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Neutrinos

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.