The T2K Experiment
T2K is a neutrino experiment designed to investigate how neutrinos change from one flavour to another as they travel (neutrino oscillations). An intense beam of muon neutrinos is generated at the J-PARC nuclear physics site on the East coast of Japan and directed across the country to the Super-Kamiokande neutrino detector in the mountains of western Japan. The beam is measured once before it leaves the J-PARC site, using the near detector ND280, and again at Super-K: the change in the measured intensity and composition of the beam is used to provide information on the properties of neutrinos.
Science Goals of T2K
- the search for CP violation in the neutrino sector
- the discovery of νμ → νe ( i.e. the confirmation that θ13 > 0 )
- precision measurements of oscillation parameters in νμ disappearance
- a search for sterile components in νμ disappearance by observation of neutral-current events
- world-leading contributions to neutrino-nucleus cross-section measurements
