According to the results of the 2022 competition for medals of the Russian Academy of Sciences for young scientists and students, a researcher of the Accelerator Neutrino Sector of the Experimental Department of Particle Physics of the Laboratory of Nuclear Problems JINR Liudmila Kolupaeva won a medal with a prize for outstanding scientific achievements.

Liudmila Kolupaeva won the “Nuclear Physics” nomination with a series of works “Measurement of oscillation parameters in long-baseline accelerator neutrino experiments”.

– What is your work about? Was it carried out individually or in a team?

– In the series of works submitted for the competition, the phenomenon of neutrino oscillations is studied, with the help of which the fundamental parameters of this particle can be measured. In particular, the neutrino mass hierarchy, symmetry between fermion generations, and the CP-violation in the lepton sector. This information is important for understanding the nature of phenomena such as supernovae explosions, the existence of relic neutrinos, evolution and the baryon asymmetry of the Universe. Neutrino physics is also considered to be a promising field for searching new phenomena and going beyond the current understanding of fundamental theory.

Most of the work was carried out in the NOvA Accelerator Neutrino Experiment, where I made measurements and data analysis. In particular, I have been performing the final stage of the NOvA data approximation for several years using different integrated statistics in order to determine the oscillation parameters, including the CP-violation phases and the neutrino mass hierarchy. The results obtained became official for the experiments and were published in the form of several collaborative articles in 2018, 2019, and 2020. In addition to the final data approximation, I carried out assessment of the NOvA sensitivity, selected events for analysis, and worked together with my colleagues to develop various parts of oscillatory analysis, i.e., the method of accounting for systematic errors, the development of extrapolation procedures and data interpretation.

Several works in the series were devoted to studying the effect of matter for long baseline accelerator experiments and modelling such experiments within the framework of an approach that is being developed by the DLNP JINR team with my participation. There are also several review articles on the current status of the topic under study in the series.

– How long did it take to complete such a wide range of work?

– The series includes articles on tasks that I have been carrying out since 2015.

– Will the work in this direction continue?

– Yes, these are not the final results of NovA. The data set from this experiment will be continued until 2026. Another interesting aspect of my work is participation in the preparation of the joint analysis of the currently operating accelerator neutrino experiments NOvA and T2K. It is a unique experience of open cooperation between the two collaborations. In addition, work is underway to develop DUNE, the next-generation experiment which should replace NOvA and complete measurements in this field thanks to its phenomenal sensitivity to oscillation parameters.

– How do you feel about winning the award?

– It is a pleasure for me, and I am glad to know that the result of several years of work is relevant and important for science.

Medals of the Russian Academy of Sciences for young scientists and students are awarded annually in 21 scientific disciplines. The competition is held to encourage talented scientific youth and promote the professional growth of researchers.

It should be reminded that according to the results of the competition in 2020, employees of the Laboratory of High Energy Physics Ilya Gorbunov, Andrey Galavanov, Elena Kulish, and Yulia Ivanova won medals with prizes for outstanding scientific achievements. Based on the results of the 2021 competition, a researcher of the Laboratory of Theoretical Physics Andrey Pikelner became the winner.