# Nick Latham

I am a second year experimental particle physics doctoral researcher in the T2K and Hyper-Kamiokande groups at Warwick.

My current research is with the T2K and Hyper-K experiments. These are two long-baseline neutrino experiments that aim to study neutrino oscillation parameters such as the neutrino CP phase $Delta PMNS$, which is thought to be capable of explaining large amounts of the absent CP-violation required to explain the observed matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe [1].

The particular focus of my research is on neutrino-nucleus interaction cross-sections, which are the largest sources of systematic error in neutrino oscillation studies. An improved understanding of how neutrinos interact with matter would allow for more precise determinations of the neutrino CP phase and other oscillation parameters [2]. A variety of processes occur at the T2K near detector which contaminate the neutrino beam composition. My work is focused on measuring the electron neutrino induced charged-current pion production cross-section at the ND280 near detector; this interaction is $nue + carbon -> electron + pion + nucleons$, for which no cross-section measurement currently exists. I also work on the development of a light-injection system for the Hyper-K Cherenkov tank, which will allow for PMT calibration and for studying photon scattering in water.

Fig. 1: schematic of the T2K experiment; my research is with the ND280 near detector which characterises the initial beam and measures cross-sections; I am also developing hardware for the Hyper-K analogue of the Super-K Cherenkov tank.

I also completed an undergraduate research project in particle physics, supervised by Dr Matt Kenzie in the LHCb group at Warwick. This project involved studies for two Monte-Carlo generators in optimising measurements of the quark sector CP phase $gamma ckm$ from a combined model of beauty decays and charm meson oscillations. The value of this phase is of interest because it has low theoretical uncertainty, it is accessible entirely from tree-level, and there is a ~ 2σ tension between tree- and loop-level processes [3]. Further runs at LHCb could more strongly emphasise a disagreement, which would indicate beyond Standard Model physics in another precision measurement.

### Teaching

I teach first year seminars for PX129/146 which supplement the core module topics, including classical mechanics, special relativity, quantum phenomena, thermodynamics and electromagnetism.

### References

[1] A.D. Sakharov, Pizma Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 5 (1967) 32.

[2] K. Abe et al., Nature 580 (2020) 339–344.

[3] R. Aaij et al., JHEP 87 (2016) 03076.

### Contact:

Email: N.Latham@warwick.ac.uk

Room: P450

### Supervisors:

Dr. Steve Boyd

Prof. Gary Barker