| We have an active program in the study of neutrino properties using antineutrinos produced by nuclear power reactors. During the last few years our program has been focused on the KamLAND experiment, located in an underground mine in Japan. The KamLAND detector is a large (1000 ton) liquid scintillator detector and is located an average distance of 200 km from a large number of commercial nuclear power stations in Japan. We have detected flavor oscillations in neutrino propagation and accurately determined the mass parameters. Last year we published the first detection of geological neutrinos from within the earth.The KamLAND experiment will continue for the next few years after we upgrade the detector to enable the study of very low energy solar neutrino events (so-called 7Be neutrinos). In addition, we plan to construct a new experiment to study the remaining unknown angle in the neutrino mixing matrix. This final angle is the key to planning future studies to determine mass hierarchy and the extent of CP violation (which is related to understanding the matter/antimatter asymmetry in the universe). This new experiment will also utilize antineutrinos from nuclear power reactors, but at a closer distance than the KamLAND experiment and with very high precision. Graduate students interested in a research assistantship involving these projects should contact Professor Bob McKeown at bmck@krl.caltech.edu |
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