| Project Detail |
Neutrino oscillation experiments: well-constrained simulations of neutrino-nucleus interactions
Neutrinos are subatomic particles with almost no mass and no electric charge, so they interact only very weakly with other matter and are difficult to detect. However, they have considerable influence over events in our cosmos and unravelling their mysteries could point to new physics beyond the Standard Model. This will require high level understanding of neutrino-nucleus interactions and of how, as they travel through space, they can change from one into another of three possible types or flavours, a phenomenon known as neutrino oscillations. The ERC-funded NeutrinoNucleai project will harness the similarity of electron- and neutrino-nucleus interactions to better characterise the uncertainties of neutrino-nucleus interactions for future high-sensitivity experiments.
The ability of current and next generation accelerator based neutrino oscillation measurements to reach their desired sensitivity and provide new insight into the nature of our Universe, requires a high-level of understanding of the neutrino-nucleus interactions. These include precise estimation of the relevant cross sections and the reconstruction of the incident neutrino energy from the measured final state particles. Incomplete understanding of these interactions can skew the reconstructed neutrino spectrum and thereby bias the extraction of fundamental oscillation parameters and searches for new physics.
This proposal exploit the similarity of electron- and neutrino-nucleus interactions. It leverages wide phase-space exclusive electron scattering data with known beam energies as well as neutrino scattering data in the same energy region and on similar nuclear targets, to test energy reconstruction methods and interaction models. The ERC NeutrinoNuclei project will deliver well constrained simulation environment and uncertainties of the neutrino-nuclei interaction, to meet the requirements of future high-precision experiments. |
