Title: Neutrinos & Nuclei: Using Nuclear Systems to Probe Fundamental Properties of Neutrinos

Abstract: Despite being the second-most abundant standard model particles in our Universe, there is much remaining to learn about neutrinos, and as such these particles offer avenues for exploration of physics beyond the Standard Model. Measurements of their properties and interactions address key questions in: particle physics (Why are neutrino masses so low? Is lepton number conserved?); cosmology (What is the cause of the abundance of matter over antimatter in our Universe?); and nuclear physics (How are neutrons distributed in nuclear matter?). The atomic nucleus proves to be an excellent laboratory for studying the properties of neutrinos, and in this talk 2 nuclear system probes of fundamental neutrino physics will be discussed: Neutrinoless Double-Beta Decay (0vββ) and Coherent Elastic Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering (CEvNS). The NCSU Experimental Neutrino Physics Group exploits the excellent energy resolution of high-purity germanium detectors to measure both. The Majorana Demonstrator, an experiment aimed at detecting 0vββ in an array of p-type point contact (PPC) germanium detectors, has been operating in the Sanford Underground Research Facility for the past several years, and has helped pave the way for a next-generation germanium-based 0vββ effort known as LEGEND. The detector technology developed in part to support the LEGEND program is being leveraged by the COHERENT collaboration to measure CEvNS at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Spallation Neutron Source. I will discuss the physics of 0vββ, CEvNS, and the status and possibilities of these experimental efforts.

Host: Department of Physics