Neutrino
Context
- Recently, the Kamioka Liquid Scintillator Antineutrino Detector (KamLAND), operated by physicists in Japan, revealed that after reviewing two years worth of data, they were unable to detect any indications that neutrinos might be their own anti-particles.
About the Experiment
- KamLAND looks for an event called neutrinoless double beta-decay.
- In normal double beta-decay, two neutrons in an atom turn into two protons by emitting two electrons and two anti-neutrinos.
- In neutrinoless double beta-decay, the anti-neutrinos aren’t emitted, which can happen only if anti-neutrinos are just different kinds of neutrinos.
About the Neutrino
- Neutrinos are the second most abundant particles in the cosmos after the photon. Because they are so ubiquitous, their properties have an important influence on the structure of the universe.
- Sources of neutrinos include a variety of radioactive decays, atomic collisions caused by cosmic radiation, supernovae, and other events.
About the Anti-Particles
- Every elementary atom has a corresponding antiparticle. When the two collide, they will annihilate each other in a burst of energy.
- Positron is the antiparticle of electron. Anti-neutrinos are similar to neutrinos.
- However, due to their opposing charges, an electron and a positron can be distinguished from one another.
- Neither neutrinos nor anti-neutrinos have an electric charge or any other distinguishing characteristics.
- Subatomic particles can be classified as substance particles or force-carrying particles. Neutrinos are matter particles known as fermions. Fermions are further classified as Dirac fermions or Majorana fermions. Dirac fermions do not have their own anti-particles, whereas Majorana fermions do.
