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PeteGt
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Do neutrinos experience tunneling, and thus we think they have no mass yet they do because they are tunneling?
Pete
Pete
Originally posted by Haelfix
Not really.
Neutrinos are a highly relativistic particle, so the proper treatment involves QFT. Tunneling in QFT is rather subtle and not very apparent, and only really emerges in more of a quantum mechanics setting.
The way they acquire mass is not understood well, and there are many proposals for exactly how they might gain (the very small) mass.
My personal opinion, follows more along the lines of an SO(10) GUT theory seesaw mechanism.
Tunneling refers to the phenomenon in which particles, such as neutrinos, can pass through barriers that would normally be impenetrable to them. This is possible due to the quantum mechanical nature of particles, which allows them to exist in multiple states simultaneously.
Neutrinos have been observed to change flavors (or types) as they travel through space, which is only possible if they are able to tunnel through barriers. This phenomenon has been confirmed through several experiments, including the famous Super-Kamiokande experiment in Japan.
Neutrinos are considered to be "ghost particles" because they have extremely low mass and do not interact with matter very often. This allows them to easily pass through barriers, as they are not affected by the forces that hold matter together.
The ability for neutrinos to tunnel through barriers is dependent on their energy level. Higher energy neutrinos have a greater chance of tunneling through barriers, while lower energy neutrinos may not have enough energy to do so.
Neutrino tunneling has important implications in the field of astrophysics, as it allows us to study the behavior of neutrinos from distant sources. It also has potential uses in technology, such as in the development of more efficient solar cells.