Beta Beams

The ultimate goal of neutrino oscillation physics is the search for leptonic CP violation, which will require neutrino beams that are much more intense and pure than those used in present experiments. Beta beams are an attractive innovative possibility in this direction. Neutrinos are generated by the beta decays of radioactive nuclei and are accelerated at very high energies. The resulting neutrino beam consists of only one easily predictable flavor of neutrinos (ve or ). A realistic beta beam design, which has already been demonstrated by the Eurisol Design Study, is based on CERN's PS and SPS accelerators. The beta beam concept has also been extended in several other directions, including high energy, high Q, electron capture, and low energy. Both the accelerator complex and the physics potential of a neutrino experiment are reviewed here. We emphasize the beta beam design based on the CERN PS and SPS, but we also discuss other possibilities.