Scientists Observe First Neutrinos With Prototype Detector

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

In a major step for the international Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), scientists have detected the first neutrinos using a DUNE prototype particle detector at the U.S. Department of Energy's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab).

The revolutionary new technology at the heart of DUNE's new prototype detector is LArPix, an innovative end-to-end pixelated sensor and electronics system capable of imaging neutrino events in true-3D that was conceived, designed, and built by a team of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) physicists and engineers and installed at Fermilab earlier this year.

DUNE, currently under construction, will be the most comprehensive neutrino experiment in the world. It will enable scientists to explore new areas of neutrino research and possibly address some of the biggest physics mysteries in the universe, including searching for the origin of matter and learning more about supernovae and black hole formation.

Since DUNE will feature new designs and technology, scientists are testing prototype equipment and components in preparation for the final detector installation. In February, the DUNE team finished the installation of their latest prototype detector in the path of an existing neutrino beamline at Fermilab. On July 10, the team announced that they successfully recorded their first accelerator-produced neutrinos in the prototype detector, a step toward validating the design.

"This is a truly momentous milestone demonstrating the potential of this technology," said Louise Suter, a Fermilab scientist who coordinated the module installation. "It is fantastic to see this validation of the hard work put into designing, building, and installing the detector."

Berkeley Lab leads the engineering integration of the new neutrino detection system, part of DUNE's near detector complex that will be built on the Fermilab site. Its prototype-known as the 2*2 prototype because it has four modules arranged in a square-records particle tracks with liquid-argon time projection chambers.

"DUNE needed a liquid-argon TPC (LArTPC) detector that could tolerate a high-intensity environment, but this was thought to be impossible," said Dan Dwyer, the head of the Berkeley Lab's Neutrino Physics Group and the project's technical lead for the ND-LAr Consortium, which contributed key elements to the new system's design and fabrication. "With the invention of LArPix, our team at LBNL has made this dream a reality. The 2*2 Demonstrator now installed at DUNE combines our true-3D readout with high-coverage light detectors, producing a truly innovative particle detector."

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