Why neutrino cross section modelling is important to neutrino oscillation experiments

by Kendall Mahn (Michigan State University)

Tuesday 10 Apr 2018, 12:30 → 14:30 US/Pacific

Other Institutes

One of the most promising investigations of beyond-the-Standard-Model physics has been the study of neutrino oscillation, that is, the conversion of neutrinos from one flavor to another as they propagate.  While neutrino oscillation is studied in a wide variety of experiments, accelerator based experiments, use a muon neutrino or antineutrino beam as a probe, of energies of order 1 GeV. The most recent analysis of data from the Tokai-to-Kamioka experiment hint at differences between neutrino and antineutrino oscillation, indicative of possible CP violation with neutrinos and maximal mixing between tau and muon flavors. However, there also is a growing body of evidence of how mis-modelling of neutrino interactions (cross sections) may impact oscillation results. This talk will discuss the latest 3-flavor oscillation results, describe how cross section modelling is important to those and future oscillation results. In addition, the talk will include recent neutrino cross section measurements which shine a light on outstanding and new puzzles for model builders.