Karsten Heeger (Yale University)
Date: Thu. February 6th, 2020, 4:00 pm-5:00 pmLocation: Rockefeller 301
The Quest to Understand Neutrino Mass
Neutrinos play a central role in our understanding of the cosmos. From the observation of neutrino oscillation to the understanding of large-scale structure formation, massive neutrinos are a key ingredient to our understanding of the Universe at the smallest and largest scales. Recent experiments have precisely measured neutrino oscillation but fundamental questions about the nature and properties of neutrinos remain: Are neutrinos Majorana particles? What is the absolute mass of neutrinos, and why is it so small? Are there more than three neutrino species? In recent years, experiments measuring neutrinos from nuclear reactors and searching for rare nuclear decays have provided new insight to these questions. This talk will discuss recent results from the CUORE, Daya Bay and PROSPECT experiments and describe the opportunities and potential discoveries awaiting us.