An Abstract on prize winning paper presentation on "NEUTRINOS AND IT'S SOCIAL APPLICATIONS" - 6 page - Black and white

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Year Civil Engg, GCE Tirunelveli
1 NEUTRINO and it’s Social Applications
NEUTRINO AND IT’S
SOCIAL APPLICATIONS
-Theerumalai Ga
Introduction:
For the past few decades , the area of “NEUTRINO” has always been a nostalgic
area for almost all the nerd physicists around the world. TWENTY-
EIGHT flashes of blue light may not seem like much to crow about. But for
hundreds of scientists long in their pursuit, witnessing these faint flickers over the
last two years has been a cause for celebration, because they mark the arrival of
ghostly messengers called NEUTRINOS from the far—and incredibly violent—
corners of the universe.
A pic from NOVA detector Source: Physics Today
What’s a neutrino…?
A neutrino is a lepton, an elementary particle with half-integer spin, that
interacts only via the weak subatomic force and gravity. The mass of the neutrino
is tiny compared to other subatomic particles. Neutrinos are the only identified
candidate for dark matter, specifically hot dark matter.
Neutrinos come in three flavours electron neutrinos (νe), muon neutrinos (νμ),
and tau neutrinos(ντ). Each flavor is also associated with an antiparticle, called

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Year Civil Engg, GCE Tirunelveli
2 NEUTRINO and it’s Social Applications
an "antineutrino", which also has no electric charge and half-integer spin.
Neutrinos are produced in a way that conserves lepton number; i.e., for every
electron neutrino produced, a positron (anti-electron) is produced, and for every
electron antineutrino produced, an electron is produced as well.
Neutrinos, named as such because they are electrically neutral, are leptons, and
so are not affected by the strong force either. The weak force is a very short-range
interaction, and gravity is extremely weak on thesubatomic scale. Thus, neutrinos
typically pass through normal matter unimpeded and undetected.
Source: Wikipedia
The first use of Hydrogen Bubble chamber to detect Neutrinos at 1930 by Pauli
What’s the BIG DEAL with the neutrino…?
A typical neutrino can traverse the Earth, or even a light-year’s worth of lead,
without bumping into an atom. Their severe reluctance to mingle makes neutrinos
hard to pin down, so scientists have to build mammoth (and expensive) detectors
like IceCube to trap just a few. In fact, neutrinos, a type of elementary particle
with no electric charge and very little mass, are all around us. Many trillions of
them, produced in the sun’s nuclear core, zip right through our bodies every
second of day and night. Luckily, they do no harm and leave no trace.
Neutrinos, produced in nuclear reactions and traveling at nearly the speed of light,
zip away with little impediment, bringing scientists valuable information from
the place of their birth. Neutrinos have already taught physicists a great deal about
the subatomic realm, and given astronomers a way to test their calculations of the
reactions at the scorching heart of the sun. Back in 1987, neutrinos were the first
harbingers of the dramatic demise of a massive, bloated star in a satellite galaxy
of the Milky Way. Soon, with more detections and better statistics, the IceCube

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Year Civil Engg, GCE Tirunelveli
3 NEUTRINO and it’s Social Applications
researchers expect to pinpoint the cosmic particle accelerators, likely powered by
black holes or dying stars, that propel energetic neutrinos like the 28 they have
already nabbed.
That may be just the beginning. Some have suggested, with varying degrees of
seriousness, that neutrinos could be used not only to probe the extremes of space
but for more pragmatic, down-to-earth purposes. Their proposed schemes range
from the perfectly sensible to the rather outlandish, and some require much better
technology for producing and detecting neutrinos than is currently available.
The ICE-CUBE apparatus at Antarctica Source : The BUSINESS Insider
The Discovery of Neutrinos:
Wolfgang Pauli first postulated NEUTRINO in 1930 which was later confirmed
with its discovery in 1956 by Clyde Cowan and Freidrick Reinnes. It was the
electron neutrino. Whereas the muon neutrino was discovered by Leon
Lederman, Melvin Schwartz and Jack Steinberger in1962. And the Tau neutrino
was discovered by the DONUT collaboration in 2000.
Sources of Neutrinos:
Researchers reported in Science that IceCube, a novel observatory made of some
5,000 sensory orbs strung on 86 steel cables and buried more than a mile deep in
the Antarctic ice, has been registering about one energetic neutrino originating
from beyond our galaxy each month.

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Year Civil Engg, GCE Tirunelveli
4 NEUTRINO and it’s Social Applications
The main sources are
 Artificial
i. Reactor neutrinos
ii. Accelerator neutrinos
iii. Nuclear bombs
 Geologic
 Atmospheric
 Solar
 Supernovae
 BIG BANG
Future Application of Neutrinos:
Find exploding stars in the far reaches of our galaxy
 It has been over four centuries since astronomers have seen a
supernova in the Milky Way. If a star explodes in the far side of the galaxy,
interstellar dust would obscure our view—but the neutrinos would come
through unhindered, with modern detectors giving us an unprecedented
peek at the action.
Figure out what keeps the Earth’s interior warm
 Part of our planet’s internal heat comes from the decay of radioactive
elements—but we don’t know exactly what fraction. Since radioactivity also
releases neutrinos, measuring them could tell us how much uranium and
thorium are in the Earth’s crust and mantle.
Expose rogue nuclear reactors and covert bomb tests
 Nuclear reactors and nuclear bombs release staggering numbers of
neutrinos, so international monitors could rely on them for surveillance and
help prevent proliferation.

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Year Civil Engg, GCE Tirunelveli
5 NEUTRINO and it’s Social Applications
Understand how matter won over antimatter
 There should have been equal amounts of matter and antimatter right
after the Big Bang. But today’s universe consists overwhelmingly of matter.
Physicists believe the behavior of neutrinos could reveal why.
Scan Earth’s crust for mineral or oil deposits
 Some scientists have proposed that intense beams of neutrinos could
be used to probe the Earth’s crust, sort of like how dentists use X-rays to scan
teeth for cavities.
Use neutrino signals for equity trading
 One researcher has suggested linking the world’s financial centers
using encoded neutrino beams that take shortcuts through the Earth, giving
high-frequency traders a time advantage of up to tens of milliseconds.
Communicate with aliens
 Since neutrinos travel freely through space, proponents argue that
they would make terrific messengers between advanced civilizations across
the galaxy.
Conclusion:
But if these visionaries turn out to be right, the esoteric and cagey neutrinos might
be of interest not just for physicists chasing Nobel Prizes but also for nuclear
monitors, mineral prospectors, and maybe even traders looking to make an
extremely fast buck.
References:
 Wikipedia
 The Business Insider – Ray Jayawardena’s article on Neutrino Hunters
 Boston Globe – Ray Jayawardena
 Physics Today – Philip McClain
 The ICECUBE official website.

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Year Civil Engg, GCE Tirunelveli
6 NEUTRINO and it’s Social Applications