RESEARCH

Neutrino Physics

Exploring the Universe
through Neutrinos

Neutrinos are elementary particles that interact extraordinarily rarely with matter, making them remarkably difficult to detect. Yet this same property makes them unique probes of the Sun, exploding stars, and the fundamental properties of matter.

A neutrino interaction recorded in a bubble chamber

An early neutrino interaction recorded in a bubble chamber. Neutrinos themselves leave no visible tracks. Instead, their interactions are revealed through the charged particles produced when a neutrino occasionally interacts with matter.

The Next Generation of Neutrino Physics

Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE)

DUNE neutrino beamline from Fermilab to South Dakota

The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is one of the world's largest and most ambitious particle physics experiments. It brings together scientists and engineers from around the world to study neutrinos—tiny, nearly massless particles that are all around us but extremely difficult to detect.

DUNE will send an intense beam of neutrinos from Fermilab, just outside Chicago, on a 1,300-kilometer journey through the Earth to South Dakota. No tunnel is needed—because neutrinos interact with matter so rarely, they can travel straight through the Earth! At the end of their journey, they will reach enormous detectors located about 1.5 kilometers underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility.

These detectors will contain tens of thousands of tonnes of liquid argon cooled to around −186°C. On the rare occasion that a neutrino interacts inside the argon, it leaves behind tiny trails of electrically charged particles and flashes of light.

By detecting these signals, we can reconstruct detailed three-dimensional images of what happened—almost like taking a photograph of an invisible particle interaction!

Shion Kubota at the DUNE underground site at SURF
Visiting the DUNE underground site, 1.5 km beneath South Dakota.

By studying how neutrinos change as they travel, DUNE will investigate some of the biggest unanswered questions in physics. Why is our Universe made almost entirely of matter, with very little antimatter? What happens deep inside a star when it explodes as a supernova? And does the proton, one of the basic building blocks of ordinary matter, eventually decay?

DUNE is designed to explore all of these questions, using some of the largest and most advanced particle detectors ever built.

Working on a DUNE detector

MY ROLE

From Detector Signals to Physics

My research explores how the signals recorded by particle detectors can be transformed into measurements of neutrino interactions and ultimately into physics.

For low-energy neutrinos in particular, I study how detector characteristics such as spatial resolution and readout technology affect event reconstruction, directional information, background rejection, and ultimately the physics sensitivity of an experiment.

By understanding both how a detector works and how its information can be used in an analysis, my research connects detector performance with the physics questions we want to answer.

HARVARD UNIVERSITY

My PhD Research

During my PhD at Harvard University, I studied how liquid argon detectors can be used to observe low-energy neutrinos—neutrinos with much lower energies than those produced by particle accelerators.

I focused on neutrinos from two extraordinary natural sources: exploding stars and the Sun. When a massive star reaches the end of its life and explodes as a supernova, an enormous burst of neutrinos carries away most of the energy released in the explosion. The Sun, meanwhile, continuously produces neutrinos through the nuclear reactions that power it. Because neutrinos can escape directly from the dense interiors of these objects, they give us a unique way to look inside environments that would otherwise be inaccessible.

My research explored how well these faint signals could be detected using Q-Pix, a new pixelated readout concept for liquid argon detectors. I studied how Q-Pix could reconstruct and identify low-energy neutrino interactions, and what we could learn about supernovae and the Sun from those measurements.

This work connected the development of new detector technologies with the physics they can enable: asking not only how can we build a better detector?, but also what new things could we discover with it?

Learn more about Q-Pix and pixelated detector R&D →

SUPERNOVA NEUTRINOS

Watching a Star Explode with Neutrinos

When a massive star undergoes core collapse, nearly all of the energy released in the process is carried away by neutrinos, escaping the star before visible light.

These neutrinos provide a unique window into the extreme physics occurring deep inside the star and can reveal information about the mechanism driving the explosion.

For my PhD research, I investigated how the high-resolution three-dimensional readout of Q-Pix could be used to extract directional information from supernova neutrino interactions. This work explored how well a future detector could reconstruct the direction and properties of the next Galactic supernova.

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Directional reconstruction of supernova neutrinos with Q-Pix
Solar neutrino sensitivity with Q-Pix

SOLAR NEUTRINOS

Looking Inside the Sun with Neutrinos

Deep inside the Sun, nuclear fusion reactions continuously produce enormous numbers of neutrinos.

Because these neutrinos escape directly from the solar interior, measuring them allows us to probe processes occurring in the core of the Sun that cannot be observed directly with light.

I investigated the sensitivity of Q-Pix to precision measurements of solar neutrinos, exploring how a pixelated liquid argon detector could enable new measurements of low-energy neutrinos in future experiments.

Read publication →

LOOKING AHEAD

Connecting Detectors and Physics

Today, my research sits at the intersection of neutrino physics, detector development, and data analysis. By understanding how detector design and performance shape what we can reconstruct and measure, I aim to help turn new detector technologies into new opportunities for neutrino physics.

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Related Research & Activities

Detector R&D

Developing new detector technologies to observe particles that are extraordinarily difficult to detect.

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Detector Commissioning

Testing and understanding detector performance to turn complex instruments into reliable tools for discovery.

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Science Communication

Connecting frontier science with broader audiences through talks, media, education, and outreach.

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