Neutrinos

Why in news?

• Recently, a team of physicists working in CERN’s Large Hadron Collider announced the facility’s first detection of neutrinos.

What are neutrinos?

• Neutrinos are fundamental particles belonging to the lepton family.
• Predicted in 1931, neutrinos were detected for the first time in 1959 and are now considered to be the second most abundant particle in the universe after the photon or light particle.
• Neutrinos are created by various radioactive decays; during a supernova, by cosmic rays striking atoms etc.
• Neutrinos are extremely tiny elementary particles that are omnipresent in universe but very difficult to detect because they pass seamlessly through all kinds of matter. They interact very weakly and hence are harmless.
• They are considered mass less according to the Standard Model of Particle Physics. However recent experiments indicate that these charge-neutral fundamental particles have finite but small mass which is unknown.
• They are not affected by electromagnetic forces which act on electrons.
• Neutrinos are not part of the atom and as an elementary particle it cannot be broken into further smaller pieces.
• Neutrinos can also be made artificially. They are produced in radioactive decays and in nuclear reactors.
• They change from one type to another as they travel. This conversion is called as neutrino oscillation.

Significance:

• Neutrinos are believed to hold important clues to some of the basic questions on the universe.

Add ons:

• India is constructing a major research project for nuclear physics research in Theni district of Tamil Nadu, named India-based  Neutrino Observatory (INO).

PRACTICE QUESTION

Which of the following statements are correct regarding ‘Neutrinos’?

1. They are not affected by electromagnetic forces which act on electrons

2. They are fundamental particles belonging to the lepton family

3. They can also be made artificially

Select the correct answer using the code given below

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1,2 and 3

Answer