Physics Colloquium

Abstract:

After nine years of successful operation, the Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment officially finished taking data on Dec 12, 2020. Though the experiment is formally shutting down, the collaboration will continue to analyze its complete dataset to improve upon the precision of findings based on earlier measurements. As one of the most impactful HEP experiments in the past decade, Daya Bay made its first discovery of non-zero theta13 within its first 55 days of operation in early March 2012. Daya Bay's theta13 measurement is the most precise measurement so far among the three mixing-angle measurements related to neutrino oscillations, and the collaboration was recognized for this achievement with the 2016 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics.



To celebrate the end of operation of the Daya Bay Experiment and the success of its achievements, we will have a special colloquium on Tue Dec 15 to introduce the early history of the Daya Bay experiment, the discovery of non-zero theta13, and the implications of this discovery. The colloquium will be followed by a seminar on Thursday Dec 17 (https://indico.bnl.gov/event/9927/) to review the main results of the Daya Bay experiment in its nine years of data taking.



The colloquium is composed of the following series of talks:

1. Opening (Laurence Littenberg, 5+5 min)

2. Why is non-zero theta13 important (Julia Gehrlein, 20+5 min)

3. Early history of Daya Bay and BNL involvement (Steve Kettell, 25+5 min)

4. How is non-zero theta13 discovered in 55 days (Chao Zhang, 25+5 min)