Session 2I: Do Protons Decay? An Analysis of the DUNE Experiment’s Sensitivities to n→μ-K+ and n→μ+K
Session Number
Session 2I:3rd Presentation
Advisor(s)
Jennifer Raaf, Fermilab
Location
Room B108
Start Date
28-4-2017 10:00 AM
End Date
28-4-2017 11:15 AM
Abstract
The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), scheduled to begin in 2021, will search for rare decays as evidence of Grand Unification, in which the strong, weak, and electromagnetic forces governing particle interactions in nature are unified at high energies. Grand Unified Theories (GUTs) frequently predict that nucleons - that is, protons and bound neutrons - may decay, and observation of such a decay would serve as incontrovertible proof for an extension of the current Standard Model of particle physics. Monte-Carlo simulations were generated to reconstruct such decays, specifically n→μ- K+ and n→μ+K-, to assess DUNE’s sensitivity to specific decay channels. In doing so, guidelines to effectively pick decay events out from the simulations while simultaneously not accepting too much background from atmospheric neutrinos were formulated.
Session 2I: Do Protons Decay? An Analysis of the DUNE Experiment’s Sensitivities to n→μ-K+ and n→μ+K
Room B108
The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), scheduled to begin in 2021, will search for rare decays as evidence of Grand Unification, in which the strong, weak, and electromagnetic forces governing particle interactions in nature are unified at high energies. Grand Unified Theories (GUTs) frequently predict that nucleons - that is, protons and bound neutrons - may decay, and observation of such a decay would serve as incontrovertible proof for an extension of the current Standard Model of particle physics. Monte-Carlo simulations were generated to reconstruct such decays, specifically n→μ- K+ and n→μ+K-, to assess DUNE’s sensitivity to specific decay channels. In doing so, guidelines to effectively pick decay events out from the simulations while simultaneously not accepting too much background from atmospheric neutrinos were formulated.