INVISIBLES

INVISIBLES

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Esplora la "nuvola delle parole (Word Cloud) per avere un'idea di massima del progetto.

 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'NEUTRINOS AND DARK MATTER are the most abundant particles in the universe and yet they remained unnoticed -invisible- for a long time, due to their tenuous couplings to the ordinary matter we are composed of.

Neutrino masses inferred from neutrino oscillations and the existence of dark matter constitute the first evidence ever of particle physics beyond the Standard Model. A wide experimental program focused on the properties of both type of particles is imminent and major breakthroughs are expected soon. The road to build the New Standard Model of particle physics is open: the theory must encompass the nature and properties of neutrinos and dark matter, besides those of ordinary matter.

The mission of INVISIBLES ITN is to form the new generation of young researchers which will accomplish this task. It will focus on neutrino and dark matter phenomenology and their connection, with the indispensable link to experiment and a deep understanding of theoretical and astroparticle issues. It will be the first transnational program on these topics, exploiting the capital investment in new experimental facilities and overcoming the fragmentation of the research effort.

INVISIBLES ITN is uniquely placed to achieve its goal: i) World-leadership in all relevant scientific areas; ii) A novel multidisciplinary approach fostering the neutrino-dark matter synergy; iii) In addition to theorists, inclusion of key experimentalists; theory-experiment cross training is a unique characteristic of this ITN; iv) Outstanding training record; v) CERN, Fermilab, XENON and SuperKamiokande -the four major experimental players- as partners; vi) Partnership with the world-leader research-related industry and cutting-edge technology transfer; vii) Strong outreach and communication program, with two dedicated companies; viii) Top-quality expertise from emergent countries; ix) Optimal in gender balance and role models, with over 60% female and mostly junior international leaders as coordinators.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

A strong network of leading scientists in theoretical and experimental physics has joined efforts to form the next generation of physicists who will build a new standard model of particle physics.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

The standard model describing how a few elementary particles interacting with four fundamental forces make up everything in the Universe passed its last test with the discovery of the Higgs boson. However, it is still an incomplete theory that cannot explain the existence of dark matter and dark energy or predict the mass of neutrinos.

Dark matter and neutrinos are as ubiquitous in the Universe as they are mysterious.

The mass of neutrinos is so small that so far no experiment has succeeded in measuring its absolute value. And unlike normal matter, dark matter does not absorb, reflect or emit light - as far as we know - making it very hard to detect. With no clues in the available scientific data, theorists have been obliged to speculate.

To build the theory that will encapsulate our best understanding of the properties of neutrinos and dark matter, the http://www.invisibles.eu/home (INVISIBLES) project is training 18 early-stage researchers through research. The network connects 11 research centres in Europe with 18 associated partners from around the world in a consortium that engages key stakeholders in the most ambitious experiments underway.

Consortium members gathered more than 200 physicists to work together on a flurry of fundamental theories involving new particles and their interactions. In their search for answers, they use model-independent techniques with which they extract information relevant to these theories directly from experimental data.

The origin of the mass of neutrinos, and the nature and properties of dark matter are being studied with newly released neutrino and cosmological measurements and with the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. Their findings are described in more than 250 scientific papers published in international peer-reviewed journals.

Taking young researchers a step further from particle physics, the INVISIBLES network equips them with a broad knowledge in dark matter and dark energy. In addition, it delivers insights into the complexity of transnational research so that they are prepared to meet new challenges arising in our quest to understand the fundamental properties of matter.