Physics (Internal)

New Directions in Neutrino Physics

This event is part of the Physics Department Colloquia Series.

Neutrinos are among the most abundant particles in the universe and they influence an enormous range of physics. Neutrinos allow us to search for new forces of nature, they measure the composition of the earth’s crust, they tell us how the sun works, and they allow us to peer into the inner workings of a supernova explosion. Despite all that we have learned from these special particles, there remains a surprising amount of information we still do not know about neutrinos themselves. This talk will examine the open questions in neutrino physics, explain why these questions are interesting, and discuss plans for answering them in future experiments. These future plans including sending beams of neutrinos from Fermilab across both short and long distances to study their oscillatory behavior. The coming years promise to be very exciting as we move in new directions to better understand these unique subatomic particles and their connections to the world we live in.