Cern 24 April 2009-T2K neutrino beam starts operation

News: 24 April 2009

T2K neutrino beam starts operation

The Tokai to Kamioka (T2K) neutrino oscillation experiment confirmed the first neutrino beam yesterday. The team verified the neutrino beam by observing the muons produced by the proton beam in the neutrino facility at the Japan Proton Accelerator Complex (J-PARC).

The T2K project, which is a CERN recognized experiment, involves sending a neutrino beam from J-PARC at Tokai to the Super-Kamiokande neutrino observatory some 300 km away. In a similar manner to the neutrino beam sent from CERN to experiments in Gran Sasso (Italy), the T2K experiment hopes to increase our understanding of neutrino mass by looking at oscillations between different types of neutrinos.

In 2005 CERN donated a magnet originally built for the UA1 detector to the Japanese High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK) for use in the T2K experiment. More details available here.

Read the full KEK press release here:
http://www.kek.jp/intra-e/press/2009/J-PARCT2K.html