The MiniBOONE experiment at Fermilab inthe US saw its first neutrinos in September. Designed to test the controversial neutrino oscillation result from the Los Alamos LSND experiment, which is so far the only accelerator-based signal for oscillation, the experiment will take data for two years. That will allow the MiniBOONE collaboration to study the entire LSND allowed region with high sensitivity.
The LSND result remains controversial, since it is difficult to reconcile with oscillation results from Superkamiokande in Japan and the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory in Canada without invoking an extra type of neutrino. Confirmation would therefore require a major rethink of current particle theory. If the LSND result is correct, MiniBOONE expects to see around 1000 electron neutrinos in the pure muon-neutrino beam over the next two years.
