Dr Mark Scott

I am a high energy physicist, specialising in neutrino physics.  In particular I am interested in understanding the properties of these fundamental particles - neutrino oscillations, the origin of neutrino mass and whether neutrinos violate the CP symmetry of nature.

I currently work on the T2K and Hyper-K experiments. These are current (T2K) and future (Hyper-K) long-baseline neutrino experiments situated in Japan. Both experiments involve creating a beam of muon-flavour neutrinos at the east coast of Japan and shooting it to the west coast, where it is observed by multi-kilo-tonne water Cherenkov detectors.

T2K began taking data in 2009 and established that muon neutrinos do oscillate into electron neutrinos, and at an appreciable rate.  This large rate means that it is possible to search for neutrino CP violation by comparing the rate of muon-to-electron flavour oscillation for neutrinos to that of antineutrinos.  If there is a difference, this could explain why we exist in a matter-dominated universe.

Link to website: Home - Dr Mark Scott (imperial.ac.uk)