WIDG Seminar: Glenn Richardson, Yale, “Searching for the Majorana Nature of the Neutrino with nEXO”

Event time: 
Tuesday, October 18, 2022 - 12:00pm to 1:00pm
Location: 
Wright Lab (), WL-216 (Conference Room) See map
272 Whitney Avenue
New Haven, CT 06511
Event description: 

One of the most intriguing puzzles in physics is the mechanism by which the neutrino derives its mass. A possible solution is given by a Majorana mechanism wherein the neutrino is its own anti-particle. If this were the case, the neutrino would be the first known fundamental particle to be Majorana, and could provide a pathway for leptogenisis as well as a possible explanation for our matter dominated universe. A simple and direct method to probe for this mass mechanism is by searching for the hypothetical decay process called neutrinoless double beta decay. Current limits set the half life for this rare process at 10^26 years. However the proposed nEXO detector, a 5 tonne LXe time projection chamber, plans to set a half-life sensitivity for this process greater than 10^28 years. In order to achieve this world leading result, nEXO must design a charge readout system capable of measuring the charge deposited by candidate events with sub-percent accuracy. In this talk, we will outline a proposed thesis project which will focus on simulating, designing, and testing the charge readout system that nEXO will use to achieve this goal.
Host: Sophia Hollick (sophia.hollick@yale.edu)

Open to: 
undergraduate