Seminars

Zara Bagdasarian: “Towards Theia: advanced optical neutrino detector”

Europe/London
Description

New developments in detection techniques and novel target materials, such as water-based liquid scintillator (WbLS), make it possible to utilize both scintillation and Cherenkov signals in large-scale detectors. The multi-ktonne Theia design leverages these advances to reach a broad physics program of low- and high-energy neutrino physics. Theia aims to detect solar neutrinos, determine neutrino mass ordering and the CP-violating phase, observe diffuse supernova neutrinos and neutrinos from a supernova burst, search for nucleon decay, and, ultimately, neutrinoless double beta decay. On the roadmap to Theia, the first deployment of Large Area Picosecond Photodetectors (LAPPDs) and WbLS in the ANNIE experiment at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (USA) will be exciting milestones in the evolution of neutrino detection. Neutrino Experiment One (NEO) will be the first ktonne-scale detector built at Boulby Underground Laboratory (UK) within the Advanced Instrumentation Testbed. Its goal is to demonstrate, for the first time, nuclear non-proliferation capabilities using antineutrino detection. In this seminar, I will discuss how using WbLS in large-scale detectors, such as ANNIE, AIT/NEO, and finally Theia, will bring us to the breakthroughs in both fundamental science and applications.