NSERC grants at Laurentian University Subventions du CRSNG `a l ...

106Clarence Virtue with/avec Doug Hallman & Jacques FarineSudbury Neutrino Observatory research at LaurentianUniversityA grant of $220,000 per year for two years.Une subvention de 220 000 $ par année pour deux ans.Subatomic Physics Project – Projet en physique subatomiqueLaurentian University is one of five Canadian institutions that, along withcollaborators from the United States and Great Britain, have designed, built,and now operate the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) to solve an enduringenigma: the “solar neutrino problem”. Neutrinos are fundamentalparticles created in large numbers by the nuclear reactions that fuel the sun.They interact with matter to only the slightest degree and the overwhelmingmajority escape the sun and radiate out, traversing all obstacles. Measurementsof the flux of these solar neutrinos are notoriously difficult and yethave been done by several independent techniques. For over thirty years thesemeasurements have been at odds with the best calculated predictions. SNOhas solved this problem by convincingly demonstrating that all of the predictedneutrinos are in fact present. The beauty of this solution is that the SNOmeasurement, all previous measurements, and the theoretical prediction arenow consistent under a new picture in which neutrinos change their characteras they travel. Previous experiments were capable of detecting only theunchanged neutrinos whereas SNO detected all neutrinos.The researchers at Laurentian University are committed to advancing someof the base technologies that have played a large role in the success of SNOand that are certain to be crucial for next generation experiments. These