Kamioka-Observatory
The Kamioka-Observatory is a prominent research facility located in the city of Hida, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. This underground observatory has played a pivotal role in the field of particle physics and astrophysics since its inception.
History and Establishment
Originally established in 1983, the Kamioka-Observatory was built to house the Kamiokande (Kamioka Nucleon Decay Experiment) detector, which was designed to search for proton decay, a phenomenon predicted by some Grand Unified Theories. The first phase of Kamiokande began operations in 1983, but it was the second phase, completed in 1985, that led to significant discoveries.
Key Discoveries
- Neutrino Oscillation: One of the most significant achievements at the Kamioka-Observatory was the discovery of neutrino oscillations, which provided the first experimental evidence that neutrinos have mass. This was confirmed through observations of neutrinos from the Supernova 1987A, where Kamiokande detected neutrinos simultaneously with other detectors around the world.
- Solar Neutrinos: The observatory also contributed to solar neutrino research, helping to resolve the long-standing Solar Neutrino Problem. The Kamiokande detector measured lower than expected fluxes of solar neutrinos, leading to the hypothesis of neutrino oscillations.
Evolution of the Observatory
The original Kamiokande was succeeded by Super-Kamiokande, which is an upgraded version with a larger detection volume and improved technology. Super-Kamiokande started operation in 1996 and has since been at the forefront of neutrino research:
- It has provided further evidence for neutrino oscillation through observations of atmospheric neutrinos.
- Super-Kamiokande has also been involved in experiments to detect dark matter candidates like WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles).
Facilities
The Kamioka-Observatory consists of several experimental setups:
- Super-Kamiokande: The main detector with a water Cherenkov detector filled with 50,000 tons of ultra-pure water.
- XMASS: An experiment searching for dark matter particles using liquid xenon.
- KAGRA: A gravitational wave detector, the first of its kind in Japan, located within the same underground complex.
International Collaboration
The Kamioka-Observatory hosts international collaborations, including scientists from various countries, contributing to experiments like T2K (T2K), which studies neutrino oscillations using a neutrino beam from J-PARC (Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex).
Current Research
Research at Kamioka-Observatory continues to push the boundaries of our understanding of fundamental physics:
- Neutrino mass hierarchy determination.
- Study of proton decay to test Grand Unified Theories.
- Gravitational wave detection with KAGRA.
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