RUI: Neutrino Oscillation Studies Using the MINOS and Super-Kamiokande Experiments

This proposal from the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) requests funding to study neutrino oscillations using the MINOS (Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search) and Super-Kamiokande (Super-K) detectors. Past results from Super-K have used neutrinos produced by cosmic ray interactions in the upper atmosphere to show that muon neutrinos of energies from a few hundred MeV to hundreds of TeV oscillate to tau neutrinos as they travel the tens to thousands of kilometers through the earth to the detector. This implies that neutrinos have mass, a finding of fundamental importance to both particle physics and astrophysics. The MINOS experiment aims to both unambiguously confirm this result and precisely measure the oscillation parameters using an intense, well-calibrated beam of neutrinos generated at Fermilab and aimed toward the Soudan Underground Physics Laboratory in northeastern Minnesota. The neutrinos will be observed by a detector near their origin at Fermilab and by a similar detector after traveling 735 km to Soudan. The researchers also wish to continue their participation in the operation of the Super-K detector, gathering more data to improve its statistical significance while improving analysis techniques in order to better understand it.

The students contributing to this development will have the opportunity to gain valuable hardware experience and will gain the software skills needed to develop the systems to control and monitor the experiment. Undergraduate participation in both experiments has been strong, greatly enhancing these future engineers' and physicists' experiences in learning science. The Soudan Underground Lab regularly hosts tours for both K-12 science class field trips and the general public. UMD will continue to be heavily involved in such outreach programs, which last year saw approximately 6000 people visit the MINOS experiment to learn about neutrinos.