An unexplained gap between theoretical predictions and experimental results could be a sign of the elusive'sterile' neutrino, a particle so quiet it can only be detected by silence.
Adding to previous experimental data hints at something odd in the world of neutrino research. It has been found at the Best experiment.
Physicists have a solid candidate for the Universe's mysterious supply of dark matter, if there is any evidence at all. It could all be related to the models used to describe the quirks of old school neutrinos.
It would be a big moment in the history of physics.
The results are very exciting.
We have seen anomalies in previous experiments. It's not clear what this means. There are conflicting results about sterilizable particles. It would be very interesting if the results show that fundamental nuclear or atomic physics are not understood.
Despite being one of the most abundant particles in the Universe, neutrinos are hard to catch. It's easy to slip through even the densest of materials when you only have a weak nuclear force.
There's more to the neutrino's ghost-like movement. The negatively charged particles echo each other's quantum waves as they zip along.
There were gaps in the timing of the flip-flops that left room for a fourthflavor, one that wouldn't make much of a difference in the nuclear field.
The sterile flavor of neutrino was obscured by a brief pause in its interaction.
Under a mile of rock in Russia's Caucasus Mountains, BEST is protected from the sources of Cosmic Neutrino. It has a double-chambered tank of liquid gallium which is used to collect neutrinos.
After measuring the amount of germanium that had transformed into a germanium isotope in each tank, the researchers were able to determine the number of direct collisions with neutrinos.
Researchers calculated a fifth to a quarter less germanium than expected, suggesting a deficit in the expected number of electron neutrinos.
This doesn't mean that the neutrinos have adopted a sterile flavor. Many other searches for the pale little particle come up empty-handed, leaving open the possibility that the models used to predict the transformations are not completely accurate.
It's not a bad thing. Gaps in the Standard Model could lead to explanations for some of science's big remaining mysteries if there is a correction in the basic framework of nuclear physics.
If this is the mark of the sterile neutrino, we might finally have evidence of a material that exists in large quantities, yet is invisible in space.
The sum of dark matter is dependent on further experimentation on the most ghostliest of ghost particles.
The research was published in two different journals.
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