HEP/Astro Seminar -- Wednesday, 05 Jun 2002

Solar neutrinos and SNO: Windows into a solution

Joseph Formaggio (Univ. Washington)

Abstract

The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) is an imaging Cherenkov detector using 1000 tonnes of heavy water and located 2 km underground in a working Nickel Mine near Sudbury, Canada. It is designed to detect ⁸B solar neutrinos via the charged current (CC), neutral current (NC), and elastic scattering (ES) interactions. SNO is unique in that the CC interaction is sensitive only to the electron neutrinos whereas the NC and ES interactions have sensitivity to all active neutrino flavors. The ability to distinguish NC and CC interactions allows one to test for solar neutrino oscillations independent of the solar model. The latest results from the pure D₂O phase will be presented along with the physics conclusions that are implied.

14:30, Smith Lab 4079