Are We Descended From Heavy Neutrinos? (Colloquia)
Start Date:
02/22/2010
Time:
4:30 pm
Location:
1 LeConte
Speaker:
Boris Kayser
Affiliation:
Fermi Laboratory
Details:
Neutrinos are among the most abundant particles
in the universe. The discovery that they have nonzero masses has
raised a number of very interesting questions about them, and about their
connections to other areas of physics and to cosmology. After briefly
reviewing what has been learned about the neutrinos so far, we will
identify the major open questions, explain why they are interesting, and discuss
ideas and plans for answering them through future experiments. We will
highlight a particularly intriguing question: Are neutrinos the key to understanding
why the universe contains matter but almost no antimatter, making it safe for life?