----------------------- # 1589 - What are Neutrinos?
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-1589 - What are Neutrinos? Neutrinos are subatomic particles that are electrically neutral. They are unaffected by the electromagnetic force or the Strong Nuclear Force. The are weakly interactive with the Weak Nuclear Force and have so little mass that their mass has not yet been accurately measured.
- It is estimated that a neutrino’s mass is less than 1/1,000,000th the mass of an electron.
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---------------------------- Electron Neutrino ------------ < 0.13 electron volts / c^2
---------------------------- Muon Neutrino --------------- < 0.13 electron volts / c^2
---------------------------- Tau Neutrino ------------------ < 0.14 electron volts / c^2
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- Because the Weak Nuclear Force is limited in range to the size of the nucleus of the atom, the neutrinos can pass through matter with very little to no effects. Only rarely can neutrino collisions with the atom’s nucleus be recorded. See ICECUBE neutrino detectors on the Antarctic Continent for information on current detection data.
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- Neutrinos are created in radioactive decay. They are created in nuclear reactors and in the fusion process at the core of the Sun. Neutrinos are created by Cosmic Rays colliding with the molecules in the atmosphere. The Sun produces 65 billion neutrinos per second per cm^2 in its fusion reactions at the core.
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- The neutrino was first proposed to exist in 1930 by Wolfgang Pauli to explain missing angular momentum occurring in radioactive decay. He proposed a “ little neutral one” that escaped the reaction undetected as the cause for equations not balancing. Wolfgang lamented that he had proposed the existence of a particle that would never be discovered.
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- The neutrino was discovered in experiments in 1942. The unique signature of an anti-neutrino occurs when an anti-electron annihilation and a neutron capture releases a Gamma Ray. This is how the neutrino was first detected. In 1960 neutrinos were detected coming from the Sun. In 1962 the Muon Neutrino was discovered. In 1975 the Tau Neutrino was discovered at the Stanford Linear Accelerator in Palo Alto, California. In 1987 neutrinos were detected coming from a Supernova 1987A explosion. In 1989 science determined that the 3 types of neutrinos oscillate between flavors and therefore must have very small but different masses.
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- Billions of neutrinos are produced in the core of the Sun at the same time photons are produced. Photons take millions of years to travel from the core to the surface. Photons are interacting with electromagnetic forces over their entire journey. Neutrinos exit the surface of the Sun in 2 seconds because their neutral character is unimpeded.
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- Electron Neutrinos are released from the Sun, but , when they are detected here 1/3 of each type are detected as they oscillate between flavors on their journey to Earth. The near massless neutrinos travel at nearly the speed of light and make the journey in 8 minutes. Picture the volume of a sugar cube ( 1 cm^3). 5,000,000 neutrinos pass through this volume on the surface of the Earth each second.
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- In order for the neutrino to be near massless it must mean that it has a very weak interaction with the Higgs Field. All the other atomic particles have much greater mass, relatively, because of a stronger interaction with the Higgs Field.
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- Every particle has an anti-matter counterpart. The neutrino may be different. It may be its own anti-matter counterpart. This is a strange phenomenon. But, it may lead to the explanation as to why in our world matter is dominate over anti-matter. Physics needs an explanation because if the Universe Big Bang sprang from “ nothing” there must have originally been an equal amount of matter and anti-matter in the Universe in the beginning.
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- Neutrinos have a ½ spin in angular momentum. That is what makes them “Leptons” similar to the electron. However, neutrinos only appear to have a left-handed spin. All the other fundamental particles have both a left-handed and a right-handed spin.
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- Another mystery is to explain why neutrinos have an underlying hyperactivity of transmutations between the 3 varieties. Experiments are trying to measure just how often these particles switch identities. Quantum Mechanics math only allows neutrinos to oscillate between the 3 flavors if each flavor has a different mass. Another fall out from this same math is the possible existence of a forth flavor of neutrino called the “ sterile neutrino”. Called sterile because this neutrino does not interact with the Weak Nuclear Force.
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- According to Big Bang theory 10^89 Cosmic Neutrinos were released and may have had a large effect on the structure of the Universe. The entire Universe should be filled with 300 neutrinos per cubic centimeter. This can be thought of as analogous to the Universe being filled with the microwave photons at 2.725 Kelvin.-, called the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation.
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- Neutrinos were once proposed for the explanation of Dark Matter comprising 23% of the Universe. However, the calculations now are that the neutrinos comprise only 0.3% of the mass/energy of the Universe. Dark Matter is searching for another explanation.
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- See ScientificAmerican.com/apr2013/neutrino to learn of the many neutrino experiments being conducted around the world. Also see previous reviews about neutrinos: #1511, #1219, #1139 , #732, #630, available upon request.
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