Physics - Nuclear Physics Seminar

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Nuclear Physics Seminar -Walter Pettus (Indiana University) "Project 8: First Neutrino Mass Limit and the Path Forward"

Event Type
Seminar/Symposium
Sponsor
Physics Department
Location
464 Loomis
Date
Oct 30, 2023   1:00 pm  
Speaker
Walter Pettus
Contact
Brandy Koebbe
E-Mail
bkoebbe@illinois.edu
Views
27

Although the existence of neutrino mass is firmly established, the precise neutrino mass scale remains unknown.  To directly probe this property, measurements of the endpoint of the tritium beta spectrum have achieved the greatest sensitivity, recently reaching the sub-eV scale.  In this talk, I will present Project 8, an experimental concept based on the novel Cyclotron Radiation Emission Spectroscopy (CRES) technique.  Project 8 has recently published its first measurements of the tritium beta spectral endpoint, enabling the first RF-based direct neutrino mass limit, and demonstrated its high precision spectroscopy using krypton calibration.  An R&D campaign is now underway to demonstrate scalability of the CRES technique and to develop the atomic tritium source required.  Building on these successes, a next-generation experiment is envisioned with neutrino mass sensitivity down to 40 meV. 

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