Ed Kearns

About

Ed Kearns is a Professor and the Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Physics at Boston University. His research focuses on neutrino physics and particle astrophysics, with specific interests including neutrino oscillation, nucleon decay, and the search for dark matter. He was deeply involved in the discovery of neutrino oscillation using atmospheric neutrinos, a breakthrough announced in 1998 based on the Super-K experiment in Japan, which was recognized with the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2015. Kearns continues to investigate atmospheric neutrinos with Super-K, exploring unknown parameters such as CP violation and mass ordering. His work also encompasses the search for baryon number violation through proton decay, a prediction of Grand Unified Theories, and indirect evidence of dark matter through neutrino detection. Since 2018, he has contributed to a major upgrade of the Super-K experiment, incorporating gadolinium to enhance neutron detection capabilities. Kearns is a member of the T2K experiment, studying neutrino oscillations with a neutrino beam aimed at the Super-K detector, and is involved in the EMPHATIC hadron production experiment at Fermilab to better understand neutrino production. His past research includes R&D for dark matter detection using liquid argon techniques, participation in the MACRO and K2K experiments, and contributions to the development of liquid argon TPCs. His work has earned him prestigious awards, including the Breakthrough…

Research topics

• Physics
• Particle physics
• Nuclear physics
• Astronomy
• Computer Science
• Astrophysics
• Machine Learning
• Artificial Intelligence
• Optics
• Systems engineering

Selected publications

• Constraint on the matter–antimatter symmetry-violating phase in neutrino oscillations

  Nature · 2020 · 430 citations

  The charge-conjugation and parity-reversal (CP) symmetry of fundamental particles is a symmetry between matter and antimatter. Violation of this CP symmetry was first observed in 19641, and CP violation in the weak interactions of quarks was soon established2. Sakharov proposed3 that CP violation is necessary to explain the observed imbalance of matter and antimatter abundance in the Universe. However, CP violation in quarks is too small to support this explanation. So far, CP violation has not…

  DOI

• Volume I. Introduction to DUNE

  Journal of Instrumentation · 2020 · 401 citations

  A.4 Constraining the flux in the ND A.4.1 Neutrino-electron elastic scattering A.4.2 The low- method A.4.3 Coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering A.4.4 Beam e content A.5 Movable components of the ND and the DUNE-PRISM program A.5.1 Introduction to DUNE-PRISM A.5.2 LArTPC component in the DUNE ND: ArgonCube A.5.3 Multipurpose detector A.5.4 The DUNE-PRISM program A.6 Fixed on-axis component of the DUNE ND A.6.1 Motivation and introduction A.6.2 Three-dimensional projection scintillator tracker spe…

  DOI

• Long-baseline neutrino oscillation physics potential of the DUNE experiment

  The European Physical Journal C · 2020 · 239 citations

  The sensitivity of the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) to neutrino oscillation is determined, based on a full simulation, reconstruction, and event selection of the far detector and a full simulation and parameterized analysis of the near detector. Detailed uncertainties due to the flux prediction, neutrino interaction model, and detector effects are included. DUNE will resolve the neutrino mass ordering to a precision of 5$σ$, for all $δ_{\mathrm{CP}}$ values, after 2 years of runni…

  DOI

• Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) Near Detector Conceptual Design Report

  Instruments · 2021 · 206 citations

  The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is an international, world-class experiment aimed at exploring fundamental questions about the universe that are at the forefront of astrophysics and particle physics research. DUNE will study questions pertaining to the preponderance of matter over antimatter in the early universe, the dynamics of supernovae, the subtleties of neutrino interaction physics, and a number of beyond the Standard Model topics accessible in a powerful neutrino beam. A c…

  DOI

• Supernova Neutrino Burst Detection with the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment

  The European Physical Journal C · 2020 · 137 citations

  Abstract: The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), a 40-kton underground liquid argon time projection chamber experiment, will be sensitive to the electron-neutrino flavor component of the burst of neutrinos expected from the next Galactic core-collapse supernova. Such an observation will bring unique insight into the astrophysics of core collapse as well as into the properties of neutrinos. The general capabilities of DUNE for neutrino detection in the relevant few- to few-tens-of-MeV n…

  DOI

Frequent coauthors

• M. R. Vagins

  University of California, Irvine

  1308 shared

• Y. Takeuchi

  University of Regina

  1167 shared

• M. Nakahata

  The University of Tokyo

  1059 shared

• Y. Hayato

  1058 shared

• C. K. Jung

  Stony Brook University

  1040 shared

• Y. Suzuki

  Kobe University

  995 shared

• K. Scholberg

  977 shared

• C. W. Walter

  Duke University

  907 shared

Labs

• Ed Kearns LaboratoryPI

Education

• Ph.D., Physics

  Harvard University

  1990

• B.S., Physics

  M.I.T.

  1982

Awards & honors

• W.K.H. Panofsky Prize (2021)
• Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics (2015)
• Fellow, American Physical Society (2008)

Similar researchers at Boston University

• Robert Careyh-110
• Lawrence R. Sulakh-107
• Anders Sandvikh-66