In 1998 Bruce Vogelaar was hired at Virginia Tech, bringing with him an active research effort
on solar neutrinos as part of the Borexino
Collaboration. Prof. Vogelaar laid out a vision for a
wide ranging neutrino initiative involving the development of an underground research facility at the
Kimballton lime mine, the hire of a leading senior neutrino physicist, and the hire several junior
faculty in neutrinos. In 2004, Raju Raghavan, the founder of Borexino, became the first hire in the
initiative, bringing with him a leading role in the LENS
experiment. In 2006, Jonathan Link joined the group contributing his research effort in sterile neutrinos
(MiniBooNE) and reactor neutrinos
(Daya Bay) to the initiative.
Patrick Huber was hired into the group in 2008, bringing his expertise in neutrino phenomenology. In 2012,
Camillo Mariani, an experimentalist working on reactor neutrino oscillations, was hired, and initiated an effort
liquid argon detector R&D and a program in neutrino cross sections. Shunsaku Horiuchi, a particle cosmologist,
was hired in 2014, initiating research effort in astrophysical neutrinos and dark matter. In 2016, the sixth hire
in the neutrino initiative was Tommy O'Donnell. Prof. O'Donnell added his expertice in the search for Majorana
neutrinos through his contributions to neutrinoless double beta-decay experiments the KamLAND-Zen and Cuore.
In addition to the various experimental and theoretical research initiatives of the center members, the Center for Neutrino Physics runs the underground lab known as the Kimballton Underground Research Facility, or KURF, as a resource for the wider neutrino and low-background research community. Today KURF is host to experiments and R&D efforts from several research groups.
The work of the center's members is not limited to neutrinos. It also includes electron scattering physics at JLab (G-zero and Qweak), and a large string theory effort.
Follow the links below to lean more about the center.
