What Are the Properties and Uses of Anti-Neutrinos?

  • Context: Graduate 
  • Thread starter Thread starter benzun_1999
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Properties
Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the properties and uses of anti-neutrinos, exploring their characteristics, differences from neutrinos, and related theoretical questions. Participants delve into concepts such as helicity, mass, and the potential for neutrinos to be their own antiparticles, while also addressing the challenges in detecting these particles.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested
  • Mathematical reasoning

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants describe anti-neutrinos as the anti-particles of neutrinos, noting that they possess opposite quantum properties such as charge and helicity.
  • There is a discussion about whether neutrinos and anti-neutrinos are the same, with some asserting they are not due to differences in helicity and behavior under interactions.
  • A participant references a paper discussing the possibility of neutrinos being their own antiparticles and the implications of such a scenario, including unusual electromagnetic properties.
  • Another participant mentions the seesaw mechanism as a way to explain the smallness of neutrino mass and suggests that the idea of neutrinos being their own antiparticles is largely ruled out by experiments.
  • Helicity is discussed, with varying definitions provided; some participants assert it relates to the direction of momentum concerning spin, while others clarify it as the projection of total angular momentum on the momentum direction.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on whether neutrinos and anti-neutrinos are the same, with no consensus reached. There is also a lack of agreement on the precise definition of helicity, indicating ongoing debate.

Contextual Notes

The discussion includes unresolved questions about the nature of neutrinos and anti-neutrinos, the implications of their properties, and the definitions of key terms like helicity. Some assumptions about particle behavior and interactions remain unaddressed.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be of interest to those studying particle physics, particularly in the context of neutrino research, as well as individuals curious about the fundamental properties of subatomic particles.

benzun_1999
Messages
260
Reaction score
0
hi,

What are anti-nutrinos? what are their properties.
i know what is an nutrino but an anti nutrino looks confusing.

-Benzun
 
Physics news on Phys.org
benzun_1999 said:
hi,

What are anti-nutrinos? what are their properties.
i know what is an nutrino but an anti nutrino looks confusing.

-Benzun

Tne anti-neutrino is the neutrino's anti-particle just like the electron and the positron. An anti-particle has opposite quantum-properties like charge, helicity and so on...

Neutrino's don't have charge and they have a very very small mass. they were postulated because so that beta decay would respect energy conservation. Given the zero charge and small mass they 'hardly' interact with matter around them, which makes it very difficult to detect them.

the most striking difference between the neutrino and it's anti-particle is the helicity or handedness. this site explains it :

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/particles/neutrino3.html#c1

Keep in mind that there are several types of neutrino's, of which the electron (anti)-neutrino (the one from beta decay)is the 'most famous'

Here is more on neutrino's : http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/particles/neutrino.html#c1
marlon
 
There is an open question concerning neutrinos and anti-neutrinos. Specifically, are they the same or not?
 
mathman said:
There is an open question concerning neutrinos and anti-neutrinos. Specifically, are they the same or not?

No they are not. Not all physical quanities that define such particles are the same. Just look at their helicity. But then again what about behaviour under interactions ?


marlon
 
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology, abstract
hep-ph/0504052
From: Boris Kayser [view email]
Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2005 01:13:06 GMT (34kb)

Neutrino Intrinsic Properties: The Neutrino-Antineutrino Relation
Authors: Boris Kayser
Comments: 9 Pages, 3 figures; Nobel Symposium on Neutrino Physics

Are neutrinos their own antiparticles? We explain why they very well might be. Then, after highlighting the fact that, to determine experimentally whether they are or not, one must overcome the smallness of neutrino masses, we discuss the one approach that nevertheless shows great promise. Finally, we turn to the consequences of neutrinos being their own antiparticles. These consequences include unusual electromagnetic properties, and manifestly CP-violating effects from ``Majorana'' phases that have no quark analogu
 
The smallness of the neutrino mass could be given rather trivially by the seesaw mechanism... Typically this is done in the context of a small Majorana mass term. If you don't like that, just add an adhoc right handed Dirac or Majorana neutrino species and finetune away.

As to being their own antiparticle, that's more or less ruled out by experiment now.
 
Thanks morlon. The link u gave was very helpful. can anyone just explain hellicity a bit clearly. is it direction of momentum of a particle with respect to spin?
 
benzun_1999 said:
can anyone just explain hellicity a bit clearly. is it direction of momentum of a particle with respect to spin?

yes it is

marlon
 
Nope,it is the projection of the total angular momentum on the direction of the momentum...

Daniel.
 
  • #10
spin is angular momentum dexter, don't start whining...



to the OP : you are correct : The relative orientations of spin and linear momentum .

marlon
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 28 ·
Replies
28
Views
4K
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
2K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
2K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
3K
  • · Replies 15 ·
Replies
15
Views
2K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
2K
  • · Replies 15 ·
Replies
15
Views
4K
  • · Replies 26 ·
Replies
26
Views
4K