Watch a video about T2K

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.

Map showing J-PARC and Super-K

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