrino oscillations, the generation of neutrino masses, and the neutrino mass scale. The dark neutrino is predicted in so-called ‘dark sector’ models with neutrino and vector portals to the Standard Model. The NA62 experiment studies the decays of 75 GeV/c kaons using a decay-in-flight technique, and has unique sensitivity to the dark neutrino despite its feeble couplings to the Standard Model. There could be as many as 20000 dark neutrino events in the NA62 2017/18 dataset, which is ~20 times larger than those collected by previous kaon experiments, that have evaded detection due to ineffective searches. We propose a novel and innovative search to bridge this research gap, which can only be achieved using the powerful NA62 detector. Furthermore, the NA62 experiment expects to collect data for several years, with the new data-taking period to begin in Summer 2021. The experiment will take data at 50% higher rate, motivating improvements to the trigger system. We propose to develop new software trigger algorithms to be deployed on the NA62 experiments High Performance Computing resources, utilising data from two new detector systems that will be added to the experiment before 2021. This will be the final NA62 data taking period, but dark neutrino models have a rich structure that motivates additional searches. We propose to work with theorists at CP3 (the host institute) to explore and benchmark different varieties of dark neutrino models, with the aim to motivate more novel searches at NA62 and beyond. Two workshops will be arranged to bring together the experimental and theoretical communities that study the dark sector, to stimulate discussion and forge new collaboration.

Оригинален текст от CORDIS (на английски).

Участници

UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN · LOUVAIN LA NEUVEКоординаторБелгия