Electrons Set the Stage for Neutrino Experiments
Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator FacilityNeutrinos may be the key to finally solving a mystery of the origins of our matter-dominated universe, and preparations for two major, billion-dollar experiments are underway to reveal the particles’ secrets. Now, a team of nuclear physicists have turned to the humble electron to provide insight for how these experiments can better prepare to capture critical information. GENIE is simulation framework made of many models that each help physicists reproduce certain aspects of interactions between neutrinos and nuclei to help understand their experimental results. Since so little is known about neutrinos, it’s difficult to directly test GENIE to ensure it will produce both accurate and high-precision results from the new data that will be provided by future neutrino experiments. In this study, the team used an electron-scattering version of GENIE, dubbed e-GENIE, to test the same incoming energy reconstruction algorithms that neutrino researchers will use. Instead of using neutrinos, the