Direct searches for new physics at the Terascale with a high-precision neutrino scattering experiment: NuSOnG

Abstract

High-precision neutrino scattering at energies of order 100 GeV offers a clean probe of Beyond Standard Model physics at the Terascale. NuSOnG (Neutrino Scattering On Glass) is a high-statistics neutrino experiment which has been developed under that principle and has been proposed to run at the Fermilab Tevatron in year 2015. One of its strongest features is that it offers a unique opportunity for direct searches for new physics at TeV-scale energies, providing information complementary to that of the LHC. NuSOnG is sensitive to an unmatchable spectrum of new physics: from new light neutrino properties, to new interactions manifested through rare events, to new particles such as light neutrissimos, light vector bosons, etc. A particular example which illustrates the experiment's discovery potential, is the search for evidence of ‘matrix freedom’ or non- unitarity in the neutrino sector. Non-unitarity can manifest itself in a number of ways, such as flavor-dependent neutrino couplings, or instantaneous flavor transitions, both of which would cause observable effects at NuSOnG. This poster presents these examples, thus highlighting the truly rich discovery potential of the experiment.