How many types of neutrinos are there? That was Day 3+4’s Big Question.
Your Day 3+4 breakdown is finally here. A lack of internet access is always an issue. At any rate, things were a very great mix of experimental results and theoretical discussions that all pointed to one question: How many types of neutrinos are there in the Universe? According to the Standard Model, which itself is founded on very rich experimental results, there are 3 flavors: electron-neutrino, muon-neutrino, and tau-neutrino. However, it is very possible there are more neutrinos that do not have any charges under the Standard Model. Such neutrinos are called sterile neutrino or singlet neutrinos.
Without further ado: MiniBooNE, Neutrino Anomalies, KamLAND-Zen, EXO-200, and Day 4.
A quick breakdown of what the Miniature Booster Neutrino Experiment, or MiniBooNE for short, is all about can be given in the following two slides. Fermilab accelerates protons into a fixed target to produce pions and kaons. The pions and kaons are then directed toward the ground and squeezed together by a system of magnetic fields called “the horn.” The pions then fly for a period of time, decaying into muons, electrons, and neutrinos. The muons further decay into more neutrinos and electrons. When the electron and neutrino beam hits the ground, the electrons are absorbed and the neutrinos pass through the planet. Finally, after popping out in a deep underground Minnesota mine, the neutrino beam flies through the MiniBooNE detector and physics is born.
One of MiniBooNE’s chief scientific goals is to confirm or refute the result of a previous experiment, LSND, which observed an excess of neutrinos. The excess was best described by introducing a single sterile neutrino and we still do not know if the result was a statistical fluke or something more serious.
The experiment has announced for the first time with its full dataset, that it has observed an excess number of anti-muon-neutrinos converting to anti-electron-neutrinos. This excess is almost entirely in the lower energy range, i.e., smaller energy transfer between neutrinos and detector, and the experiment is trying vigorously to determine if this has been caused by a previously unknown background.
When combing the anti-neutrino and neutrino excesses, the overall excess in number of events grows in significance. The two results are consistent with each other, so there is no measurable difference between matter and anti-matter has been observed. If it is there, it is beyond the detector’s capabilities. There are a few ideas to explain the more-than-expected number of neutrinos and they are individually being studied as we speak. A VERY preliminary result (so preliminary I am choosing not the put up the plot here) is that the data is somewhat well-described by assuming the existence of two sterile neutrinos. This actually is more preferred than a single sterile neutrino, so theorists are a bit happy at the moment.
The prospect of adding a new neutrino to the Standard Model is a tricky issue, let alone adding two. Theoretically it is not terribly difficult but such a step would have very obvious and quickly testable predictions. The first of several theory talks (I am skipping my synopsis of all other theory talks) had a summary of known anomalies from neutrino experiments. LSND and MiniBooNE has already been discussed and the largest. A rather recently discovered discrepancy is the number of neutrinos predicted to be produced by nuclear reactors. The calculation is very well known but had not been updated in years. After recalculating the expected neutrino production rate, the predicted rate was found to be larger than the observed rate. Strictly speaking, all results ARE consistent with the Standard Model and we cannot make any definitive statements based solely on what is listed here.
On to KamLAND-Zen, which stands for Kamioka Liquid Scintillator Anti-neutrino Detector – Zero Neutrino Double β-Decay (pronounced: beta-decay). This experiment has got to be the best example of when an experiment collaboration just stops trying to write its experiment name as a logical acronym. It is still a wicked-cool name. Nuclear β-decay is one of the most well-studied examples of radioactivity where a nucleus in an atom will disintegrate into a lighter nucleus, plus an electron (or a positron), and an anti-electron-neutrino (or a regular electron-neutrino). Some radioactive elements can also undergo the super rare double β-decay where two β-decays occur simultaneously. In the case that a sterile neutrino does indeed exist, then the even more rare neutrino-less double β-decay should be possible. In this situation, two nuclei in an element will disintegrate into two lighter nuclei and only two electrons (or positrons!). KamLAND-Zen is looking for such a decay in the gas xenon but has had no such luck. It has, however, been able to measure the rate of the still-very-rare 2-neutrino-double β-decay in xenon, an impressive feat in and of itself. The experiment was also able to disprove a previous measurement of this rate from a different experiment called DAMA. Here are the results.
The Enriched Xenon Observatory Experiment, or EXO-200 for short (the 200 is explained on wiki), is KamLAND-Zen’s biggest competitor in the race for finding neutrino-less double-β-decay. The first slide shows how much more data they have since the last time their results were announced. The second slide shows their background and the fact that they have observed almost 22,000 2-neutrino double β-decay events! I cannot describe how cool that is other than say just that: it is really cool that they have so many events. Consequentially, their results are in good agreement with KamLAND-Zen’s results. So sadly, no neutrino-less events.
Day 4 was a much needed rest for conference goers. Like most other attendees, I spent the day exploring Kyoto and then working with my adviser on a paper we are hoping to finish soon. In the evening, however, we were treated to a dance performance by real-life geisha dancers. I was unable to get too many photos but below is a good one. The two dancers are both geiko-sans (fully-fledged geisha dancers) but there were also three maikos (apprentice geisha dancers).
After the short entertainment, the main event began: a public lecture on the importance of neutrinos and their influence on how the Universe evolved, given by Prof. Hitoshi Murayama, Director of the University of Tokyo’s Institute for Physics and Mathematics of the Universe. Sadly, I was unable to find his slides online, which is especially unfortunate considering his talk was entitled, “Neutrinos May Be Our Mother.” I was able to snap this photo of Prof. Murayama discussing his recent meeting with the Prime Minister of Japan and philanthropist Fred Kavli, of the famed Kavli Foundation. Mr. Kavli’s generous contributions to physics and astronomy have led to the construction of dozens of institutes around the world to focus and have allowed us to concentrate on the most important mysteries of this universe we call home.