Thesis

Neutrino-plasma interactions: laboratory studies with plasma metamaterials

• Call:

  PT-CERN Call 2022/2

• Academic Year:

  2022

• Domain:

  Astroparticle Physics

• Supervisor:

  Hugo Terças

• Co-Supervisor:

• Institution:

  Instituto Superior Técnico (Universidade de Lisboa)

• Host Institution:

  Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear -IPFN

• Abstract:

  Neutrinos are particles that interact only through the Weak-Interaction. Nowadays, detection techniques are efficient only for high-energetic neutrinos. The single-particle interaction produces Cherenkov radiation, whose properties lead to neutrino characteristics. To probe the ultra-low energetic part of the neutrino spectra, we may exploit a collective-interaction scheme. When a neutrino flux interacts with plasmas, as in supernova events, instability occurs, and plasma oscillations (plasmons) are generated. The detection of such plasmons can be used to infer neutrinos characteristics, like the Cherenkov radiation. Solid-state electron plasmas are easy to control in laboratory experiments. Therefore, we focus on defining a metamaterial with tunable dispersion relation. The objective is to exploit the coupling between a neutrino flux and an electron distribution, the goal is to maximize the energy transfer and, thus the amplitude of the neutrino-generated plasmon. To exploit the innovative neutrino-plasma detection technique, we will rely on Kinetic theory and Quantum plasmadynamics, which will be used to derive the cross-section of the plasmon generation due to the neutrino distributions; numerical simulations will evaluate the specifics and feasibility of metamaterial-based detection.