neutrino

From New Atlas, Aug. 12, 2020: An extensive search for a hypothetical particle has turned up empty. The sterile neutrino is a proposed subatomic particle that could even be a candidate for the mysterious dark matter, and although previous studies have hinted at its existence, and the MINOS+ and Daya Bay experiments have all but ruled it out.

From APS Physics, Aug. 10, 2020: Fermilab scientist Pedro Machado co-authors this article on how the MINOS and MINOS+ experiments at Fermilab and the Daya Bay experiment have placed the most stringent limits to date on a hypothetical fourth neutrino. Still, the possibility that such a particle exists remains open.

The MINOS+ and Daya Bay neutrino experiments combine results to produce most stringent test yet for the existence of sterile neutrinos.

The ArgoNeuT collaboration has published new measurements of the neutrino interaction channel critical for future experiments that seek to understand the difference between matter and antimatter in the world of neutrinos. Their paper presents new strategies for identifying electron neutrinos in liquid-argon neutrino detectors like ArgoNeuT.

From CERN Courier, July 23, 2020: Fermilab scientists Steve Brice and Sam Zeller and University of Minnesota scientist Marvin Marshak authored this article on the Neutrino 2020 conference, in which 4,350 people from every continent, including Antarctica, participated. The online program, hosted by Fermilab and the University of Minnesota comprised eight half-days over two weeks, four poster sessions with both web-based and virtual-reality displays, and the use of the Slack platform for speaker questions and ongoing discussions.

A collaboration of the Americas aims to take the first pioneering images of low-energy neutrinos and provide new data to shed light on the mysterious identity of dark matter.

A dash of virtual reality helps replicate the serendipitous interactions of an in-person conference when participants are scattered across the globe.

From CERN Courier, July 7, 2020: A new generation of accelerator and reactor experiments is opening an era of high-precision neutrino measurements to tackle questions such as leptonic CP violation, the mass hierarchy and the possibility of a fourth “sterile” neutrino. These include the international Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, hosted by Fermilab, and Fermilab’s NOvA and Short-Baseline Neutrino programs.

From CERN Courier, July 7, 2020: Fermilab scientist Boris Kayser Texplains how neutrino physicists are now closing in on a crucial piece of evidence in a most convoluted detective story: the unknown origin of the matter–antimatter asymmetry observed in the universe.

From Department of Energy, July 6, 2020: DOE announces $132 million in funding for 64 university research awards on a range of topics in high-energy physics to advance knowledge of how the universe works at its most fundamental level. Projects include experimental work on neutrinos at Fermilab, the search for dark matter, studies of the nature of dark energy and the expansion of the universe with the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument and and investigation of the Higgs boson from data collected at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Switzerland.