Neutrinos:
Neutrinos play an important role in particle physics and astrophysics. It is a fundamental elementary particle, and atmospheric neutrinos can be studied when solar radiation hits the Earth’s atmosphere.
- Neutrinos are subatomic particles that have no electric charge, have a small mass, and are left-handed (the direction of its spin is opposite to the direction of its motion).
- They are the second-most abundant particles in the universe after photons and the most abundant among particles that make up matter.
- Neutrinos interact with matter very rarely, making them difficult to study.
- Neutrinos can change from one type (electron-neutrino, muon-neutrino, tau-neutrino) to another as they travel and interact with other particles, a phenomenon called neutrino oscillation.
- Neutrinos can carry information across large distances due to their low interaction rate with matter.
- They could potentially be used to transmit information, replacing electromagnetic waves in communication channels.
- Physicists have built large and sensitive detectors to study neutrinos and maximise the number of interactions between neutrinos and the detector’s matter.
- India’s Neutrino Observatory project is proposed to be set up at Pottipuram village in Theni (Tamil Nadu) in a 1,200-metre-deep cave.
