How Big is a Neutrino?

 


Physicists from around the world have joined together for a specific purpose. They have measured the size of a certain type of neutrino. The team published their work in the journal Nature.

The group conducted experiments that involve measuring the radioactive decay of beryllium.

Neutrinos are subatomic particles. They have a mass that is very close to zero. They have half integral spin. Neutrinos rarely react with normal matter.

Three kinds of nutrinos have been discovered to date. They were noticed in association with a tau particle, muon or electron.

Scientists study neutrinos for a greater understanding of why there is more matter than antimatter in the universe. 

What size are neutrinos? It’s an important question, because it allows building the appropriate size and shape neutrino detectors. Currently, the detectors are large (several meters). This is because it was believed the size could theoretically be several meters wide. It is currently thought, however,  that they are smaller. 

In this study, the physicists used beryllium to measure the size of an electron associated neutrino. 

The radioactive decay in beryllium was measured. It decays into lithium. As it decays, an electron in a single atom combines with a proton. This makes a neutron, resulting in a lithium atom. As this is happening, energy is released. This pushes the atom in one direction and the created neutrino in the other direction.

The process was started in a particle accelerator. Highly sensitive neutrino detectors were replaced along the sides. The team was able to measure the momentum of the lithium atom and use that information to determine the size of the neutrino. 

The experiment gave interesting results. The neutrinos measured 6.2 picometers. They are hundreds of times bigger than the average atomic nucleus.

The big size is possible, the scientists explain. Neutrinos are not made of physical particles, but fuzzy waves that move due to vibrations.  The size of the nutrient is measured by determining the boundaries of the wave packet.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mike Giradi from Stereotimes commentary on Holostage Room Treatments

I have been  friends with Mike Giradi for a few years and he has helped me test numerous designs .    I was so honored a few weeks ago when he agreed to give these Holostages a few words.  From. Mike G. The sound was a little closed in at first, but then it really opened up to prove it is another great audio product. The noise floor is greatly reduced. I am hearing details I've never heard before. When it's in the recording, the soundstage widens in all directions. The timbre of each instrument is spot on. The six Holostages installed in my room aided in the C13 alignment of air molecules to a far greater extent than the Bybee IQSE devices I had previously been using. Every instrument had greater depth, pop and presence. Listening to classical music on movie soundtracks is incredible now. The Holostages installed on my BACCH4MAC and monoblocks was the answer to what was needed. The noise floor dropped significantly in both cases resulting in greater clarity and music...
Read more

Queen Bee 🐝

Image
  Bees hide an interesting secret. When the hive loses its queen, who alone is able to give life to the colony and maintain order in a perfectly organized society, all seems lost. The life of the hive slows down. Without new eggs, the future is lost. In a few weeks, the colony may be doomed. But the bees do not panic. Nor do they expect salvation from outside. Demonstrating extraordinary collective intelligence and profound instincts, they trigger spectacular emergency procedures, almost unimaginable in a world dominated by insects. --- ◆ The transformation begins with a simple but essential choice The worker bees choose common larvae - those who would normally be mere workers. They are nothing special. They are not born different. But their fate changes completely. They are chosen to receive a special food: royal jelly. A rare substance, produced by healthy bees, rich in proteins, vitamins and bioactive compounds. This is royal food in the purest sense of the word. The larvae fed ...
Read more

Novel Acoustic Wave Discovered

Image
  A new diffraction phenomenon was researched and published on January 14, 2025. The team was led by Tohoku University with collaboration from the Japan atomic energy agency and the RIKEN Center for emergent matter science. Surface acoustic waves (SAWs) are elastic vibrations. They travel along the surface of materials, not unlike ripples on a pond. SAWs are an important part of frequency filters used in every day devices like our cell phones. These devices change electrical signals in vibrations, or ripples. This occurs because of the piezoelectric  effect and it enables efficient signal processing. During this experiment, the team created a periodic array of magnetic nanoscale materials. The magnetic array is a sort of specialized grating that the waves passed through. The scientists were surprised. Instead of the usual symmetric defraction, the team saw something different. They observed a completely new, asymmetrical diffraction of SAWs called ‘non-reciprocal defraction’....
Read more