Scientists are investigating the elusive neutrino with a brand new experiment on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).
Scientists used the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) detector on the LHC at CERN (the French acronym for the European Organization for Nuclear Research) close to Geneva, Switzerland for a brand new experimental check investigating the mass of neutrinos.
Neutrinos, or “ghost particles,” are subatomic particles much like electrons however with no electrical cost and a minuscule, near-zero mass. The new examine used knowledge from the LHC’s earlier run.(In April, the particle accelerator was restarted after a three-year shutdown, which was carried out for upgrades and upkeep.)
This experiment was carried out to attempt to reply the query of why the neutrino has such a small mass. (The neutrino has such little mass that scientists all through historical past have recommended it might need no mass in any respect.)
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Produced inside stars by nuclear fusion, neutrinos are unusual and mysterious particles which have eluded our full understanding for years. We know that they’re one of the crucial widespread particles in the complete universe; it has been estimated that about 100 billion neutrinos go by each sq. centimeter of the human physique each second.
According to the present Standard Model of particle physics, a concept that describes all recognized elementary particles and three of the 4 forces within the universe, elementary particles like electrons acquire their mass by interacting with a discipline related to the Higgs boson particle, referred to as the Higgs discipline. But the neutrino does not play by these guidelines; the Higgs discipline can’t clarify its minimal mass.
With this experiment, researchers examined what is named the “seesaw model” that some researchers suppose may clarify the neutrino’s mass. Within this concept, a lightweight neutrino (a recognized particle) pairs with a hypothetical heavy neutrino, which acts just like the heavier associate on a seesaw, lifting the lighter particle up and giving it its very mild mass.
But for the seesaw mannequin to work, the neutrinos concerned would wish to primarily be their very own antimatter particles, referred to as Majorana particles, according to a statement describing the new research. Antimatter particles have the mass of their corresponding particles however with an reverse electrical cost. (The antimatter equal of the electron, for instance, is the positron.)
So, to check the seesaw mannequin with this experiment, researchers tried to seek out Majorana neutrinos in high-energy particle collisions on the LHC. The staff used the CMS detector to gather the info from these collisions. While the examine is current, the collisions producing this knowledge came about between 2016 and 2018.
The staff did not discover any proof of Majorana neutrinos within the knowledge.However, the info they did accumulate helped them to set new limits on the seesaw mannequin.
Now, whereas it is a new examine from older collisions on the LHC, with the power switched again on, the particle accelerator is able to begin making new collisions this summer time, and researchers “can look forward to collecting more data and trying out the seesaw again,” based on the identical assertion.
Email Chelsea Gohd at cgohd@space.com or observe her on Twitter @chelsea_gohd. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
