It comes in three varieties, the electron neutrino νe, the muon neutrino νμ, and the tau neutrino ντ. The electron neutrino is by far the most common, the muon and tau neutrinos are much more massive and rare. Theoretical physicists believe that there is a possibility that neutrinos can 'oscillate' between the three types; however, this is only possible if the electron neutrino actually has non-zero mass, which is not yet known. |
It comes in three varieties, the electron neutrino νe, the muon neutrino νμ, and the tau neutrino ντ. Theoretical physicists believe that there is a possibility that neutrinos can 'oscillate' between the three types; however, this is only possible if neutrinos have non-zero mass, which is not yet known. The question of neutrino mass also has cosmological significance. If the neutrino does have mass, then it could make up a signficant fraction of the mass of the universe and help resolve the dark matter problem. |
Because the neutrino only interacts with the weak nuclear force, when moving through matter its chance of actually reacting with it are very low; the great of majority flies through anything without effect. It would take a light year of lead to block half the neutrinos flowing through it. Neutrino detectors therefore typically contain hundreds of tons of a material constructed so that a few atoms per day would interact with the incoming neutrinos.
It comes in three varieties, the electron neutrino νe, the muon neutrino νμ, and the tau neutrino ντ. Theoretical physicists believe that there is a possibility that neutrinos can 'oscillate' between the three types; however, this is only possible if neutrinos have non-zero mass, which is not yet known. The question of neutrino mass also has cosmological significance. If the neutrino does have mass, then it could make up a signficant fraction of the mass of the universe and help resolve the dark matter problem.
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See also solar neutrino problem, particle physics.