Pictured is the Super-Kamiokande, a giant neutrino detector, buried 1000m underground in Japan. Usually filled with 50,000 tonnes of pure water, the observatory was designed to search for proton decay, study solar and atmospheric neutrinos, and keep watch for supernovae in the Milky Way Galaxy.
A neutrino interaction with the electrons or nuclei of water can produce a charged particle that moves faster than the speed of light in water (not to be confused with exceeding the speed of light in a vacuum, which is impossible). This creates a cone of light known as Cherenkov radiation, which is the optical equivalent to a sonic boom.
The Cherenkov light is projected as a ring on the wall of the detector and recorded by the PMTs. Using the timing and charge information recorded by each PMT, the interaction vertex, ring direction and flavor of the incoming neutrino is determined. From the sharpness of the edge of the ring the type of particle can be inferred. The multiple scattering of electrons is large, so electromagnetic showers produce fuzzy rings. Highly relativistic muons, in contrast, travel almost straight through the detector and produce rings with sharp edges.
Know more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super-Kamiokande
Image via imgur
Ah SuperK! My wife works in MINOS and NovA, the two US competing long baseline experiments. Neutrino physics is very cool.
ReplyDeleteThat is certainly impressive (if it is indeed what it looks like). There is so much we don't know and probably never will, but human curiosity means we will never stop looking and discovering more about the universe around us
ReplyDeleteThis post is not about poor people, obesity, food...or other unrelated subjects. So all the BS about saving the world by commenting from the comfort of your living room is not just wrong..is stupid - therefore your comment has been deleted.
ReplyDeleteThis giant neutrino detector is absolutely amazing..now, on that note if you have nothing to say related to this, feel free to not comment.
I worked on the Sudbury Neutrino Detector decades ago. These days the Ice Cube at the southern pole has a higher maximum energy limit but nerve not higher sensitivity since they don't control the radioactive impurities ion the ice.
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