High Energy Physics Seminar

Accelerator-based neutrino experiments such as T2(H)K, DUNE and the short-baseline neutrino program at Fermilab (SBN) offer an unprecedented opportunity to explore fundamental physics. The signal in these experiments is the scattering of neutrinos with nuclei, and hence their success relies on an understanding of these processes at MeV to few-GeV neutrino energies. I will explain the general challenge posed by nuclear physics uncertainties that these experiments have to face in order to understand the signal measured in their detectors. I will present some concrete examples based on recent work: How 'final-state interactions' of hadrons with the nuclear medium pose an unprecedented challenge for nuclear theory & How the predicted ratio between electron- and muon neutrino interaction cross sections is model-dependent and how this affects measurements of oscillation parameters.

The talk is in 469 Lauritsen.

Contact theoryinfo@caltech.edu for Zoom link