The discovery that neutrinos have nonzero, but inexplicably small, masses hints that these particles may hold the key to unlocking physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM). In this talk, I will discuss the search for neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ), a proposed form of radioactive decay that, if observed, would immediately demonstrate BSM physics. Specifically, discovery of 0νββ would establish a) violation of lepton number conservation, currently thought to be a fundamental symmetry of particle interactions, b) the generation of neutrino masses by a mechanism other than the Higgs, and c) possible connections between neutrino interactions and the dominance of matter over antimatter in the universe. These exciting possibilities have motivated a worldwide program to search for 0νββ using a wide variety of experimental techniques. I will describe the next generation of these efforts, focusing in particular on the nEXO experiment, which will be constructed over the next few years at the SNOLAB research facility in Sudbury, ON. nEXO is designed to reach a sensitivity two orders of magnitude beyond the reach of current experiments, pushing deep into unexplored parameter space. I will discuss nEXO’s design and some technical developments, other possible science that we can do with the nEXO detector, and will close with a discussion on scaling up the techniques used by nEXO to enable beyond-the-next-generation searches for new physics.
Add to Calendar
2022-02-14T12:00:002022-02-14T13:00:00nEXO and the future of neutrinoless double beta decay Event Information:
The discovery that neutrinos have nonzero, but inexplicably small, masses hints that these particles may hold the key to unlocking physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM). In this talk, I will discuss the search for neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ), a proposed form of radioactive decay that, if observed, would immediately demonstrate BSM physics. Specifically, discovery of 0νββ would establish a) violation of lepton number conservation, currently thought to be a fundamental symmetry of particle interactions, b) the generation of neutrino masses by a mechanism other than the Higgs, and c) possible connections between neutrino interactions and the dominance of matter over antimatter in the universe. These exciting possibilities have motivated a worldwide program to search for 0νββ using a wide variety of experimental techniques. I will describe the next generation of these efforts, focusing in particular on the nEXO experiment, which will be constructed over the next few years at the SNOLAB research facility in Sudbury, ON. nEXO is designed to reach a sensitivity two orders of magnitude beyond the reach of current experiments, pushing deep into unexplored parameter space. I will discuss nEXO’s design and some technical developments, other possible science that we can do with the nEXO detector, and will close with a discussion on scaling up the techniques used by nEXO to enable beyond-the-next-generation searches for new physics.
https://ubc.zoom.us/j/63724435704?pwd=QjcvTDdpeCt5RFIySDdHNzEweHVOZz09
Meeting ID: 637 2443 5704
Passcode: 124142
Event Location:
Zoom