By U.S. Department of Energy January 13, 2024Scientists from the BEST experiment have actually spotted a deficiency in germanium 71 production from neutrino interactions, suggesting the possible presence of the sterilized neutrino. Credit: SciTechDaily.comThe Baksan Experiment on Sterile Transitions (BEST) finds proof of the sterilized neutrino, a hypothetical particle that engages only via gravity.Scientists have validated possible proof of a brand-new elementary particle, the sterile neutrino. Researchers had found a similar gallium abnormality in a precursor experiment.Unraveling the Neutrino MysteryThe experiment discovered that the germanium 71 yield was 20% to 24% lower than expected, based on the intensity of the neutrino source and on scientists understanding of how neutrinos are taken in. Credit: A.A. ShikhinBEST Experiment: A Deep Dive into Neutrino BehaviorBEST is an experiment more than a mile underground in the Baksan Neutrino Observatory in Russias Caucasus Mountains.
By U.S. Department of Energy January 13, 2024Scientists from the BEST experiment have spotted a deficiency in germanium 71 production from neutrino interactions, recommending the possible presence of the sterilized neutrino. This anomaly, consistent with previous findings, challenges existing theories and may indicate brand-new physics or unresolved experimental mistakes. Credit: SciTechDaily.comThe Baksan Experiment on Sterile Transitions (BEST) finds proof of the sterile neutrino, a hypothetical particle that engages just by means of gravity.Scientists have confirmed possible evidence of a brand-new primary particle, the sterile neutrino. These particles, if they exist, engage only through gravity, not any of the other forces in the Standard Model of Particle Physics.The arises from the Baksan Experiment on Sterile Transitions (BEST) verify an anomaly discovered in earlier solar neutrino source experiments. BEST irradiated a tank of gallium, a soft silvery metal that is liquid at room temperature, utilizing an intense source of neutrinos from decays of radioactive chromium. The neutrinos respond in the gallium to produce the isotope germanium 71. This isotope can be drawn out from the gallium and counted.The researchers found significantly smaller sized amounts of germanium than expected based upon recognized nuclear physics. Researchers had discovered a comparable gallium anomaly in a precursor experiment.Unraveling the Neutrino MysteryThe experiment discovered that the germanium 71 yield was 20% to 24% lower than expected, based upon the intensity of the neutrino source and on scientists understanding of how neutrinos are soaked up. These findings are counter to theoretical forecasts. They are consistent with earlier results on what researchers call the gallium anomaly.The scientists divided the target into external and inner volumes to browse for an indicator of neutrino oscillations. This is a recognized phenomenon in which an electron neutrino changes into another “taste,” such as a muon neutrino, which arises from neutrinos having mass. The scientists did not observe signs of these oscillations. The origin of the abnormality remains a mystery.The BEST apparatus under building. This image reveals the inner tank, with a BEST researcher standing in the external tank. Credit: A.A. ShikhinBEST Experiment: A Deep Dive into Neutrino BehaviorBEST is an experiment more than a mile underground in the Baksan Neutrino Observatory in Russias Caucasus Mountains. It was created to check out the deficit of electron neutrinos (ne) previously reported in the four calibration experiments performed by the SAGE and GALLEX solar neutrino partnerships. In this research study, researchers utilized about 47 metric heaps of liquid gallium (Ga) metal, divided into 2 concentric zones, as the target for the absorption of neutrinos by means of the response 71Ga (ne, e)71Ge. They put the chromium-51 neutrino source at the center of the gallium target, irradiating both zones. As the neutrino path length in each zone is about a meter, BEST has a high sensitivity to oscillations happening on that scale, representing distinctions in the square of neutrino masses of about 1 eV2 (a very small amount in the nuclear physics world). The scientists determined the strength of the source by calorimetry and other approaches to a precision of better than 1%. The neutrino absorption sample has a minimum value set by the known electron-capture life time of 71-germanium. The persistence of this anomaly is confusing. It could suggest either some unknown experimental artifact that has actually up until now averted discovery or new physics capable of accounting for a suddenly large deficit of neutrinos.References:”Results from the Baksan Experiment on Sterile Transitions (BEST)” by V. V. Barinov et al., 9 June 2022, Physical Review Letters.DOI: 10.1103/ PhysRevLett.128.232501″Search for electron-neutrino transitions to sterilized states in the BEST experiment” by V. V. Barinov et al., 9 June 2022, Physical Review C.DOI: 10.1103/ PhysRevC.105.065502 This work is supported by the Department of Energy Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics and by the Federal Agency for Scientific Organizations, Ministry of Education and Science of Russian Federation, State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom.
