KBSU opens doors to the world of big science with a new «Experimentarium» platform

The «Experimentarium» has opened at Kabardino-Balkarian State University (KBSU) — a scientific and educational platform based on the joint laboratory of KBSU and the Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences «Astrophysics and Cosmic Ray Physics». This platform is designed to introduce schoolchildren, students and all interested parties to advanced research in the field of astrophysics.

Acting rector of KBSU Yuri Altudov emphasized at the official opening that the «Experimentarium» will be an important step in the integration of science and education in the region.

«The platform should become a bridge between world-class mega-science projects and the younger generation, a center of attraction for future scientists and a growth point for the training of highly qualified personnel of Russian science,» said Yuri Altudov.
According to the acting rector of KBSU, now the country’s leadership understands the importance of fundamental physics of neutrino research more than ever and provides state support, which helps to conduct neutrino research at a high level.

KBSU has become an associate member of the international collaboration Baikal-GVD, one of the key international projects in the field of neutrino astrophysics. The Baikal neutrino telescope Baikal-GVD is being built by an international collaboration with the leading role of the Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow), the founder of this experiment and the direction of «high-energy neutrino astronomy» in the world, and the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (Dubna). In total, more than 70 scientists and engineers from nine research centers in Russia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Kazakhstan are participating in the project.

This international project allows us to study not only processes with huge energy release that occurred in the distant past, but also the evolution of galaxies, the formation of supermassive black holes and particle acceleration mechanisms.

Senior researcher of the joint laboratory of KBSU and the Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences «Astrophysics and Physics of Cosmic Rays», candidate of physical and mathematical sciences, Zeitun Akhmatov said that scientific research will be conducted at the «Experimentarium» site with the participation of talented young scientists.

Also, an important area of ​​​​the «Experimentarium» will be lectures and excursions with the aim of popularizing scientific knowledge for a wide audience, including schoolchildren and students.

KBSU students and postgraduates will be able to participate in the processing of data obtained from the Baikal-GVD telescope and become part of a global scientific project. Recruitment for the group is already underway, and, according to Akhmatov, interest in the project is very high. Not only physicists will be needed, but also programmers and engineers.

«We are currently forming a team, we have already recruited a group of eight senior students who will be involved in data processing in the project,» — Akhmatov notes.

Mikhail Zalikhanov, Soviet and Russian scientist, political and public figure, Hero of Socialist Labor, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences and the Russian Academy of Sciences, was invited to the opening of the Experimentarium as an honorary guest.

The Baksan Neutrino Observatory of the INR RAS (Neytrino settlement, Kabardino-Balkarian Republic) is a large-scale underground laboratory with a complex of unique underground and ground-based large-area installations for research in the field of solar neutrino physics, cosmic ray physics and neutrino astrophysics.

Dmitry Naumov, Deputy Director of the Laboratory of Nuclear Problems of the JINR, noted the important role of KBSU in the Baikal-GVD project.

Grigory Rubtsov, Deputy Director of the Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said that visitors to the Experimentarium will be able to touch the secrets of the Universe with the help of visual exhibits, interactive models and educational materials. The central elements of the exhibition will be materials about the unique installations of the INR RAS — the Baikal Neutrino Observatory of the INR RAS (the Baikal-GVD project) and the Baksan Neutrino Observatory of the INR RAS (BUST).

«Now students of the Kabardino-Balkarian State University have a unique opportunity to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of real scientific research. Within the walls of the «Experimentarium» they will be able not only to observe the readings of the devices in real time, but also to take direct part in the experiments.
As Rubtsov emphasizes, even if these steps do not lead to revolutionary discoveries, they will become an invaluable experience. «If you dare and devote yourself to science seriously, then unlimited opportunities for understanding the secrets of the Universe will open up before you,» he is sure.

Schoolchildren, winners and prize-winners of all-Russian scientific competitions from the State Budgetary Educational Institution «DAT Solnechny Gorod» were invited to the grand opening. These guys are familiar with such complex concepts as secondary cosmic rays, neutrinos and axions, and they already have serious research projects under their belt. Zeitun Akhmatov gave them an exclusive tour of the center, revealing its secrets.

Anna Veresnikova, PhD in Physics and Mathematics, the head of the new project and senior researcher at the joint laboratory of KBSU and INR RAS, spoke about the start of work on the project «Development of new research methods in neutrino physics and astrophysics.»

According to her, one of the key objectives of the project is to search for neutrinoless double beta decay. This phenomenon is one of the most pressing problems in modern physics, since its detection will allow us to determine the nature of the neutrino mass (Dirac or Majorana) and test the fundamental law of conservation of lepton number.

«The solution to these problems is of great importance for particle physics and cosmology,» Veresnikova emphasizes. «It can explain why more matter than antimatter arose as a result of the Big Bang. So far, this decay has not been detected, and we only have lower limits for its half-life.» Who knows, perhaps it is here, among the flickering indicators and complex formulas, that a spark will be born that will lead to breakthroughs in science, changing our understanding of the cosmos and its fundamental laws.