Speaker: Prof. CAO Jun (Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences)
Time: November 28,2025, Friday, 10:30 AM
Location: Room 9409

Abstract:

The neutrino is one of the fundamental particles that make up the material world, playing a crucial role in both the most microscopic particle physics and the most macroscopic cosmology. Research related to neutrinos has been awarded the Nobel Prize four times. Due to their unique properties, neutrinos are extremely difficult to detect, and numerous mysteries about them remain unsolved, making them one of the most important windows for discovering new physics. In 2012, the Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment discovered a new type of neutrino oscillation, making it possible to determine the neutrino mass ordering, measure Charge-Parity (CP) violation, and understand the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the universe. After 12 years of preparation and construction, the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO),located 700 meters underground with a fiducial mass of 20 kilotons, began operation and data-taking on August 26, 2025. It is the first among the three major next-generation neutrino experiments worldwide that has been completed. It aims to determine the neutrino mass ordering, precisely measure neutrino mixing parameters, and achieve internationally leading results across a broad range of research frontiers, including supernova neutrinos, solar neutrinos, atmospheric neutrinos, geoneutrinos, dark matter, and proton decay. On November 19, JUNO released its first scientific results on-site. This report will introduce the latest advances in neutrino experimental research, the construction and scientific research of JUNO, and the future prospects of neutrino physics.

Speaker Profile:

CAO Jun is a Researcher and the Director of the Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, as well as a “New Cornerstone Investigator”. He graduated from Wuhan University in 1993 and received his Ph.D. from IHEP in 1998. He subsequently conducted postdoctoral research at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the University of Michigan in the United States. Since 2003, he has been involved in the Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment, serving as Deputy Project Manager and leading the physical analysis that discovered a new neutrino oscillation mode. Since 2013, he has served as Co-Spokesperson of the Daya Bay Experiment.He is a co-proposer of the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) and serves as its Deputy Project Manager and Deputy Spokesperson of the JUNO. He also proposed and made a leading role in the construction of the Taishan Neutrino Experiment.

In 2012, he received the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, and as a key contributor, he received the First Class State Natural Science Award in 2016.

He has been invited to present plenary talks at numerous international conferences, including the International Conference on High Energy Physics (ICHEP), the International Conference on "Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics" (Neutrino), and the "Lepton–Photon conference".

PDF or PPT file download: /Jun_Cao_ccnu_20251125.pptx