Shooting Neutrinos Through the Earth K2K experiment (and beyond)
by
Prof.Shige Matsuno(UHM Physics - High Energy Physics Group)
→
Pacific/Honolulu
Rm 112 (UHM - Watanabe Hall)
Rm 112
UHM - Watanabe Hall
2505 Correa Road
Honolulu, HI 96822
Description
The K2K experiment was the first long base line experiment aimed
to study neutrino oscillation with a beam of neutrinos generated
by an accelerator. It used a 12 GeV proton synchrotron at KEK in
Japan as a source to generate neutrinos, and the 250 km distant
Super-Kamiokande (SK) detector as a far detector. The flight distance
through the earth between KEK and SK permitted these (mostly muon)
neutrinos oscillate, and we measured these changes, finding results
consistent with the discovery of muon neutrino oscillations in SuperK
earlier and employing natural neutrinos from cosmic rays. The experiment
finished taking data at the end of 2004 and published their final
oscillation paper late last year. It will stand as one of the most
important experiments in a history of neutrino oscillation research,
and marks the important confirmation of muon neutrino oscillations
in an entirely different setting, removing any lingering concerns.
Despite the long involvement of UH personal (John Learned, Atsuko
Kibayashi, and I), the K2K experiment has not been presented in
detail at UH. I'd like to use this opportunity to discuss the
principles and results of the experiment. Several experiments that
follow on to the K2K effort will also be presented.