CERN and Fermilab announce a great step forward for DUNE
"First particle tracks have been detected in prototype of the main next generation international neutrino experiment."
ProtoDUNE is the largest liquid-argon neutrino detector in the world has just recorded its first particle tracks, signaling the start of a new chapter in the story of the international Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE),
the largest next generation international neutrino experiment. DUNE’s scientific mission is dedicated to unlocking the mysteries of neutrinos, helping to answer some of the most pressing questions in physics.
The ProtoDUNE detector – the size of a three-story house and the shape of a gigantic cube – was built at CERN, as the first of two prototypes for what will be a much, much larger detector for the DUNE project, hosted by the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and the Sanford Underground Laboratory, in the USA. It is the first time CERN is investing in infrastructure and detector development for a particle physics project in the United States. The first DUNE detector modules, each be 20 times larger than these prototypes, will start recording data in 2026. More than a thousand scientists and engineers from 32 countries are working on the development and construction of DUNE.
Through LIP, Portugal became a member of DUNE is May 2018. In the next few years, LIP Neutrino Physics group will contribute to the construction of parts of the four 17000 tons liquid argon detectors, and to the development of data analysis methods. Part of these activities will be carried out at CERN, with the prototype that has now started taking data.
The first ProtoDUNE detector took two years to build and eight weeks to fill with 800 tons of liquid argon, which needs to be kept at temperatures below -184 degrees Celsius (-300 degrees Fahrenheit). The detector records traces of particles in that argon, from both cosmic rays and a beam created at CERN’s accelerator complex. Now that the first tracks have been seen, scientists will operate the detector over the next several months to test the technology in depth. When neutrinos enter the detectors and smash into the argon nuclei, they produce charged particles. Those particles leave ionization traces in the liquid, which can be seen by sophisticated tracking systems able to create three-dimensional pictures of otherwise invisible subatomic processes.
DUNE will not only study neutrinos, but their antimatter counterparts as well. Scientists will look for differences in behavior between neutrinos and antineutrinos, which could give us clues as to why the visible universe is dominated by matter. DUNE will also watch for neutrinos produced when a star explodes, which could reveal the formation of neutron stars and black holes, and will investigate whether protons live forever or eventually decay.
“CERN is proud of the success of the Neutrino Platform and enthusiastic about being a partner in DUNE, together with Institutions and Universities from its Member States and beyond” said Fabiola Gianotti, Director-General of CERN. “These first results from ProtoDUNE are a nice example of what can be achieved when laboratories across the world collaborate. Research with DUNE is complementary to research carried out by the LHC and other experiments at CERN; together they hold great potential to answer some of the outstanding questions in particle physics today.”
“DUNE is the future of neutrino research,” said Fermilab Director Nigel Lockyer. “Fermilab is excited to host an international experiment with such vast potential for new discoveries, and to continue our long partnership with CERN, both on the DUNE project and on the Large Hadron Collider.”
Imagem: Traço (com cerca de 3,8 metros de comprimento) originado por um raio cósmico no detector ProtoDUNE, visto segundo três direcções diferentes.