Department of Physics

experimental neutrino physics

 

Professor Mohayai’s research team studies neutrinos, elementary particles that are abundant in number yet elusive in nature. Neutrinos can shed light on many outstanding physics questions, including why matter dominates our universe today and whether neutrinos can probe the very limits of our knowledge, providing opportunities to search for physics beyond the Standard Model. As neutrinos interact weakly with matter, studying them presents both an intriguing challenge and an opportunity for innovation. Understanding neutrino interactions with nuclei, and building neutrino detectors that record them accurately, are crucial.

 

Mohayai’s team is part of two experiments that study neutrinos produced by accelerators: the current Short Baseline Neutrino program which includes the MicroBooNE experiment, and the future Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, DUNE. As one of the longest-running Liquid-argon Time Projection Chambers, MicroBooNE has pioneered measurements of neutrino interactions on argon, providing a deeper understanding of neutrino interactions and their beyond-the-standard model behavior. DUNE proposes to also use Liquid-argon Time Projection Chamber detector technology as well as a Gaseous-argon Time Projection Chamber that can record neutrino interactions on argon nuclei with unprecedented detail.