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In February 2023, a cosmic particle detector housed heavy successful the Mediterranean Sea recorded the accomplishment of a neutrino with astir 20 to 30 times much vigor than immoderate different neutrino documented previously. Labelled KM3-230213A, the particle had a calculated vigor of 220 petaelectronvolts (PeV), acold greater than the 10 PeV of the antecedently astir energetic neutrino. The uncovering generated a batch of excitement among physicists, but raised besides galore questions.
Neutrinos are the most abundant particles successful the beingness with mass. They are a benignant of cardinal particle, which means they don’t interruption down into smaller constituents, and are truthful precise tiny and light. In fact, they are the lightest of each subatomic particles that person mass. Neutrinos besides don’t person a complaint (unlike, say, electrons, different benignant of cardinal particle, which are negative). As a result, lone precise seldom bash neutrinos interact with with different matter; often they’ll walk consecutive done it without altering it. In fact, trillions of neutrinos travelling done abstraction volition person passed done your assemblage since you started speechmaking this article. For this crushed neutrinos sometimes called “ghost particles.”
For particle physicists, the detection of this anomalously energetic neutrino could lone beryllium explained successful 2 ways: Either KM3-230213A was grounds of a cosmic process, perchance 1 ne'er witnessed before, with the imaginable to alteration our knowing of neutrinos; oregon it was a disappointing measurement error. Researchers rapidly acceptable to enactment to find retired which mentation was true.
Now determination seems to beryllium an answer. A broad survey published successful the diary Physical Review X compared the information of KM3-230213A with databases of accusation connected different shade particles that person been detected. Having analyzed the disposable data, scientists judge that this remarkable, ultra-energetic neutrino was not a statistical illusion.
But Where Did It Come From?
Just arsenic a stone cannot picture the quality of a mountain, a 220 PeV neutrino unsocial isn’t utile successful explaining the improvement that gave emergence to it. As the insubstantial acknowledges, with the accusation available, it’s not imaginable to “draw steadfast conclusions connected whether the reflection hints astatine a caller ultra-high-energy constituent successful the spectrum.”
But if determination were different recordings of likewise energetic neutrinos, this would contiguous a important beforehand by hinting that different antecedently unseen phenomena are retired there. “It could mean we are seeing cosmogenic neutrinos for the archetypal time, produced erstwhile cosmic rays interacted with the cosmic microwave background, oregon it could constituent to a caller benignant of astrophysical source,” the survey says.
The vigor of the 2023 neutrino besides suggests it could person been emitted by 1 of the almighty cosmic accelerators that we’re alert of successful the universe: a gamma-ray burst oregon supernova, oregon possibly a relativistic jet—a beam of plasma emitted from the vicinity of a achromatic hole. In contrast, galore of the neutrinos detected connected Earth are atmospheric neutrinos, produced by the interaction of cosmic rays hitting atoms successful Earth’s atmosphere, and are acold little energetic. They are the aforesaid particles, but their apt origins interaction their energy.
Different branches of subject usage and survey neutrinos for antithetic reasons. Because neutrinos question done the beingness without being deflected oregon absorbed, they tin supply invaluable accusation astir precise distant cosmic events. Some scientists deliberation of them arsenic “reporters from the universe” who, from clip to time, question to Earth with information that would different beryllium lost.
This communicative primitively appeared on WIRED en Español and has been translated from Spanish.
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