Steps towards the Neutrino Factory

The properties of the neutrino provide a unique window on physics beyond that described by the Standard Model. The study of sub-leading effects in neutrino oscillations has begun with the race to measure θ13. A consensus is emerging within the international community that a novel neutrino source is required to allow sensitive searches for leptonic CP violation to be carried out and the neutrino mass-hierarchy to be determined. The Neutrino Factory, in which intense neutrino beams are produced from the decay of muons, has been shown to out-perform the other proposed facilities. The physics case for the Neutrino Factory will be reviewed and the baseline design of the facility being developed by the International Design Study for the Neutrino Factory (the IDS-NF) collaboration will be described.