Why Are We Here? - Using Neutrinos to Understand the Matter / Anti-Matter Asymmetry

If we assume that the laws of physics are the same for matter and for anti-matter, then equal amounts of each should have been created in the Big Bang... and annihilated soon after. Clearly, this did not happen and our observations tell us that we live in a universe composed almost entirely of matter, with virtually no primordial anti-matter remaining. The reasons for this are not clear, but may be explained by violation of the ’charge-parity’ (CP) symmetry for neutrinos. The first phase of the Tokai-to-Kamioka (T2K) experiment has seen initial hints of CP violation, which will be probed further during the second phase of operation (T2K-II) and with the proposed Hyper-Kamiokande experiment. T2K is a long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment, located in Japan, which produces a beam of muon neutrinos. The neutrinos are measured with a multi-stage near detector after 280 meters of travel, and again with a 50,000 tonne water Cherenkov far detector after 300 km. Simulations have shown that our potential for discovering CP violation can be greatly improved by constructing an intermediate-distance kilotonne-scale water Cherenkov detector. Such a detector has been proposed and it is expected to be constructed within the time-scale of this PhD position. This is an experimental PhD with significant components of simulation and data analysis. The student will travel to Japan to participate in the construction and commissioning of the new detector. Once the detector is completed, the student will collect and analyse data within the context of the T2K-II search for CP violation, as well as simulating its effect on the sensitivity for the future Hyper-Kamiokande experiment.