Only a small percentage of the trillions of neutrinos sent per second actually make it to the detector.
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Thankfully, for Fermilab, the first evidence of oscillating neutrinos has just been recorded by the NoVA detector justifying the massive investment in the 50 feet wide, 50 feet tall scientific instrument that is 200 feet long did indeed deliver what was expected of it by the team at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.
Neutrinos are undoubtedly the least understood particles by the human kind. Neutrinos are about a million times lighter than the masses of other particles in the Standard Model of physics, but the masses of the three types of neutrinos are unknown.
When a neutrino bumps into an atom in the NOvA detector, it releases a signature trail of particles and light depending on which type it is: an electron, muon or tau neutrino. Based at the US Department of Energy’s Fermilab in Batavia Illinois, the experiment looks at the subatomic particles that are generated by sources as diverse as nuclear reactors, the sun, and the Big Bang.
Fermilab presented an analysis of the first results from its NOvA neutrino experiment on August 7 and physicists from William & Mary were heavily involved. Researchers introduced their early successes on the American Bodily Society’s Division of Particles and Fields convention in, Mich., this week.
The coming neutrinos featured some electron neutrinos, suggesting that they had oscillated alongside their path by way of Earth.
“If oscillations did not occur, experimenters predicted they would see 201 muon neutrinos arrive at the NOvA far detector in the data collected; instead, they saw a mere 33, proof that the muon neutrinos were disappearing as they transformed into the two other flavors”, says the NOvA press release. “Having a beam of that power running so efficiently gives us a real competitive edge and allows us to gather data quickly”, said NOvA co-spokesperson Mark Messier. A litmus test for theories on how these neutrinos get their mass in the first place in addition to finding out whether it is its own antiparticle or not.
NOvA can also run in antineutrino mode, opening a window to see whether neutrinos and antineutrinos are fundamentally different. The results verify that NOvA is picking up neutrinos that have oscillated. Fermilab constructs a neutrino beam – calculates its composition at the originating point = and then fires it for over 500 miles through the Earth.
A graphic representation of one of the first neutrino interactions captured at the NOvA far detector in northern Minnesota.
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The team is trying to solve some challenging problems, and understanding the nature of oscillating neutrinos is an important leap towards understanding why matter fills the universe.
