It’s even doable that neutrinos can act as their very own antiparticles—that’s, that neutrinos might flip into antineutrinos and vice versa. This state of affairs, which the invention of right-handed neutrinos would assist, would make neutrinos basically totally different from extra acquainted particles like quarks and electrons. If antineutrinos can flip into neutrinos, that might assist clarify the place the antimatter went through the universe’s earliest moments.
One solution to check this concept is to search for an uncommon kind of radioactive decay — theorized however to date by no means noticed—referred to as “neutrinoless double-beta decay.” In common double-beta decay, two neutrons in a nucleus concurrently decay into protons, releasing two electrons and two antineutrinos within the course of. But when neutrinos can act as their very own antiparticles, then the 2 neutrinos might annihilate one another, leaving solely the 2 electrons and a burst of power.
Numerous experiments are underway or deliberate to search for this decay course of, together with the KamLAND-Zen experiment, on the Kamioka neutrino detection facility in Japan; the nEXO experiment on the SNOLAB facility in Ontario, Canada; the NEXT experiment on the Canfranc Underground Laboratory in Spain; and the LEGEND experiment on the Gran Sasso laboratory in Italy. KamLAND-Zen, NEXT, and LEGEND are already up and operating.
Whereas these experiments differ within the particulars, all of them make use of the identical basic technique: They use a large vat of dense, radioactive materials with arrays of detectors that search for the emission of unusually energetic electrons. (The electrons’ anticipated neutrino companions can be lacking, with the power they’d have had as a substitute carried by the electrons.)
Whereas the neutrino stays one of the mysterious of the recognized particles, it’s slowly however steadily giving up its secrets and techniques. Because it does so, it might crack the puzzle of our matter-dominated universe — a universe that occurs to permit inquisitive creatures like us to flourish. The neutrinos that zip silently by your physique each second are step by step revealing the universe in a brand new mild.
“I feel we’re coming into a really thrilling period,” says Turner.
This text initially appeared in Knowable Journal, a nonprofit publication devoted to creating scientific data accessible to all. Join Knowable Journal’s publication.
