Hadronic Physics in Neutrino Interactions and Complementarities to the EIC
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Atomic, Nuclear and Particle Physics↗
SEARCH · Search NASA
Results for “Neutrino Physics”
Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Exploring neutrino–nucleus interactions in the GeV regime using MINERvA
With the advance of particle accelerator and detector technologies, the neutrino physics landscape is rapidly expanding. As neutrino oscillation experiments enter the intensity and precision frontiers, neutrino–nucleus interaction measurements are providing crucial input. MINERvA is an experiment at Fermilab dedicated to the study of neutrino–nucleus interactions in the regime of incident neutrino energies from one to few GeV. The experiment recorded neutrino and antineutrino scattering data with the NuMI beamline from 2009 to 2019 using the Low-Energy and Medium-Energy beams that peak at 3GeV and 6GeV, respectively. This article reviews the broad spectrum of interesting nuclear and particle physics that MINERvA investigations have illuminated. The newfound, detailed knowledge of neutrino interactions with nuclear targets thereby obtained is proving essential to continued progress in the neutrino physics sector.
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
Neutrino Properties and Interactions
In this chapter, we present basic concepts of neutrino physics. We start with a brief introduction to the standard model electroweak sector, followed by calculations of some relevant neutrino interaction cross sections. Here, we obtain the oscillation formalism from the Dirac equation, alongside with a self-contained derivation of matter effects from the standard model electroweak Lagrangian. Some key features of neutrino oscillation phenomenology are discussed as well. We then review the most precise oscillation measurements and finalize with some broad discussion of the current open questions in neutrino physics.
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
Proposal from the NA61/SHINE Collaboration for update of European Strategy for Particle Physics
Building on the current program's success and driven by new physics challenges, the NA61/SHINE Collaboration proposes to continue measuring hadron production properties in reactions induced by hadron and ion beams after CERN Long Shutdown 3. These measurements are of significant interest to the heavy-ion, cosmic-ray, and neutrino physics communities and will focus on: - Investigating hadron production in the light-ion systems to explore the diagram of high-energy nuclear collisions, and to obtain new insight into the unexpected violation of isospin (flavor) symmetry recently observed by the experiment; - Measuring charm-anticharm correlations to gain unique insights into the production locality of charm and anticharm quark pairs; - Examining strangeness and multi-strangeness production to improve our understanding of the early Universe's evolution and neutron star formation; - Measuring cross sections relevant for cosmic-ray measurements, significantly boosting searches for new physics in our Galaxy; - Conducting hadron production measurements with proton, pion, and kaon beams for neutrino physics, enhancing the precision of hadron production data needed for initial neutrino flux predictions in neutrino oscillation experiments; - Measuring hadron production processes relevant for understanding the flux of atmospheric neutrinos, as well as neutrinos and muons from spallation sources. To achieve these objectives, a detector upgrade and a beam upgrade are required, with data-taking planned for the period 2029-2032 and beyond.
Adhikary, H. [Jan Kochanowski U.] (ORCID:000000025↗
Calculation of β- and double β-decay rates in nuclei [Poster]
The knowledge of how neutrinos interact in nuclei is critical to an understanding of finite nuclei, neutrino physics and also to astrophysical environments like neutron stars and supernovae. Within this project we studied how nuclei decay through the emission of a neutrino and a lepton, i.e. β-decay. We implemented realistic treatments of many-nucleon correlations and currents to enable high-precision studies of neutrino physics.
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
Recoil imaging for dark matter, neutrinos, and physics beyond the Standard Model
Recoil imaging entails the detection of spatially resolved ionization tracks generated by particle interactions. This is a highly sought-after capability in many classes of detector, with broad applications across particle and astroparticle physics. However, at low energies, where ionization signatures are small in size, recoil imaging only seems to be a practical goal for micro-pattern gas detectors. This white paper outlines the physics case for recoil imaging, and puts forward a decadal plan to advance towards the directional detection of low-energy recoils with sensitivity and resolution close to fundamental performance limits. The science case covered includes: the discovery of dark matter into the neutrino fog, directional detection of sub-MeV solar neutrinos, the precision study of coherent-elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering, the detection of solar axions, the measurement of the Migdal effect, X-ray polarimetry, and several other applied physics goals. We also outline the R&D programs necessary to test concepts that are crucial to advance detector performance towards their fundamental limit: single primary electron sensitivity with full 3D spatial resolution at the $\sim$100 micron-scale. These advancements include: the use of negative ion drift, electron counting with high-definition electronic readout, time projection chambers with optical readout, and the possibility for nuclear recoil tracking in high-density gases such as argon. We also discuss the readout and electronics systems needed to scale-up such detectors to the ton-scale and beyond.
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
Neutrino fast flavor oscillations with moments: Linear stability analysis and application to neutron star mergers
Providing an accurate modeling of neutrino physics in dense astrophysical environments such as binary neutron star mergers presents a challenge for hydrodynamic simulations. Nevertheless, understanding how flavor transformation can occur and affect the dynamics, the mass ejection, and the nucleosynthesis will need to be achieved in the future. Computationally expensive, large-scale simulations frequently evolve the first classical angular moments of the neutrino distributions. By promoting these quantities to matrices in flavor space, we develop a linear stability analysis of fast flavor oscillations using only the first two “quantum” moments, which notably requires generalizing the classical closure relations that appropriately truncate the hierarchy of moment equations in order to treat quantum flavor coherence. After showing the efficiency of this method on a well-understood test situation, we perform a systematic search of the occurrence of fast flavor instabilities in a neutron star merger simulation. Here, we discuss the successes and shortcomings of moment linear stability analysis, as this framework provides a time-efficient way to design and study better closure prescriptions in the future.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
Contrastive learning for robust representations of neutrino data
In neutrino physics, analyses often depend on large simulated datasets, making it essential for models to generalize effectively to real-world detector data. Contrastive learning, a well-established technique in deep learning, offers a promising solution to this challenge. By applying controlled data augmentations to simulated data, contrastive learning enables the extraction of robust and transferable features. This improves the ability of models trained on simulations to adapt to real experimental data distributions. In this paper, we investigate the application of contrastive learning methods in the context of neutrino physics. Through a combination of empirical evaluations and theoretical insights, we demonstrate how contrastive learning enhances model performance and adaptability. Additionally, we compare it to other domain adaptation techniques, highlighting the unique advantages of contrastive learning for this field. Published by the American Physical Society 2025
Wilkinson, Alex (ORCID:0000000253404506)↗
Digital twin framework for PIP-II linac: AI-driven multi-scale modeling from ion source to 800 MeV
The PIP-II superconducting linac at Fermilab is designed to deliver multi-megawatt proton beams for neutrino physics and other high-intensity applications. To expedite commissioning and enhance operational reliability, we have developed an EPICS-based data flow framework that seamlessly integrates digital twins (DT) with physical twins (PT). These digital twins comprise high-fidelity beam dynamics models or data-driven surrogate models connected to their physical counterparts through real-time diagnostics and advanced machine-learning algorithms.Central to this framework is Linac_Gen, an accelerated simulation tool that incorporates convolutional neural networks, random forests, and genetic algorithms to provide up to a tenfold speedup in optimizing the accelerator geometry model. An EPICS translator layer ensures interoperability by efficiently mapping lattice parameters across diverse simulation platforms.Our EPICS-based framework supports multiple operational modes—monitoring, passive learning, closed-loop control, and online learning—covering the entire machine lifecycle. By leveraging HPC resources and multi-objective optimization techniques, the digital twin enables adaptive trajectory correction, real-time fault detection, and predictive modeling of beam stability. This comprehensive approach paves the way for robust, high-intensity operation and data-driven accelerator R&D at Fermilab.
Pathak, Abhishek [Fermilab]↗
NOvA in 10 Minutes
NOvA is a long-baseline oscillation neutrino experiment composed by two functional identical detectors, a 300 ton Near Detector and 14kton Far Detector separated by 809 km and placed in an off-axis neutrino beam created at Fermilab, this configuration provides NOvA with a rich neutrino physics program to measure neutrino mixing parameters, determine the neutrino mass hierarchy and CP violation in the leptonic sector. In this talk an overview and results from the NOvA experiment are presented
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
Large-scale, precision xenon doping of liquid argon
The detection of scintillation light from liquid argon is an experimental technique key to a number of current and future nuclear/particle physics experiments, such as neutrino physics, neutrinoless double beta decay and dark matter searches. Additionally, although the idea of adding small quantities of xenon (doping) to enhance the light yield has attracted considerable interest, this technique has never been demonstrated at the necessary scale or precision. Here we report on xenon doping in a 100 l cryogenic vessel. Xenon doping was performed in four concentrations of 1.00 ± 0.06 ppm, 2.0 ± 0.1 ppm, 5.0 ± 0.3 ppm, and 10.0 ± 0.5 ppm. These measurements represent the most precise xenon doping measurements as of publishing. We observed an increase in average light yield by a factor of 1.92 ± 0.12(syst) ± 0.02(stat) at a dopant concentration of 10 ppm.
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
The NOvA Test Beam Program
NOvA is a long-baseline oscillation neutrino experiment designed to study and measure a wide range of important topics for neutrino physics such as the neutrino mixing parameters, the neutrino mass hierarchy, and CP violation in the lepton sector. The NOvA Test Beam experiment uses a scaled-down detector of 30 tons to analyze tagged beamline particles. A new tertiary beamline deployed at Fermilab can select and identify electrons, muons, pions, kaons and protons with momenta from 0.2 to 2 GeV/c. Using these data, the Test Beam program will provide NOvA with a better understanding of the largest systematic uncertainties impacting the analyses, including the detector response, calibration, and hadronic and electromagnetic energy resolution. The status and future plans for the NOvA Test beam program, along with preliminary results, are presented in these Proceedings.
43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
A search for Heavy Neutral Leptons with masses up to 150 MeV and studies on scintillation light detection in SBND
Introduction Neutrino physics is one of today’s most promising fields in particle physics. The discovery of neutrino oscillations is an evidence of their mass not being null. However, the Standard Model of elementary particles (SM) does not contain a mechanism that generates them, so we have to search beyond the SM to find answers. Other unknowns remain open, such as the amount of CP symmetry violated in the lepton sector that could help explain the differences between matter and antimatter that formed the present universe. Nor is it understood why these particles are so light, more than six orders of magnitude below the next fermion, the electron. A possible explanation is the existence of heavier neutrino mass states usually referred as heavy neutral leptons (HNLs). One of the most advanced technologies for detecting neutrino interactions is the liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC). LArTPC detectors form a 3D image of the ionized electrons in the interaction, producing a detailed description of each neutrino event. Argon is also a prolific scintillator (40k photons/MeV) with light signals indicating the interaction time. The Short-Baseline Near Detector (SBND), a 112-active mass LArTPC at Fermilab, will measure millions of neutrino interactions from the Booster Neutrino Beam (BNB). As the near (L=110 m) detector of the Short-Baseline neutrino program, SBND will search for a fourth light neutrino (∼ eV) in the coming years. This hypothesis could explain the anomalous data observed in the LSND and MiniBooNE experiments.
Álvarez Garrote, Rodrigo [Madrid U.] (ORCID:000000↗
First Measurement of Missing Energy due to Nuclear Effects in Monoenergetic Neutrino Charged-Current Interactions
We present the first measurement of the missing energy due to nuclear effects in monoenergetic, muon neutrino charged-current interactions on carbon, originating from 𝐾 + → 𝜇 + 𝜈 𝜇 decay at rest (𝐸 𝜈 𝜇 = 235.5 MeV), performed with the J-PARC Sterile Neutrino Search at the J-PARC Spallation Neutron Source liquid scintillator based experiment. Toward characterizing the neutrino interaction, ostensibly 𝜈 𝜇 𝑛 → 𝜇 − 𝑝 or 𝜈 𝜇 12 C → 𝜇 − 12 N, we define the missing energy as the energy transferred to the nucleus (𝜔) minus the kinetic energy of the outgoing proton(s), 𝐸 𝑚 ≡ 𝜔−∑ 𝑇 𝑝 , and relate this to visible energy in the detector, 𝐸 𝑚 = 𝐸 𝜈 𝜇 (235.5 MeV) − 𝑚 𝜇 (105.7 MeV) + [𝑚 𝑛 − 𝑚 𝑝 (1.3 MeV)] − 𝐸 vis . The missing energy, which is naively expected to be zero in the absence of nuclear effects (e.g., nucleon separation energy, Fermi momenta, and final-state interactions), is uniquely sensitive to many aspects of the interaction, and has previously been inaccessible with neutrinos. The shape-only, differential cross section measurement reported, based on a (77 ± 3)% pure double-coincidence kaon decay-at-rest signal (621 total events), provides detailed insight into neutrino-nucleus interactions, allowing even the nuclear orbital shell of the struck nucleon to be inferred. The measurement provides an important benchmark for models and event generators at hundreds of MeV neutrino energies, characterized by the difficult-to-model transition region between neutrino-nucleus and neutrino-nucleon scattering, and relevant for applications in nuclear physics, neutrino oscillation measurements, and Type-II supernova studies.
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
Beyond the Standard Model physics prospects at DUNE
The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is an international project for neutrino physics and proton-decay searches, currently in the design and construction stages. Once built, DUNE will consist of two detectors exposed to the world's most intense neutrino beam. The near detector will record neutrino interactions near the beginning of the beamline, at Fermilab. The other, much larger, detector, comprising four 17-kton liquid argon time projection chambers (LArTPCs), will be installed at a depth of 1.5 km at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in South Dakota, about 1300 km away from the neutrino source.The unique combination of the high-intensity neutrino beam with DUNE's high-resolution near detector system and massive LArTPC far detector enables a variety of probes of BSM physics, either novel or with unprecedented sensitivity, from the potential discovery of new particles (sterile neutrinos or dark matter), to precision tests of the three-flavour neutrino mixing paradigm, or the detailed study of rare processes.
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
Accelerator-Based Neutrino Beams
Over the past six decades, accelerator-based neutrino beams have revolutionized particle physics. Neutrinos created with accelerators have been used to discover the muon neutrino and tau neutrinos was discovered and to confirm the existence of neutrino oscillations. More recently, long-baseline experiments have offered the first experimental hint of CP violation in the neutrino sector. Building and operating such beams is an enormous technical challenge, yet they remain our most versatile tool for studying neutrinos. With new experiments such as DUNE and Hyper-Kamiokande, and ideas such as neutrino factories, the next generation of beams will address open questions about neutrino mass ordering, CP violation, and possible physics beyond the standard model.
Fields, Laura [Notre Dame U.] (ORCID:0000000182813↗
DUNE Phase II: scientific opportunities, detector concepts, technological solutions
The international collaboration designing and constructing the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) at the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF) has developed a two-phase strategy toward the implementation of this leading-edge, large-scale science project. The 2023 report of the US Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel (P5) reaffirmed this vision and strongly endorsed DUNE Phase I and Phase II, as did the European Strategy for Particle Physics. While the construction of the DUNE Phase I is well underway, this White Paper focuses on DUNE Phase II planning. DUNE Phase-II consists of a third and fourth far detector (FD) module, an upgraded near detector complex, and an enhanced 2.1 MW beam. The fourth FD module is conceived as a “Module of Opportunity”, aimed at expanding the physics opportunities, in addition to supporting the core DUNE science program, with more advanced technologies. This document highlights the increased science opportunities offered by the DUNE Phase II near and far detectors, including long-baseline neutrino oscillation physics, neutrino astrophysics, and physics beyond the standard model. It describes the DUNE Phase II near and far detector technologies and detector design concepts that are currently under consideration. A summary of key R&D goals and prototyping phases needed to realize the Phase II detector technical designs is also provided. DUNE's Phase II detectors, along with the increased beam power, will complete the full scope of DUNE, enabling a multi-decadal program of groundbreaking science with neutrinos.
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
Snowmass Neutrino Frontier: DUNE Physics Summary
The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is a next-generation long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment with a primary physics goal of observing neutrino and antineutrino oscillation patterns to precisely measure the parameters governing long-baseline neutrino oscillation in a single experiment, and to test the three-flavor paradigm. DUNE's design has been developed by a large, international collaboration of scientists and engineers to have unique capability to measure neutrino oscillation as a function of energy in a broadband beam, to resolve degeneracy among oscillation parameters, and to control systematic uncertainty using the exquisite imaging capability of massive LArTPC far detector modules and an argon-based near detector. DUNE's neutrino oscillation measurements will unambiguously resolve the neutrino mass ordering and provide the sensitivity to discover CP violation in neutrinos for a wide range of possible values of $\delta_{CP}$. DUNE is also uniquely sensitive to electron neutrinos from a galactic supernova burst, and to a broad range of physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM), including nucleon decays. DUNE is anticipated to begin collecting physics data with Phase I, an initial experiment configuration consisting of two far detector modules and a minimal suite of near detector components, with a 1.2 MW proton beam. To realize its extensive, world-leading physics potential requires the full scope of DUNE be completed in Phase II. The three Phase II upgrades are all necessary to achieve DUNE's physics goals: (1) addition of far detector modules three and four for a total FD fiducial mass of at least 40 kt, (2) upgrade of the proton beam power from 1.2 MW to 2.4 MW, and (3) replacement of the near detector's temporary muon spectrometer with a magnetized, high-pressure gaseous argon TPC and calorimeter.
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗