Mini-workshop on neutrinos with under-water experiments

Wednesday 21 Mar 2018, 14:30 → 18:25 Europe/Rome

Aula B (Dipartimento di Matematica e Fisica)

This is a topical afternoon on the study of neutrinos from astrophysical sources and the atmosphere with under-water experiments in the South Pole and in the Mediterranean. An overview is presented of both the present phenomenological picture and experimental techniques, with an outlook on the future potential on the determination of fundamental neutrino properties and the information they can provide about astrophysical events that happened far-away. The level will be suitable for PhD students upwards, so everyone is encouraged to attend the workshop!

14:30 → 14:45 Introduction

Speakers: Dr Davide Meloni (ROMA3), Giuseppe Salamanna (ROMA3)

14:45 → 15:45 IceCube: Opening a New Window on the Universe from the South Pole

The IceCube project has transformed a cubic kilometer of natural Antarctic ice into a neutrino detector. The instrument detects more than 100,000 neutrinos per year in the GeV to PeV energy range. Among those, we have isolated a flux of high-energy cosmic neutrinos. I will discuss the instrument, the analysis of the data, the significance of the discovery of cosmic neutrinos, and the recent multimessenger observation of a flaring TeV blazar in coincidence with the IceCube neutrino alert IC170922. The large cosmic neutrino flux observed implies that the Universe’s energy density in high-energy neutrinos is the same as that in gamma rays, suggesting that the sources are connected and that a multitude of astronomical objects await discovery.

Speaker: Prof. Francis Halzen (University of Wisconsin Madison)

15:45 → 16:45 Astrophysical neutrinos in the multi-messenger context

I will interpret of the recent neutrino observations in the multi-messenger context (neutrinos, cosmic rays, electromagnetic radiation, gravitational waves). I will introduce the different messengers, discuss theoretical concepts of multi-messenger models, and illustrate the implications of neutrino observations, such as what we can learn about the origin of cosmic rays with neutrinos. I will also briefly discuss tests of physics beyond the Standard Model using neutrinos.

Speaker: Dr Walter Winter (DESY)

16:45 → 17:45 Astroparticle & Oscillations Research with Deep-Sea Neutrino Telescopes

Messengers of the infinitely small, neutrinos provide us with valuable insights into the fundamental laws of physics. Messengers of the infinitely large, traveling on cosmological distances, they are privileged probes of cataclysmic astrophysical phenomena. Neutrino Telescopes, buried in the Mediterranean abyss (ANTARES) or the ice of the South Pole (IceCube), are trying to meet this double challenge. These detectors consist of a 3D matrix of photomultipliers that detect the Cherenkov light emitted by the charged particles produced when neutrinos interact inside or around the detector. After a brief historical introduction, I will review the latest constraints obtained by the first generation deep-sea neutrino telescope ANTARES and the expectations from the next generation detector KM3NeT, both immersed in the Mediterranean Sea. In this context, synergies with Earth and Sea sciences will be mentioned. I will then discuss the potential of neutrino telescopes for the determination of the neutrino mass ordering through oscillation studies of atmospheric neutrinos in the GeV range (KM3NeT/ORCA in the Mediterranean Sea and IceCube/PINGU to be buried in the Ice at the South Pole).

Speaker: Prof. Antoine Kouchner (APC - University parsi Diderot)

17:45 → 18:15 Discussion

18:15 → 18:25 Closing remarks