Neutrinophysik

Prof. Dr. Caren Hagner

The research field of neutrino physics is at the crossroads between particle physics, astroparticle physics and cosmology.

In recent years, many experiments have demonstrated that neutrinos have a very small rest mass and that electron, muon, and tau neutrinos can transform into each other through neutrino oscillations. This necessitates an extension of the Standard Model. It is becoming apparent that the mixing parameters of the lepton sector are structured quite differently from those of the strictly hierarchical quark sector.

Measuring the still missing third mixing angle over the coming years will be of the greatest interest. After that, the question can be addressed whether CP violation also exists in the lepton sector. It is also still unclear whether neutrinos and antineutrinos are identical. Experiments on neutrinoless double beta decay should answer this question.

On the other hand, previously inaccessible information about astrophysical processes, such as energy production in the Sun or supernova explosions, can be obtained by observing neutrinos.