Neutrinos: Nature's Smallest Surprises

Saturday, February 16, 2013: 8:30 AM-11:30 AM
Ballroom A (Hynes Convention Center)
Neutrinos are the smallest known matter particles in nature, yet they are full of surprises. They are produced wherever nuclear reactions take place: inside the Earth, in nuclear reactors and high-energy accelerators, in the sun and stars, and in the early universe. Neutrinos produced in the sun are able to travel, on average, through about a light-year of lead. With enormous effort, we can catch a few of them and measure their exotic properties. There are three different kinds of neutrinos, and neutrinos always travel as quantum superpositions of these types. This symposium will address the beauty and uses of neutrinos, including these questions: Can neutrinos be responsible for the excess of matter over antimatter in the universe? Are neutrinos their own antiparticle? Can neutrino detectors be used for monitoring applications for nuclear nonproliferation? What can we learn about stars and supernovae from neutrinos?
Organizer:
Janet Conrad, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Speakers:
André de Gouvêa, Northwestern University
Neutrinos: What and Why?
Janet Conrad, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Neutrinos for Peace
Ryan Patterson, California Institute of Technology
Neutrino Oscillations and the Search for CP-Symmetry Violation
Giorgio Gratta, Stanford University
Are Neutrinos Their Own Antiparticles?
Mark Vagins, Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe
Astrophysical Neutrinos
Nikolai Tolich, University of Washington
Geoneutrinos
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