Intriguing Neutrinos: The Deep Secrets of Nature’s Ghosts by Dr Elisabeth Falk
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Lisa Falk's presentation about the Neutrino, one of the fundamental particles which make up the universe - Also, currently, one of the least understood. Subatomic particles produced by the decay of radioactive elements. They're special for many reasons - They have no charge, are incredibly light, travel at near light speed and travel through most other matter. Following the introduction to what they are, she detailed the challenges of detecting them (she's been directly involved in these experiments, including time at CERN), and the vast equipment that's used. Finally she talked about the DUNE project, the next stage in Neutrino detection. Presented to Cafe Scientifique, Isle of Wight, 11th May 2015.
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Intriguing Neutrinos: The Deep Secrets of Nature’s Ghosts by Dr Elisabeth Falk
- 1. 12/11/09 E. Falk, U. of Sussex 1 Invisible Neutrinos: The Deep Secrets of Nature’s Ghosts Café Scientifique Shanklin, Isle of Wight 11 May 2015 Elisabeth Falk, University of Sussex
- 2. 100 trillion neutrinos passing through each of our bodies in here... every second! That’s 1 followed by 14 zeroes: 100,000,000,000,000 Frightening?
- 3. Neutrinos are elementary subatomic particles Atoms make up the matter that we can see: you, me, the Earth and the stars Neutrinos are not part of the atoms – but they are created and destroyed when atoms are merged (fusion), split (fission) or decay (radioactivity) Electron Proton Neutron Neutrino Symbol n (Greek letter “nu”) Atom
- 4. Electron Proton Neutron Neutrino Symbol n (Greek letter “nu”) Atom Neutrinos - are among the lightest of the two dozen or so elementary particles we know - travel at nearly the speed of light – all the time! - rarely interact with other matter - mostly happily zip straight through the Earth
- 5. The sun (image captured with ultraviolet light) The sun (image captured with neutrinos) The sun shines because of nuclear fusion in its core Lighter atomic nuclei merge into heavier ones Produces light and neutrinos! + light!
- 6. 6 Most of the neutrinos here on Earth come from the Sun Other sources, too: Dying stars: Supernova explosions Relics from the Big Bang: 30 million neutrinos in each of us! Cosmic rays hitting the atmosphere produce neutrinos
- 7. 90 years ago: A common type of radioactive decay seemed to indicate that energy was disappearing From Wolfgang Pauli’s letter on 4 Dec 1930: “Dear Radioactive Ladies and Gentlemen, ... I have hit upon a desperate remedy to save the [...] law of conservation of energy.” In Pauli’s journal: “I have done something very bad today by proposing a particle that cannot be detected. It is something no theorist should ever do.” Radioactive atom Electron Invisible particle
- 8. C. Cowan and F. Reines Savannah River nuclear plant, South Carolina 1956 Fred Reines and Clyde Cowan detect neutrinos for the first time
- 9. Neutrinos don’t behave like the other matter particles All the other particles that make up matter carry electric charge (the property that allows us to make electricity) Neutrinos have NO electric charge Tiny mass: It weighs in at 0,0000001 of an electron 0 Neutrino
- 10. Neutrinos come in three different types They can transmute in flight between the three Neutrino oscillations
- 11. Messengers from the universe Supernova SN1987a
- 13. Man-made sources of neutrinos
- 14. The holy grail 1 Is the neutrino its own antiparticle? Every particle type has an antiparticle – identical properties, except opposite charge n p e- ne n p e- ne n p e- n p e- ne ne XTwo-neutrino double beta decay Neutrinoless double beta decay The rarest form of radioactive decay, if observed
- 16. The holy grail 2 Why is the universe full of matter but contains almost no antimatter? The Big Bang created matter and antimatter in equal parts Some law of nature must treat antimatter differently than matter This does happen – to a tiny extent with some other particles Not enough to explain the universe we can observe Asymmetry between neutrinos and antineutrinos?
- 19. 100 trillion neutrinos passing through each of our bodies in here... every second! How many of them will collide with an atom in your body in your lifetime? On average: about ONE
- 20. Thank you!
Editor's Notes
- What’s happening in here? Not just now; all the time We’re awash in them
- Most of the neutrinos here on Earth come from the Sun Other sources, too:
- Neutrinos were thought up long before any had been seen Pauli suggested nucleus might emit invisible particle
- Opposite charges repel, equal attract
- Chocolate, vanilla, strawberry Imagine taking a bite, throwing it to the next person, takes a bite, throws it to the next person
- Supernova Cataclysmic events Gamma ray bursts, neutron stars, black holes
- Several hundred km through the earth
- 10^10 years age of universe One octillion 10^27 One quadrillion 10^15
- Coming back to where we started...