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Status of the MiniBooNE Neutrino Oscillation Experiment and a Connection to the Supernova Neutrino SignalRichard Schirato, LANL, P-25 Evidence for solar and atmosheric neutrino flavor oscillations is now compelling. But if the LSND (Liquid Scintillator Neutrino Detector) observation of excess electron anti-neutrinos in a muon anti-neutrino beam is due to flavor oscillations, then the Standard Model of particle physics would require modification to include an additional neutrino mass splitting significantly larger than either the solar or atmospheric cases. The Mini Booster Neutrino Experiment (MiniBooNE) will not only produce a definitive answer to the LSND question, but also extend the explored regions of neutrino mass splitting and mixing angle into areas important for core-collapse supernovae and the early universe. MiniBooNE is now operational, and should be able to gather enough statistics to announce a result in a couple years of running. The construction and operation of the MiniBooNE experiment will be described; and initial event displays will be presented. A connection between core-collapse supernova shocks and the neutrino signal in terrestrial detectors, in which the shock propagates through regions where matter-enhanced neutrino flavor transformation takes place, will be presented. Since the proposed effects seen in the spectra and resulting event rates stem from sharp gradients and/or non-monotonic density profiles, similar behavior may be observable for a broad class of supernova models. Time structure in the calculated neutrino spectra will be described for various mass and mixing schemes, with the amplitude and timing of such structures depending upon the mass/mixing scheme and choice of mixing parameters. These effects could allow existing and proposed supernova neutrino detectors to provide new insights into the problem of supernova shock regeneration and propagation, or into the neutrino mass and mixing matrix. |
The P/T Colloquium is
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