Neutrino oscillations in a glacier

Tom Stuttard
Niels Bohr Institute

Abstract

The IceCube Neutrino Observatory is the world’s largest neutrino detector and strangest telescope, spanning a cubic-km of transparent glacial ice deep below the surface at the South Pole. Originally built to search for high energy neutrinos of extragalactic origin in an effort to identify the source of cosmic rays, over the last decade physicists have increasingly been exploiting the data from this vast detector as a unique particle physics laboratory.

In this talk I will show how the vast flux of atmospheric neutrinos detected by IceCube, a foreground to astronomers but a gift to particle physicists, is being used to make precision measurements of neutrino oscillations comparable to and complimentary with dedicated accelerator experiments. Furthermore, I will cover how the high energy reach and huge statistics of the detector give a powerful window on BSM oscillation effects, including sterile neutrinos and quantum gravity effects. Finally, I will introduce the upcoming IceCube Upgrade that will provide truly next-generation particle physics capabilities over the coming decade.

This colloquium will be hybrid mode, however we will still be having coffee and tea and timbits in STI A