Short Wave Harnessing The Ghost Particles Blasting Through You
Sep 24, 2024
Jessica Esquivel, an experimental particle physicist at Fermilab, dives into the mysteries of neutrinos and their crucial role in the universe. She explains how these ghostly particles point to why matter overpowered antimatter after the Big Bang. The conversation highlights groundbreaking experiments like the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, aiming to unveil secrets about neutrinos and anti-neutrinos. Esquivel also discusses the implications of proton decay, probing the frontiers of quantum physics and our understanding of existence.
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Matter-Antimatter Asymmetry Mystery
- Matter and antimatter annihilated each other at the universe's beginning.
- A tiny amount of matter survived, creating our matter-dominated universe.
Neutrinos: Ghostly Particles
- Neutrinos, ghost particles, are made when atomic nuclei interact.
- Billions pass through us every second, but they rarely interact with matter.
Neutrino Survival Theories
- One theory suggests neutrinos are their own antiparticle, unaffected by annihilation.
- Another theory posits neutrinos and antineutrinos oscillate differently, leading to matter excess.