Neutrino Physics: Oscillations, Nuclear Interactions, and Future Beams and Detectors

by Xianguo Lu 卢显国 (University of Warwick)

Wednesday 21 Oct 2026, 10:30 → 11:30 Asia/Shanghai

B105 (CHEP)

Abstract

Neutrino oscillations established that neutrinos have mass, providing compelling evidence for physics beyond the Standard Model. Determining the neutrino mass ordering and searching for violation of charge–parity (CP) symmetry in the lepton sector are central goals of the experimental programme. Achieving these goals connects fundamental questions in particle physics with the challenges of understanding nuclear dynamics.

This seminar will begin with a review of neutrino oscillation physics, highlighting the complementary contributions of JUNO and long-baseline accelerator experiments. The main focus will then turn to neutrino–nucleus interactions at GeV energies, where nuclear effects shape the observed final states and complicate the reconstruction of neutrino energy. I will introduce transverse kinematic imbalance (TKI) as a framework for probing nuclear dynamics, including nucleon motion, multinucleon processes and final-state interactions. Measurements across different experiments, target nuclei and reaction channels will illustrate both the insights gained and the outstanding challenges in modelling neutrino–nucleus scattering.

These challenges motivate further ideas for neutrino beams and detectors. I will discuss the need for precise electronneutrino and antineutrino interaction measurements, the opportunities offered by beams from stored-muon decays, and detector capabilities for resolving the particles produced in neutrino interactions. The seminar will conclude with progress on the Warwick TPC Platform (WarTPC), linking the physics requirements of precision interaction measurements to the development of time projection chamber technology.

About the speaker

Prof. Xianguo Lu is an Associate Professor of Physics at the University of Warwick. He obtained his PhD from Heidelberg University, working on heavy-ion collisions with the ALICE experiment at CERN, before moving into neutrino physics and receiving an STFC Ernest Rutherford Fellowship in the UK.

His research focuses on GeV neutrino physics, particularly neutrino–nucleus interactions, nuclear effects and detector development. He has held leadership roles in the neutrino interaction working groups of JUNO, MINERvA and T2K. He developed the transverse kinematic imbalance (TKI) framework, which is used across multiple neutrino experiments to investigate nuclear dynamics and test interaction models. His current research includes the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) and the Warwick TPC Platform (WarTPC).