| NSF Org: |
PHY Division Of Physics |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | August 21, 2024 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | August 21, 2024 |
| Award Number: | 2411825 |
| Award Instrument: | Continuing Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Camillo Mariani
cmariani@nsf.gov (703)292-7219 PHY Division Of Physics MPS Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences |
| Start Date: | September 1, 2024 |
| End Date: | August 31, 2027 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $343,512.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $158,702.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
414 E CLARK ST VERMILLION SD US 57069-2307 (605)677-5370 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
414 E CLARK ST VERMILLION SD US 57069-2307 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): |
OFFICE OF MULTIDISCIPLINARY AC, Particle Astrophysics/Undergro |
| Primary Program Source: |
01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01002627DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.049 |
ABSTRACT
Despite being the most numerous massive particle, neutrinos remain the least understood known fundamental particle. The undetermined properties of the neutrino likely connects to some of the largest open questions in modern physics such as the origin of neutrino mass, nature of dark matter, and whether there are undiscovered forces of nature. Progress resolving these open questions is slow primarily because neutrinos interact very feebly with matter. Thus, neutrino experiments are typically massive, often measured in the thousands of tons. We will build and operate a detector that will test the unknown properties of neutrinos with a small, 10-kg detector by searching for very low energy signals. A small-scale detector enables full engagement in neutrino science by students from design to data analysis. The PIs will leverage this opportunity to involve underrepresented young scientists at Florida State University, North Carolina Central University, an HBCU, and the University of South Dakota, located within an EPSCoR state and nurture their identities as early career neutrino physicists.
The detector constructed under this project will measure coherent, elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEvNS) in which a low-energy (< 50 MeV) neutrino transfers a small kinetic energy to a nucleus (< 100 keV). Low-threshold detectors are critical for CEvNS measurements. We will design, construct, and deploy a cryogenic, undoped CsI scintillation detector at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) as part of the COHERENT experiment. This technology has demonstrated impressive light output with potential for detection thresholds twenty times lower than the first detection of CEvNS, made by COHERENT in 2017. In the detector's baseline design, scintillation activity in a 10-kg CsI crystal will be monitored by an array of silicon photomultiplier light detectors. The detector will be housed in a low-activity copper support structure in a cryostat cooled to 40 K. The detector will be surrounded with a composite shielding to mitigate environmental gamma and neutron backgrounds along with scintillator panels to veto cosmic activity. The detector will be operating at the SNS by the end of this award.
This project is co-funded by the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP), which provides awards to strengthen STEM undergraduate education and research at HBCUs.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
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