NEUTRINOSSNOPLUS · Towards the investigation of the nature of neutrinos with SNO+
FP7 — People (Marie Curie Actions)
- Duration
- 2010-12-01 → 2012-11-30
- EU contribution
- €171,741
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MC-IEF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Towards the investigation of the nature of neutrinos with SNO+
SNO+ is a high potential, multi-faceted neutrino experiment consisting of a kiloton liquid scintillator detector surveyed by about 10 000 photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). Its main goal is the determination of the nature of the neutrino, Dirac or Majorana, via the search for neutrinoless double beta decay in 150Nd. This is recognised to be one of the most important current topics in particle physics because the Majorana nature of neutrinos would account for the very small neutrinos masses and provide a strong experimental argument in favour of the leptogenesis theory, which has the potential to explain the matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe. SNO+ is expected to achieve a very high-sensitivity level (mßß 100 meV) very quickly (2016) thanks to its large volume. It is therefore one of the most competitive neutrinoless double-beta decay experiments that is fully funded. SNO+ will be also able to study many other aspects of neutrino physics, using solar, geo, reactor and astrophysical neutrinos. Currently, it is in its construction phase, with a start scheduled in 2013. The researcher has worked within an international collaboration to design, develop, implement and test a novel optical calibration system, which is crucial to the success of this experiment. The calibration system has been largely installed at the experiment and a fully working prototype has been successfully demonstrated to work. The data of the test has been analysed and shows that the design goals of the system have been met.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
SNO+ is a high potential, multi-faceted neutrino experiment consisting of a kiloton liquid scintillator detector surveyed by about 10,000 photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). Its main goal is the determination of the nature of the neutrino, Dirac or Majorana, via the search for neutrinoless double beta decay in 150Nd. This is recognized to be one of the most important current topics in particle physics because the Majorana nature of neutrinos would account for the very small neutrinos masses and provide a strong experimental argument in favour of the leptogenesis theory, which has the potential to explain the matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe. SNO+ is expected to achieve a very high sensitivity level (mββ≈100 meV) very quickly (2014) thanks to its large volume. It is therefore one of the most competitive neutrinoless double beta decay experiment that is fully funded. SNO+ will also be able to study many other aspects of neutrino physics, using solar, geo, reactor and astrophysical neutrinos. Currently it is in its construction phase, with a start scheduled late 2010. The programme described in this proposal fits into the early stage of the experiment and offers the candidate a rich experience within SNO+: during the end of the construction, the candidate will participate in the crucial initial calibration of the full detector. Her instrumental background in precise calibration of optical detectors and commissioning will allow her to take a significant role in this step of SNO+. When the data taking starts, she will use her current experience in the MINOS experiment to analyze the first neutrinoless double beta decay data. The long-standing involvement of the host group at the University of Sussex in neutrino experiments, with its expertise in both commissioning and data analysis techniques, and the participation in an international collaboration provide an outstanding professional opportunity for the implementation of this project and the candidate’s career.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- THE UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX · BrightonCoordinatorUnited Kingdom
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union