The Neutrino Factory: The Final Frontier in Neutrino Physics?

Abstract

This talk will present arguments that the Neutrino Factory — an extremely intense source of flavor-tagged neutrinos from muon decays in a storage ring — gives the best physics reach for CP violation, as well as virtually all parameters in the neutrino oscillation parameter space. It will describe the physics capabilities of a baseline Neutrino Factory as compared to other possible future facilities (beta-beam and super-beam facilities), give an overview of the accelerator complex, describe the current international R&D program and present a potential time line for the design and construction of the facility. Although the baseline study focuses on a facility with muon energy of 25 GeV, a concept for a Low-Energy (~ 4 GeV) Neutrino Factory has been developed and its physics reach will also be discussed. Finally, it will be shown that a facility of this type is unique in that it can present a physics program that can be staged, addressing exciting new physics at each step. Eventually it can lead to an energy-frontier muon collider. A muon accelerator facility is a natural extension that can exploit the high intensity potential at FNAL starting with Project X.

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