Physicists hunt “ghost particles” that bounce on the issue in the experience of breaking the records

Neutronat everywhere. About 100 trillion neutrons pass through our bodies Every second, but they interact very weak, and we never noticed them. It is this neutral advantage of neutrons that earned them the title of “ghost molecules”. Antineutrinos, its counterpart, is also everywhere. It is difficult to discover both, but physicists improve in circumventing their ghost tendencies, as explained by the measurement of the identification of records.

When the low -energy neutrino wears the entire nucleus of the atom, the resulting excitement produces adequate signals for physicists to capture it in a nuclear reactor. Using this concept, physicists measured the ever’s energy levels in the events of the neutrino, where they reported their results in a nature A paper published today. For the experience, the coherent neutrino nuclei (Conus+), based in Lepstadt, Switzerland, has already been “hatching” Antrino from within a nuclear reactor.

“This was a major experimental challenge,” Christian PakThe study of a participant in study and physical at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, Germany, for Gizmodo.

This detector picks up signals of the apostasy energy that was created when Antineutrinos bounces off from an atomic nucleus. Since the substance and anti -shared materials in most basic properties, the same measurements can be used to describe the levels of neutrone energy. The main detector weighs only 6.6 pounds (3 kilograms), which is Small Compared to model neutrino detectors. The presence of the integrated neutrino detector provides confusing opportunities for more mobile investigations into neutrons and atomic structures in general, according to researchers.

Officially, the neutrons that bounce from the entire nucleus are called Chevns flexible nucleus scattering (CEVNS)It is expected for the first time in 1974. Physicians have been that CEVNS should have a reaction rate higher than 100 to 1,000 times of the typical approach to waiting for neutrino to overcome one of the millions of particles that start inside the giant disclosures. On the contrary, CEVNS is similar to “the little neutrino that gives the nucleus just a gentle bump, such as the Ping Bong that strikes a car, and now we have to discover the movement of the car,” Pak explained.

It was not until 2017 that the coherent experience at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory He emphasized that this is possible Using a particle accelerator. The Conus+ and its predecessor, CONUS, depends on this result with some important adjustments: CEVNS by using a nuclear reactor as a source of a completely new interaction channel to study neutrons.

“For the operators of the reactor, this is just an unnecessary side product that they do not need to take care of,” said Pak. “For us, the reactor is a free source that resembles the point for interintino-a reactor like the coach in the Leestate that is 10 to the power of 21 Antineutrinos every second! Almost all pass without any effect (like a ghost), but we try to capture a few of them daily.”

“After two decades of experimental efforts, the search for CEVNS to the era of accuracy measurements, Henry T. WongVicarial wrote at the Institute of Physics, Academy of Seneica, in Taiwan, in an article accompanying news and opinions on nature. Wong, who did not participate in the study, added that the latest results from Conus+ “will provoke great hopes among neutrino physicists.”

As an important next step, Conus+ will try to increase the accuracy of its devices further and apply its results to the real world’s applications. Its unique location inside a nuclear reactor has already received attention from major organizations, such as the International Atomic Energy Agency, according to Back.

“In principle, such a detector can be used to monitor thermal energy or the development of reactor fuel over time,” he said. “We have now taken the first step … but certainly there are still several years and we face before the technology is ready for commercial applications.”

More importantly, this new technology may show some phenomena at odds with what we know about the standard model. If so, “this may be a hint until our understanding is incomplete and that new molecules or unknown reactions are not yet known to play.”

When I first came across the result, my editor and I had a quick discussion about the nature of Antineutrinos. If the neutrons are popularly called “ghost molecules”, will this make antineutrinos … anti -paper particles? What does this mean?

I had to ask Pak about his thoughts. His answer: “Since antineutrinos is very similar to neutrone, antineutrino is somewhat similar to neutrino in the mirror.

He added that a hot topic in this field is related to whether there is a basic difference between neutrons and antineutrinos. If physicists are able to answer this question, we may know for sure whether Antineutrinos is ghosts in the mirror or (although it is unlikely) something else.