Photon and Neutrino detector and photon trawl device

[ginov2000]

Summary:: Hello I am a writer and presently working on treatment for a science-fiction story. So I am not a scientist, just a neophyte interested in science and wanting to write a fiction that would not be too far-fetched and that would make some sense for everyone, including the scientific community.

I would like to know the following: if a scientist is looking for neutrinos in a neutrino detector, could he (she) also find, detect photons (considering that a photon is massless)? (I can imagine you wince right now, sorry). Also I would need the protagonist to also develop a 'photon trawl', a device capable of collecting photons from space, and analyze the 'catch' using quantic computer and AI.

Bear in mind that even though this is currently impossible, it just needs to make some scientific sense. It is science fiction! :)

Best regards!

G. Vincelli

[Post edited by a Mentor]

 

[anorlunda]

Also I would need the protagonist to also develop a 'photon trawl', a device capable of collecting photons from space,

Do you mean a telescope?

 

[ginov2000]

Hello Anorlunda, this may sound like a weird idea. It would be a device I call a 'photon trawl' capable of entrapping photons just like a trawl entraps fish. A giant photon net. It could be based on the telescope. Maybe thousands of miniature telescopes on a device, and thousands of those devices interconnected and spread out across space, and each mini telescopes as powerful as today's best telescope... sci-fi... But my initial idea was that a photon could also be detected in a neutrino detector since they have similarities.

 

[anorlunda]

Maybe thousands of miniature telescopes on a device, and thousands of those devices interconnected and spread out across space

Why not? We already have multiple mirror telescopes, maybe not thousands, but no defined maximum number of mirrors.

Soon we'll have the James Webb Space Telescope with multiple mirrors.

There's also no physics saying that one detector can't include multiple sensors to measure more than one thing at a time.

 

[Melbourne Guy]

I would like to know the following: if a scientist is looking for neutrinos in a neutrino detector, could he (she) also find, detect photons

You'll need some handwavium to do this, assuming you're keeping your sci-fi inline with our current understanding of physics. That's because, neutrinos barely interact so detectors typically comprise large tanks of some material that is well isolated where the occasional neutrino collision triggers an observable reaction...which often results in a photon, which is used to infer details of the neutrino. Basically, if you're looking for neutrinos, you don't generally want extra photons in your detector.

I used 'concentrated weak bosons' as my handwavium for a neutrino detector in one of my novels. Really, unless you're drilling into the sensor suite as a core part of the narrative, just make something up and get on with the story.

...wanting to write a fiction that would not be too far-fetched and that would make some sense for everyone, including the scientific community.

This is tricky, as you seem to understand from your "this is currently impossible" observation, and especially if you do not have the scientific background sufficient to write an accurate account. My suggestion is to go hard on your plot and narrative, and use the science as a scaffold for that. Engage the readers with relatable characters, emotional exposition, and imaginative concepts and don't worry about making it technically correct. You're writing a novel, not a user manual, after all!

 

[anorlunda]

wanting to write a fiction that would not be too far-fetched and that would make some sense for everyone, including the scientific community.

How about a team of scientists saying, "We have more than enough financial support." Nah, too far fetched.

 

[Vanadium 50]

How about a team of scientists saying, "We have more than enough financial support."

That's not science fiction. That's fantasy.