China already has one of the most advanced observatories on the planet to hunt the most elusive particle that exists

Neutrinos are The most elusive particles of nature. They were first described from a theoretical point of view in 1930 by Austrian physicist Wolfgang Ernst Pauli, one of the parents of Quantum physics (We owe, among other contributions, known as exclusion principle). However, its experimental discovery took place two and a half decades later, in 1956. We owe it to American physicists Frederick Reines and Clyde Cowan.

There is a forceful reason that explains why these particles are so difficult to detect: They barely interact with ordinary matter. In addition, its mass is very tiny, its electric charge is neutral and are not influenced by strong nuclear interaction or electromagnetic force, although due to gravity and weak nuclear interaction. There is no doubt that they are very special particles.

Scientists often illustrate how difficult it is to capture a neutrino explaining that every second trillion of these particles go through both the earth and us without colliding with any other particle. You can also illustrate how elusive that they are using quantum mechanics, which ensures that it would be necessary to manufacture a lead plate with a light year thickness to ensure that half of the neutrinos that go through it collide with the particles of the lead block.

The Jiangmen Observatory is ready to hunt neutrinos

Despite how elusive neutrinos are, we have several observatories that are able to detect them. One of them is The Japanese Super-Kamiokande. This installation is located in Hida, a city located in the central area of ​​Honshu, the largest island in the Japanese archipelago. It is built in a mine, 1 km deep, and measures 40 meters high and another 40 meters wide, which gives a volume similar to that of a fifteen floors building.

However, the authentic protagonist of this article is the Underground Observatory of Neutrinos of Jiangmen, which is housed in the Chinese province of Guangdong. Like the Super-Kamiokande Japanese, Juno, which is how this Chinese observatory is known for its English denomination (Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory), It is a real monster. His heart is a cylindrical pool 44 meters deep that is housed in an underground chamber with granite walls.

The neutrin detector consists of a 41.1 meters in diameter stainless steel mesh that supports an acrylic sphere of 35.4 meters in diameter. This container is full of a very exotic liquid expressly designed to interact with neutrinos and produce a light of light that can be detected. Juno contains no less than 20,000 tons of this liquid, which allows him to erect himself as the largest neutrin detector on the planet.

The composition of this fluid seeks to maximize the amount of light generated by the interaction of each neutrino. Its three fundamental components are linear alkyl benzene, which acts as a solvent; 2,5-difeniloxazole, which is the molecule that is excited when a neutrino interacts with herwhich causes the emission of a flash of light; And, finally, 1.4-bis (2-methylstiril) benzene, which absorbs the ultraviolet light that emits 2.5-difeniloxazole and re-enters it with a longer wavelength that is easier to detect.

The flashes of light are collected by 45,000 photomultiplier tubes that cover the inner surface of the sphere. By measuring the intensity, position and duration of these flashes, scientists can reconstruct the trajectory and energy of each neutrino. And all this for what? Wang Yifang explains it to usJuno spokesman: “This observatory will allow scientists to address fundamental questions about the nature of matter and the universe.” Neither more nor less.

Image | Generated by Xataka with Google Gemini

More information | Digital Diario

In Xataka | The future circular collider of CERN will cost 20,000 million euros. Can leave us cheap