Electron Neutrino Detected! [at a particle collider]

[Tom.G]

CERN reported that for the first time the Electron Neutrino has been detected.

Short & Simple article:
https://thedebrief.org/cern-physici...ctron-neutrinos-in-groundbreaking-experiment/

The Technical Paper: (Creative Commons license, downloadable)
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.133.021802

Cheers,
Tom

 

[Orodruin]

the electron neutrino was discovered experimentally in 1956.

 

[Islam Hassan]

Can you kindly elaborate on why the electron neutrino was never detected before in a particle accelerator. Was it because of lower energy levels than can be detected with neutrinos captured in cosmic ray detectors?


IH

 

[Hornbein]

the electron neutrino was discovered experimentally in 1956.

It was indirectly shown to exist -- within the framework of accepted theory -- by the detection of certain gamma rays.

 

[Orodruin]

Can you kindly elaborate on why the electron neutrino was never detected before in a particle accelerator. Was it because of lower energy levels than can be detected with neutrinos captured in cosmic ray detectors?


IH

Particle collider. Neutrino cross sections have been studied in several previous accelerator experiments.

 

[Islam Hassan]

Then I don't understand the novelty of this discovery. What exactly is new with this announcement? Maybe the fact that a specific energy range is quoted as indicated by this excerpt from the "Short and Simple" article:

“These are the first measurements of neutrino interaction cross sections in those energy ranges,”

If so, then the thread title is somewhat misleading...


IH

 

[Orodruin]

It was indirectly shown to exist -- within the framework of accepted theory -- by the detection of certain gamma rays.

If you want to hardline it like that, nobody has ever seen a neutrino. Only the indirect effects of neutrinos. And nobody ever will. Or a photon for that matter.

Then I don't understand the novelty of this discovery. What exactly is new with this announcement? Maybe the fact that a specific energy range is quoted as indicated by this excerpt from the "Short and Simple" article:

“These are the first measurements of neutrino interaction cross sections in those energy ranges,”

If so, then the thread title is somewhat misleading...


IH

As always, things get blown out of proportion when media picks up new discoveries. They tend to omit qualifiers such as “in a particle collider”. Then the whispering game is on. Best thing to do: Go to the original source.

The experimental result is certainly new and interesting, but it is not the first time an electron neutrino has been detected. So yes, the title is misleading.

 

[Mordred]

The article in the link specifies it's the first measurement of the cross section in a specified energy range.

 

[Orodruin]

The article in the link specifies it's the first measurement of the cross section in a specified energy range.

Which of the links? The second link is the original source. The first is not and is generally quite misleading.

 

[Mordred]

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.133.021802

Last sentence of the abstract

Quote

"These are the first measurements of neutrino interaction cross sections in those energy ranges."

 

[Orodruin]

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.133.021802

Last sentence of the abstract

Quote

"These are the first measurements of neutrino interaction cross sections in those energy ranges."

Yes, exactly as I said. That is the original source. Nobody claimed they got it wrong … the issue is the other link with the highly exaggerated claims …

 

[Mordred]

Agreed I rarely bother reading the pop media links how they describe a paper is rarely accurate. I usually skip those and go directly to the source paper.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Once you click on the link, they have won. They have no need to have the story correct at that point. It only matters insofar as it might make you more or less likely to click next time. "Live forever with this one simple trick..."

I was not involved in this measurement, but I was involved in motivating it. Neutrinos form an irreducible background to certain searches. You would like a data-driven program to constrain them. (The biggest issue is actually with heavy flavor decays - they are low energy, but you get one almost every crossing)