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Cato
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Would neutrinos emitted in the distant and early universe be slowed enough to become thermal neutrinos? Could these be detected?
mfb said:The cosmic neutrino background should be thermal. PTOLEMY is a plan to measure it.
Neutrinos emitted by nuclear processes after the big bang are not thermal, even if they become slow in the very distant future their energy spectrum will look different.
Cato said:Do the cosmic background neutrinos remain in thermal equilibrium by interacting with matter? Or are they thermal simply because of the effects of expansion?
Thus the photon density has been given a black-body form even after hye photons went out of equilibrium with matter, but with a redshifted temperature.
The most massive neutrinos become non-relativistic well after radiation matter inequality. We can estimate the non-relativistic redshift by setting the mean energy per neutrino equal to the mass.
Thermal neutrinos are a type of neutrino that are created through thermal processes, meaning they are produced at high temperatures. They are often associated with processes such as nuclear fusion or supernova explosions.
Thermal neutrinos are different from other types of neutrinos because they are created at much higher temperatures. This means they have higher energies and can travel longer distances before interacting with matter.
Studying thermal neutrinos can provide valuable insights into high-energy processes, such as the formation of stars and the evolution of the universe. They can also help us understand the properties of neutrinos, which are still poorly understood particles.
Scientists use large underground detectors, such as the Super-Kamiokande detector in Japan, to detect thermal neutrinos. These detectors are filled with a large amount of water or other liquid and are sensitive to the tiny flashes of light that are produced when a neutrino interacts with the detector material.
While thermal neutrinos do not have any practical applications at the moment, studying them could lead to advancements in technologies such as nuclear reactors and medical imaging. Additionally, understanding the properties of neutrinos could have implications for our understanding of the fundamental laws of physics.