The validation tests of the electronic boards for the Top Tracker of the JUNO experiment (Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory), revealed an excellent surprise: almost 97% of the boards passed the tests successfully and are therefore ready to go to China. where the experience is based. JUNO is an international project led by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) -Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP), and in which IJCLab participates with other French laboratories (CENBG, CPPM, IPHC, SUBATECH and OMEGA). Located at a distance of about 53 km from the nuclear power plant in Jiangmen province, the antineutrino detector consists of a spherical target filled with 20 kt of liquid scintillator.
The experiment will make it possible to provide a significant answer on the hierarchy of masses, that is to say on the uncertainty in the order of masses that exists between the neutrino ν1 (mainly composed of νe) and the neutrino ν3 (composed of a mixture of νμ and ντ).
JUNO is also studying neutrinos of terrestrial and extraterrestrial origin (supernovae, atmosphere, sun), to better understand the quantity of certain radioactive elements on earth and certain mechanisms which govern the evolution of the Universe.
See also : CNRS Info article of July 17, 2020