Archive

Neutrinos 101

Learn more about the invisible particles constantly streaming through us all.

Illustration: A scientist studies the forms before her without realizing the forms behind her

03/07/23

Do hidden influences give neutrinos their tiny mass?

The quest to understand the small mass of neutrinos is also a quest to discover new particles.

Illustration of a person measuring a "Supernova" car with a measuring tape

01/24/23

Ways to weigh a neutrino

For decades scientists have tried to find a way to measure the mass of the lightest matter particle known to exist. Three new approaches now have a chance to succeed.

Illustration of a scientist holding a bunch of balloons, one of which is different from the others

08/04/22

Why aren’t neutrinos adding up?

Physicists take on the mystery of the missing (and extra) neutrinos.

Illustration: Neutrinos revealed in particle physics advent calendar with scientists eyeing another possibility

08/17/21

The search for the sterile neutrino

Back when it was theorized, scientists weren’t sure they would ever detect the neutrino; now they’re searching for a version of the particle that could be even more elusive.

05/13/21

Which neutrino is the heaviest?

The question may seem simple, but physicists don’t yet know the answer. New measurements aim to change that.

The LBNF beamline will use a one-megawatt capable focusing horn to direct the charged particles that become neutrinos.

11/13/19

How do you make the world’s most powerful neutrino beam?

DUNE will need lots of neutrinos—and to make them, scientists and engineers will use extreme versions of some common sounding ingredients: magnets and pencil lead.

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09/04/13

Upgraded Fermilab neutrino beam back in business

After more than a year of improvements, Fermilab's accelerator complex has begun sending neutrinos to experiments at the lab and in Minnesota.

08/27/13

Neutrinoless double beta decay

The observation of neutrinoless double beta decay would suggest that, by itself, the Standard Model Higgs cannot give mass to neutrinos.

08/22/13

Daya Bay furthers neutrino knowledge

A new Daya Bay result advances our understanding of neutrinos by precisely measuring their oscillation behavior at different energies.

08/09/13

Miniboone the band meets MiniBooNE the experiment

A New York rock band named after a Fermilab neutrino experiment recently visited their namesake for the first time.

08/02/13

The tale of Fermilab’s ‘elephant doors’

A set of twin doors take on two very different purposes at Fermilab and Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo.

07/19/13

T2K experiment catches neutrinos in the act

For the first time, an experiment has definitively observed the appearance of neutrinos that have changed from one type to another.

07/16/13

GERDA investigates the identity of the neutrino

Scientists on the GERDA experiment have placed new limits on a process that could reveal the true character of the neutrino.

06/18/13

Journey from the center of the Earth

Subatomic particles streaming from the Earth’s interior carry important evidence of the planet’s origins.

Illustration of Cinderella and her pumpkin: diagonally split orange and blue background

06/07/13

Winner: Cinderella’s convertible carriage

Reader Emily Conover wins symmetry’s latest contest with her fairy-tale description of neutrino oscillation.

Illustration of man driving truck with ice cream cones in back

05/10/13

Symmetry challenge: Neutrino oscillation analogy

Symmetry is on the hunt for the best analogy to describe neutrino oscillation, the process by which a neutrino changes from one flavor to the next.

04/23/13

Icy experiment catches record-energy neutrinos

The IceCube experiment makes what could be an important step toward using neutrinos to find the source of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays.

03/27/13

NOvA neutrino detector sees first particles

The NOvA neutrino detector, currently under construction, has already begun to take data from cosmic rays.

03/26/13

OPERA snags third tau neutrino

For the third time since the OPERA detector began receiving beam in 2006, the experiment has caught a muon neutrino oscillating into a tau neutrino.

02/14/13

Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment

The Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment aims to discover whether neutrinos violate the fundamental matter–antimatter symmetry of physics.

Illustration of Neutrinos, standard model misfits

02/12/13

Neutrinos, the Standard Model misfits

For years, scientists thought that neutrinos fit perfectly into the Standard Model. But they don't. By better understanding these strange, elusive particles, scientists seek to better understand the workings of all the universe, one discovery at a time.

Illustration blue background, white letters "editorial"

01/02/13

The discoveries continue

The discoveries of 2012 point the way to more exciting physics in 2013 and the decades beyond.