Neutrino Physics
Kam-Biu Luk, Professor
Physics
Applications for Fall 2024 are closed for this project.
Neutrino is a sub-atomic particle that was thought to be massless. Recently, a new phenomenon called neutrino oscillation, a transformation of one type of neutrino to another kind, has been discovered in experiments. These important findings imply that neutrinos have mass and they can mix among themselves. Neutrino oscillations are described by six fundamental parameters that must be determined experimentally. One of these six parameters is called the CP phase which will tell us whether neutrinos (matter) and anti-neutrinos (anti-matter) will oscillate differently or not, that is, whether CP symmetry describing the behavior of matter and anti-matter is violated or conserved.
We are involved in the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) in the USA, a new neutrino project designed to search for CP violation in neutrino oscillation. In addition to data analysis and simulation, we are also researching and developing new instrumentation, especially Time Projection Chambers, for future experiments.
Role: The undergraduate students will participate in characterizing detectors, simulation and data analysis. Through the involvement, the students will learn how to apply their knowledge in solving unfamiliar problems, learn physics that is not addressed in class, and different kinds of skill.
Qualifications: Openings exist for student participation in the design, development and testing of detectors. Students would have the opportunity to learn hardware and software tools commonly used in nuclear, particle physics, and cosmology. Junior or senior physics majors with an interest in laboratory work are needed. Some familiarity with electronics and/or programming on UNIX/LINUX and C++/Python is highly desirable.
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Cheng-Ju Lin, Callum Wilkinson, Dan Dwyers, Staff Researcher
Hours: to be negotiated
Off-Campus Research Site: Physics Division, LBNL
Mathematical and Physical Sciences