2015 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded for Work on Neutrinos' Metamorphosis
- Details
- Published: Friday, October 09 2015 11:08
University of Maryland physicists were part of the team of scientists that built and participated on the experiment Super-Kamiokande, for which Takaaki Kajita shared the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics. The team’s experimental data, described in a 1998 paper “Evidence for Oscillation of Atmospheric Neutrinos”, Y. Fukuda et al. (Super-Kamiokande Collaboration)Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 1562 (1998), demonstrated that neutrinos change identities. This metamorphosis requires that neutrinos have mass. The discovery has changed our understanding of the innermost workings of matter and can prove crucial to our view of the universe. The Maryland physicists who coauthored this research paper include Research Scientist Erik Blaufuss, Distinguished University Professor Jordan Goodman and Professor Greg Sullivan. They worked along with a team of Maryland post-docs, graduate and undergraduates who all contributed to this major experimental effort. We extend our congratulations to Professors Takaaki Kajita and Arthur McDonald for selection by the Nobel Committee.
