There is a solution for neutrinos

Physicists confirm that neutrinos - the type of subatomic particles that are considered to play a fundamental role in the creation of the universe - have mass. This is the first major discovery of the Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search laboratory (Minos), based in the US.

The finding demonstrates that the Standard Model - describing the behavior and interaction of cosmic "bricks" - needs to be reconsidered.

Neutrinos are one of the fundamental constituent particles of matter. They are often referred to as "ghosts" because they can penetrate the universe, the earth's atmosphere and the earth itself, hardly interacting with ordinary matter. This makes studying them very difficult.

Neutrinos are divided into three types: electron, moun and tau.

First, neutrino particles are captured through a particle counter at Fermilab Laboratory.( Photo: BBC )

To test their properties, scientists created muon neutrinos at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) in Illinois, USA. A beam of high-energy particles is fired through a particle counter here, then to another particle counter 742 km away in an abandoned mine in Soudan, USA.

" Because they rarely interact with matter, we can shoot them straight through the earth, and most fly away without causing any effect ," said Dr. Lisa Falk Harris, a member of the Minos group. know.

As a result, fewer neutrinos came to the counter in Soudan than expected.( Photo: BBC )

However, the research team has confirmed that the number of particles discovered in the Soudan mine is less than the number released. Some have actually "disappeared". " What they do is switch to another type of neutrino, " Harris said.

Physicists call the process of converting from a neutrino form to a different oscillator (or subtle oscillation). And to make this transition, particle physics theory says that they need mass.

"The fact that we see them 'disappear' and they make that small transition, means they must have mass ," Dr. Falk Harris stressed.

This is the first result of the experiment at Minos, involving scientists from 32 research institutes in 6 countries. It also confirms previous observations of the "disappearance" of neutrinos, found in 2002 by Japan's K2K laboratory.

Evidence suggests that mass neutrinos will have a profound effect on particle physics. " In particle physics, the Standard Model indicates that neutrinos have no mass. Therefore, the fact that we find means that this Standard Model will have to be reviewed or replaced by something else. ".

In the long run, discovery may also help scientists better understand the mysterious "missing mass" in the universe.

T. An