Elise Novitski, University of Washington, Seattle, Physics Assistant Professor  A new approach to measuring neutrino mass
Abstract: Of all the fundamental fermion masses, those of the neutrinos alone remain unmeasured. From their unknown origin to their effects on the evolution of the universe, neutrino masses are of interest across cosmology, nuclear physics, and particle physics. Neutrino oscillation experiments have set a non-zero lower limit on the mass scale, in contradiction to the original Standard Model prediction. To measure neutrino mass precisely and directly one must turn to beta decay and search for a telltale distortion in the spectrum. I will describe a new technique called Cyclotron Radiation Emission Spectroscopy (CRES), in which beta decay of tritium occurs in a magnetic field and each electron's ~1 fW of cyclotron radiation is directly detected. Electron energies are then determined via a relativistic relationship between energy and frequency. I will discuss the Project 8 experiment, which aims to use CRES to surmount the systematic and statistical barriers that currently limit the precision of direct neutrino mass measurements. I will present the first CRES-based neutrino mass limit, ongoing work to push CRES to sub-eV precision, and path to sensitivity to a mass of 40 meV/c^2, covering the entire inverted ordering of neutrino masses.