Abstract
More like a science-fiction pot-boiler than the measured progress of an arcane branch of pure physics, the story of the neutrino has unfolded rapidly over the past few years. The neutrino, which exists in three types (or flavours) was found in 1998 to ‘oscillate’ — to change from one type (or flavour) to another — as it travels through space and time. This observation implies that the neutrino has mass, contrary to the predictions of the theory of the fundamental particles, the Standard Model, that was accepted at that time.
The properties of the neutrino are unique; for example the oscillation phenomenon may mean that neutrinos are responsible for removing from the early Universe all the anti-matter created in the Big Bang. To understand the properties of the neutrinos in detail requires that neutrinos be produced on an industrial scale in the Neutrino Factory. The neutrino beam at the Neutrino Factory is produced from the decay of particles called muons. To produce neutrinos in sufficient numbers requires that the phase space occupied by the muon beam be reduced (‘cooled’) before the muons are accelerated. The technique proposed to do this, ‘ionisation cooling’, will be demonstrated in the international Muon Ionisation Cooling Experiment, ‘MICE’. Douglas Adams may be proved right if MICE leads to an understanding of the answer to the Ultimate Question using the neutrinos produced at the Neutrino Factory.
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Professor Ken Long
Professors John Wood and Ken Long
The energetic Professor Ken Long
John Wood, Ken Long, Peter Dornan and John Dowell
Rachel Starer, Professor Ken Long with Beth and Frances Long
Professor Ken Long and Dr Kenny Weir
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