The NOvA experiment, best known for its measurements of neutrino oscillations using particle beams from Fermilab accelerators, has been turning its attention to measurements of cosmic phenomena. In a series of results, NOvA reports on neutrinos from supernovae, gravitational-wave events from black hole mergers, muons from cosmic rays, and its search for the elusive monopole.
All summer long, progress on preparing the Fermilab site for the construction of the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility has been proceeding at a healthy clip. Now, as summer winds down, that site prep is nearing completion.
From Quanta Magazine, October 2020: This 17-minute podcast episode explores how three physicists stumbled across an unexpected relationship between some of the most ubiquitous objects in math. Hear Fermilab scientist Stephen Parke, DUNE collaborator Deborah Harris of York University, and Fields medalist Terence Tao discuss neutrinos, linear algebra, and the international, Fermilab-hosted Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment.
From Sci News, Oct. 2, 2020: A research team from four national laboratories, including Fermilab and Argonne, have undertaken work at two Fermilab neutrino experiments — MiniBooNE and NOvA — to construct a model of how neutrinos interact with atomic nuclei. This knowledge is essential to unravel an even bigger mystery: why during their journey through space or matter neutrinos magically morph from one into another of three possible types or flavors.
From Science, Oct. 2, 2020: As U.S. particle physicists start to drum up new ideas for the next decade in a yearlong Snowmass process they have no single big project to push for (or against). Physicists have just started to build the current plan’s centerpiece: The Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility at Fermilab will shoot particles through 1,300 kilometers of rock to the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment in South Dakota. Fermilab Deputy Director of Research Joe Lykken and Fermilab scientist Vladimir Shiltsev comment on other possible pursuits in high-energy physics.
From Interesting Engineering, Oct. 4, 2020: Fermilab’s NOvA experiment is listed in this rundown of the world’s neutrino observatories.
A scientist, avid runner and Cajun food cook, Bryan Ramson is helping solve the universe’s mysteries as a member of two Fermilab-hosted neutrino experiments: NOvA and the international Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment. Eager to share the joy of science with others, Ramson is active in physics outreach in the Chicago community.
From Argonne National Laboratory, Sept. 28, 2020: A research team from four national laboratories, including Fermilab and Argonne, have undertaken work at two Fermilab neutrino experiments — MiniBooNE and NOvA — to construct a model of how neutrinos interact with atomic nuclei. This knowledge is essential to unravel an even bigger mystery: why during their journey through space or matter neutrinos magically morph from one into another of three possible types or flavors.
Handedness — and the related concept of chirality — are double-sided ways of understanding how matter breaks symmetries. Different-handed object pairs reveal some puzzling asymmetries in the way our universe works.
From Scientific American, Sept. 22, 2020: The Chinese JUNO experiment will aim to answer a mystery about the particles’ mass. It will be joined by the international Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment later this decade in its search for answers that neutrinos can provide. Fermilab Deputy Director Joe Lykken weighs in on how neutrinos will address the universe’s pressing questions.