The Super-Kamiokande experiment

Abstract

Abstract Super-Kamiokande is a gigantic and versatile detector able to detect neutrinos with energies between a few MeV and a few hundred GeV. Super-K started data taking on 1st of April in 1996 after 5 years construction period and obtained compelling evidence of atmospheric neutrino oscillations in 1998, shortly after the beginning of the experiment. In 2001 SNO in Canada together with the Super-K data established that solar neutrinos are also oscillating. Following those historical discoveries, numerous intriguing results have been obtained by Super-K, like the discovery of oscillatory behavior, tau appearance in the atmospheric neutrinos, the matter effect of the solar neutrinos through the earth. The Super-K detector has also been used as a far detector of the long baseline neutrino oscillation experiments, K2K and T2K. In this article, we report mostly on the studies of the neutrino oscillations by Super-K in a historical context. The prospects for the future of Super-K are also described.