Karol Lang
- Professor
- Jane and Roland Blumberg Professor in Physics
- Physics
Contact Information
Research
High Energy Physics
Research Activities:
Neutrino Oscillations (FNAL E701, MINOS)
Deep Inelastic Neutrino Interactions (FNAL E616, FNAL E701)
Rare Kaon Decays (BNL E791, BNL E871)
Searches for Axions (SLAC E141)
Deep Inelastic Electron Scattering (SLAC E140)
Neutrinoless Double Beta Decays (NEMO-3, Super-NEMO)
Particle Detectors and Nuclear Medical Imaging Instrumentation
Karol Lang is an experimental particle physicist and faculty member at the University of Texas at Austin. His research is focused on the study of neutrinos, and he is involved in the neutrino programs at Fermilab (Fermilab) and the Laboratoire Souterrain de Modane (LSM) in France (LSM).
At Fermilab, he participates in the MINOS and MINOS+ experiments (MINOS), which measure neutrino oscillations using the NuMI beam (NuMI) and two detectors. The on-axis Near Detector is located about 1 km from the proton target at Fermilab, while the Far Detector is situated 735 km away at the Soudan Underground Laboratory (Soudan) in Northern Minnesota. MINOS has provided some of the most stringent constraints on atmospheric neutrino mass splitting and mixing, as reported in 2013 (PhysRevLett.110.251801). The search for electron-neutrino appearance in the muon-neutrino NuMI beam has also yielded early hints for θ13, with results subsequently reported on the full MINOS dataset (PhysRevLett.110.171801).
Recently, MINOS published results combining all MINOS beam and atmospheric data in a three-flavor analysis framework, setting the most precise value for atmospheric mass splitting to date (PhysRevLett.112.191801). Currently, MINOS is taking data with the NuMI beam optimized for the off-axis NOvA experiment. This experiment, now known as MINOS+, focuses on high-statistics testing of muon neutrino disappearance at higher energies (4-8 GeV rather than 1-5 GeV) and has unprecedented sensitivities to non-standard neutrino interactions, sterile neutrinos, and large extra dimensions. MINOS+ is expected to continue through FY2016.
At the Laboratoire Souterrain de Modane in France, Lang is involved in the NEMO-3 experiment (NEMO-3) and its future successor, SuperNEMO. These experiments are designed to search for neutrinoless double beta decay, which, if observed, would confirm that neutrinos are Majorana particles. NEMO-3 has recently published results on a search for neutrinoless double beta decay of Mo-100 (PhysRevD.89.111101). The lower limit on the half-life for this process provides some of the tightest upper bounds on the effective Majorana neutrino mass mββm_{\beta \beta}mββ.
Lang is also involved in the NOvA experiment at Fermilab and the future long-baseline neutrino projects, recently reformulated as DUNE and LBNE. These experiments aim to improve the precision of neutrino and antineutrino oscillation parameters and may provide constraints on the neutrino mass hierarchy, the θ23 octant, and the δCP angle of the Pontecorvo-Maki-Nakagawa-Sakata matrix, potentially resolving the mass ordering and neutrino CP problem (ScienceDirect).
In addition to his research, Lang conducts particle detector R&D, most recently on large water Cherenkov detectors, as detailed in (arXiv).
In his teaching role, he offers introductory physics courses tailored for pre-med, biology, and chemistry majors (PHY 317K and PHY 317L), the Modern Physics Laboratory course (PHY 353), and the Advanced Laboratory course (PHY 474). He also delivers lectures on particle radiation detectors as part of the Physics of Sensors class (PHY 386K).
Lang is a strong advocate of education through research and actively involves undergraduate students in his research activities, leading many to successful graduate careers or excellent employment opportunities after graduation.
Research Areas
- Particle Physics
Education
- Ph.D., University of Rochester (1985)
Publications
Future prospects for measurements of mass hierarchy and CP violation, K. Lang, Nucl. Part. Phys. Proc. 260, 183 (2015).
Observation of Seasonal Variation of Atmospheric Multiple-Muon Events in the MINOS Near and Far Detectors, P. Adamson et al. [MINOS Collaboration], Phys. Rev. D 91, no. 11, 112006 (2015).
Combined analysis of muon-neutrino disappearance and electron-neutrino appearance in MINOS using accelerator and atmospheric neutrinos, P. Adamson et al. [MINOS Collaboration], Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 191801 (2014).
Observation of muon intensity variations by season with the MINOS Near Detector, P. Adamson et al., Phys. Rev. D 90, no. 1, 012010 (2014).
Investigation of double beta decay of 100Mo to excited states of 100Ru, R. Arnold et al. [NEMO-3 Collaboration], Nucl. Phys. A 925, 25 (2014).
Search for Neutrinoless Double-Beta Decay of 100Mo with the NEMO-3 Detector, R. Arnold et al. [NEMO-3 Collaboration], Phys. Rev. D 89, 111101 (2014).
Electron neutrino and antineutrino appearance in the full MINOS data sample, P. Adamson et al. [MINOS Collaboration], “ Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 171801 (2013).
Search for flavor-changing non-standard neutrino interactions by MINOS, P. Adamson et al. [MINOS Collaboration], Phys. Rev. D 88, no. 7, 072011 (2013).
Active to sterile neutrino mixing limits from neutral-current interactions in MINOS, P. Adamson et al. [MINOS Collaboration], Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 011802 (2011).
Probing New Physics Models of Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay with SuperNEMO, 5. R. Arnold et al. [SuperNEMO Collaboration], Eur. Phys. J. C 70, 927 (2010).
Awards
- 1991 Outstanding Junior Investigator Award, High Energy Physics Office, U.S. Department of Energy
- 1992 Summer Research Award, University Research Institute, The University of Texas at Austin
- 2000 Faculty Research Assignment, The University of Texas at Austin
- 2005 Faculty Research Assignment, The University of Texas at Austin
- 2014 Faculty Research Assignment, The University of Texas at Austin