In my upcoming paper I will be providing a thought experiment that is able to provide an exact model for the neutrino informed by my recently published generalized cyclic functions. Needless to say I have some interest in the developing empirical evidence.
It is my conjecture that the bulk of all neutrinos in the universe are travelling at low speeds outside the gravity wells and thus completely undetectable to date.
In the meantime, the associated mass is 10-9 of the size of a hydrogen atom and thus 10-6 of an electron or thereabouts. Needless to say, our ideas regarding particle physics based on the break up of neutrons are rather premature when we have a busy little particle that has ‘mass’ and is so much smaller than what we can actually handle.
Neutrinos are the best candidate for dark matter and their lack of significant velocity solves their lack of visibility to our best ideas.
1. Cosmologists at UCL are a step closer to determining the mass of the elusive neutrino particle, not by using a giant particle detector, but by gazing up into space. Neutrinos are one of the top candidates for dark matter.
Although it has been shown that a neutrino has a mass, it is vanishingly small and extremely hard to measure – a neutrino is capable of passing through a light year (about six trillion miles) of lead without hitting a single atom.
JUNE 22, 2010
New results using the largest ever survey of galaxies in the universe puts total neutrino mass at no larger than 0.28 electron volts – less than a billionth of the mass of a single hydrogen atom. This is one of the most accurate measurements of the mass of a neutrino to date. The research is due to be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Physical Review Letters
The work is based on the principle that the huge abundance of neutrinos (there are trillions passing through you right now) has a large cumulative effect on the matter of the cosmos, which naturally forms into “clumps” of groups and clusters of galaxies. As neutrinos are extremely light they move across the universe at great speeds which has the effect of smoothing this natural “clumpiness” of matter. By analysing the distribution of galaxies across the universe (i.e. the extent of this “smoothing-out” of galaxies) scientists are able to work out the upper limits of neutrino mass. Although neutrinos make up less than 1% of all matter they form an important part of the cosmological model.
"Ghost particle" sized up by cosmologists
22 June 2010
Cosmologists at UCL are a step closer to determining the mass of the elusive neutrino particle, not by using a giant particle detector, but by gazing up into space.
Although it has been shown that a neutrino has a mass, it is vanishingly small and extremely hard to measure – a neutrino is capable of passing through a light year (about six trillion miles) of lead without hitting a single atom.
New results using the largest ever survey of galaxies in the universe puts total neutrino mass at no larger than 0.28 electron volts – less than a billionth of the mass of a single hydrogen atom. This is one of the most accurate measurements of the mass of a neutrino to date.
The research is due to be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Physical Review Letters, and will be presented at the Weizmann:UK
Professor Ofer Lahav, Head of UCL’s Astrophysics Group, said: “Of all the hypothetical candidates for the mysterious Dark Matter, so far neutrinos provide the only example of dark matter that actually exists in nature. It is remarkable that the distribution of galaxies on huge scales can tell us about the mass of the tiny neutrinos”.
The work is based on the principle that the huge abundance of neutrinos (there are trillions passing through you right now) has a large cumulative effect on the matter of the cosmos, which naturally forms into “clumps” of groups and clusters of galaxies. As neutrinos are extremely light they move across the universe at great speeds which has the effect of smoothing this natural “clumpiness” of matter. By analysing the distribution of galaxies across the universe (i.e. the extent of this “smoothing-out” of galaxies) scientists are able to work out the upper limits of neutrino mass.
Central to this new calculation is the existence of the largest ever 3D map of galaxies, called Mega Z, which covers over 700,000 galaxies recorded by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and allows measurements over vast stretches of the known universe.
The Cosmologists at UCL were able to estimate distances to galaxies using a new method that measures the colour of each of the galaxies. By combining this enormous galaxy map with information from the temperature fluctuations in the after-glow of the Big Bang, called the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation, they were able to put one of the smallest upper limits on the size of the neutrino particle to date.
Dr. Shaun Thomas commented: “Although neutrinos make up less than 1% of all matter they form an important part of the cosmological model. It's fascinating that the most elusive and tiny particles can have such an effect on the Universe.”
Dr. Filipe Abadlla added: "This is one of the most effective techniques available for measuring the neutrino masses. This puts great hopes to finally obtain a measurement of the mass of the neutrino in years to come."
The authors are confident that a larger survey of the Universe, such as the one they are working on called the international Dark Energy Survey, in which UCL is heavily involved, will yield an even more accurate weight for the neutrino, potentially at an upper limit of just 0.1 electron volts.
The work was funded in part by the Science and Technologies Facilities Council and the Royal Society.
Media contact: Clare Ryan
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