TITLE: GADZOOKS! Neutron Detection at the Kiloton Scale... and Beyond

ABSTRACT:  Water Cherenkov detectors have been used for many years to 
study neutrino interactions and search for nucleon decays. 
Super-Kamiokande, at 50 kilotons the largest such underground detector in 
the world, has enjoyed over ten years of interesting and important physics 
results.  Looking to the future, for the last five years R&D on a 
potential upgrade to the detector has been underway. Enriching Super-K 
with 100,000 kilograms of a water-soluble gadolinium compound - thereby 
enabling it to detect thermal neutrons and dramatically improving its 
performance as a detector for supernova neutrinos, reactor neutrinos, 
atmospheric neutrinos, and also as a target for the upcoming T2K 
long-baseline neutrino experiment - will be discussed.  

BIO:  Prof. Mark Vagins received his B.S. from the California Institute of 
Technology and his Ph.D. in particle physics from Yale University.  He is 
currently a professor at the University of Tokyo's Institute for the 
Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (with a joint appointment at the 
University of California, Irvine) and is one of the central participants 
in the Super-Kamiokande experiment in Japan. When not hunting supernova 
neutrinos, he enjoys scuba diving, flying ultra-light aircraft, eating raw 
pufferfish, loitering in high radiation areas, public speaking, and other 
life-threatening activities.