SEMINAR ANNOUNCEMENT

Speaker:

Prof. Jason Detwiler, PhD (University of Washington)

Date and Location:

Thursday, November 9, 2017 3:30 PM
Presentation at 3:45 PM, NPL 178 Coffee and cookies starting at 3:30 PM

Title:

First observation of coherent elastic neutrino-nuclear scattering with COHERENT

Abstract:

Coherent elastic neutrino-nuclear scattering (CEνNS), the most frequent of all low-energy neutrino interactions, was predicted over forty years ago, but had eluded observation due to itsultra-faint experimental signature. At last, the first observation of CEνNS was recently made by the COHERENT Collaboration using the world's smallest neutrino detector: a 14 kg CsI scintillating crystal. The measurement made use of the pulsed, stopped-pion neutrinos emitted by the Spallation Neutron Source in Oak Ridge, TN. The result confirms the Standard Model prediction and places new constraints on non-standard interactions of neutrinos with nuclei. The collaboration is now deploying additional nuclear targets employing different technologies to further explore this interaction. I will discuss this experimental effort and the first evidence for the CEνNS signal. I will also give an update on the status and prospects for the additional deployments, and summarize the potential scientific impact of this measurement program.