e4nu

Electrons for Neutrinos (e4nu)

A novel approach to understanding neutrino-nucleus interactions is to look at electron-scattering data. Electrons are much easier to work with than neutrinos, but are affected by the same nuclear effects. It’s easy to make an electron beam of a precise, single energy, and they interact far more readily than neutrinos, meaning that just a few days of beam time can generate huge amounts of data. On e4nu, we use electron-scattering data from the CLAS and CLAS12 experiments at Jefferson Lab in Virginia to help us understand interaction processes, and validate the nuclear-interaction models used by neutrino experiments. The Edinburgh group is particularly interested in interactions that produce particles called pions. These types of processes have not been studied as much as other processes, but are particularly common at DUNE’s energy scale, meaning that it’s vital we understand them better. Edinburgh’s e4nu work is led by Dr Cheryl Patrick (cpatrick [at] ed.ac.uk).

Photo: Jefferson Laboratory

To find more about e4nu: https://www.e4nu.com