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VERSION:2.0
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
PRODID:UW-Madison-Physics-Events
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SEQUENCE:0
UID:UW-Physics-Event-2298
DTSTART:20120420T203000Z
DURATION:PT1H0M0S
DTSTAMP:20260412T114508Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20120413T213252Z
LOCATION:2241 Chamberlin Hall (coffee at 4:30 pm)
SUMMARY:The Neutrino at Eighty - A remarkable journey and a feisty fut
 ure\, Physics Department Colloquium\, John Wilkerson\, University of N
 orth Carolina
DESCRIPTION:Eighty years ago the neutrino was postulated by Pauli to e
 xplain the puzzling observations of nuclear beta decay.   At the time 
 many thought neutrinos would never be observed\, but a quarter century
  later Reines and Cowan successfully detected their elusive signal.  F
 ollowing their discovery\, a broad set of experiments were undertaken 
 that culminated in the past decade with a remarkable transformation of
  our understanding of neutrino properties and the revelation that the 
 standard model of particle interactions is incomplete. We have found t
 hat neutrinos morph from one species to another as they journey throug
 h matter and space.  And based on these observations we know that neut
 rinos are not massless particles\, but have tiny masses\, being at lea
 st 250\,000 times lighter than electrons. Even with such diminutive ma
 sses\, neutrinos influence the largest scales of the cosmos.   Today m
 uch remains unknown about neutrino properties.  What do neutrinos "wei
 gh?" -- Why are their masses so light compared to other particles?  Ar
 e neutrinos and anti-neutrinos indistinguishable from one another (Maj
 orana particles)\, indicating lepton number violation? A number of nex
 t-generation experiments aim to address these questions\, but the reti
 cent nature of neutrinos presents daunting challenges for experimental
 ists.   The talk will focus on how nuclear beta decay and double beta 
 decay serve as sensitive probes of neutrino properties.
URL:https://www.physics.wisc.edu/events/?id=2298
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