neutrino

From University of Missouri – Kansas City’s University News, Feb. 6, 2019: Sánchez, a scientist at Iowa State University, is a part of Fermilab’s NOvA neutrino experiment and the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment. She also co-leads the ANNIE experiment at Fermilab.

The MINERvA neutrino experiment has a new crime scene investigation technique, one that takes a hard look at the traces that particles leave before fleeing the scene. Researchers used a new technique in a recent MINERvA neutrino investigation. And the new insights they gained on the workings of nuclear effects can help other neutrino experiments.

Scientists on the ArgoNeuT experiment have developed a method that enables them to better distinguish the tracks that particles leave behind in liquid argon, as well as a way to better differentiate between signals and background. And thanks to the software’s great performance, ArgoNeuT will aid larger neutrino experiments in their quest to understand the nature of the subtle neutrino.

For several weeks, a prototype detector for the Fermilab-hosted Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment collected data using beams from CERN’s particle accelerators. The results show a mature technology exceeding all expectations. It’s the culmination of three years of hard work by a global team dedicated to constructing and bringing the new detector online.

From Live Science, Jan. 12, 2019: In the 1920s, careful and detailed observations of those decays found tiny, niggling discrepancies. The total energy at the start of certain decay processes was a tiny bit greater than the energy coming out. The math didn’t add up. Odd. So, a few physicists concocted a brand-new particle out of whole cloth: A little, neutral one. A neutrino.

This is a visual display of an ArgoNeuT event showing a long trail left behind by a high energy particle traveling through the liquid argon accompanied by small blips caused by low energy particles.

For the first time, scientists have demonstrated that low-energy neutrinos can be thoroughly identified with a liquid-argon particle detector. The results, obtained with the ArgoNeuT experiment, are promising for experiments that use liquid argon to catch neutrinos, including the upcoming Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment.