Sala Seminarios IFIC (Edf. Institutos de Investigación)
Sala Seminarios IFIC
Edf. Institutos de Investigación
Descripción
In his later years, Einstein spent most of his time searching for a theory that unifies all known particle interactions. Einstein never realized his dream but the pursuit of his dream continues today. The observation of proton decay would be one of the most compelling experimental evidences for the unification. In 1980's, large water Cherenkov detectors (IMB and Kamiokande) were constructed primarily to search for proton decays that were predicted by the Grand Unification Theories. Since then larger and more sensitive water Cherenkov detectors (Super-Kamiokande and SNO) were built and these detectors together with the earlier detectors have played the central role in the remarkable advancement made in neutrino physics during the last two decades. Their accomplishments include: observation of neutrino oscillations (mass), observation of neutrinos from a supernova (SN1987A) explosion, first real time and directional observation of solar neutrinos, resolution of the solar neutrino problem, and setting the world best limits on proton decays. In order to continue to explore the physics at the Grand Unification Scale and even at the Plank Scale, as well as the rich neutrino physics we have just unveiled, we propose to build an even larger next generation water Cherenkov detector, UNO (Underground Nucleon decay and Neutrino Observatory). I will discuss the physics potential and feasibility of the UNO detector along with a brief historical review of the proton decay searches and its connection to neutrino oscillations. I will also introduce a newly discovered, excellent candidate site for UNO, the Henderson mine at Empire, Colorado.