DUNE (Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment)

The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is a proposed U.S.-based neutrino oscillation, nucleon decay, and supernova burst detection experiment. The DUNE experiment will be a next generation long-baseline neutrino experiment that will utilize an on-axis wide-band neutrino beam, the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF), originating at Fermilab, near Chicago, Illinois. The beam will travel about 1300 km through the earth to a far detector at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) located in Lead, SD.  The primary physics goals of the DUNE experiment are to measure the CP violating phase angle, improve the precision of the measured value of θ₁₃, and determine the sign of Δm²₁₃ (i.e. determine the neutrino mass hierarchy).  In addition to neutrino oscillation physics, the DUNE physics program will also include searches for proton decays, supernova burst neutrinos, and solar neutrino measurements.

CSU researchers are contributing to detector design (photon detection) and have leading roles in physics working groups. Prof. Wilson was co-spokesperson of the LBNE collaboration on which DUNE and LBNF are based; he is also a board member of the South Dakota Science and Technology Authority (SDSTA) that operates SURF.

Cartoon graphic (not-to-scale) illustrating the main components of the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment and the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility that provides the beam originating at Fermilab.