The elusive 'ghost particle' neutrino, known for its ability to pass through matter undetected, has been detected at record-breaking energy levels. This discovery offers groundbreaking insights into the most energetic phenomena in the universe and the existence of powerful cosmic particle accelerators.
Scientists have made an extraordinary discovery: the highest-energy neutrino ever detected. This ghostly particle, a type of elementary particle known for its elusive nature, arrived on Earth at nearly the speed of light, carrying 30 times the energy of any previously observed neutrino. This groundbreaking finding offers the first concrete evidence that neutrinos with such immense energies can exist in the universe.
The source of this high-energy neutrino remains a mystery, but the research team has narrowed down the possibilities to 12 potential suspects. All of these suspects are blazars, the incredibly energetic cores of active galactic nuclei (AGNs). These cosmic powerhouses are fueled by supermassive black holes, which are surrounded by vast amounts of matter. The matter spirals into the black hole, releasing immense amounts of energy in the form of radiation.The detection occurred on February 13, 2023, by the KM3NeT observatory, located 11,300 feet (3,450 meters) beneath the Mediterranean Sea. During the event, designated KM3-230213A, a muon, a type of elementary particle, crossed the entire KM3NeT detector, triggering one-third of its thousands of active sensors. The muon's horizontal trajectory, unusual in their atmospheric origin, indicated that it was produced by a high-energy neutrino interacting with matter deep within the Earth's crust and water column.While the neutrino itself wasn't directly detected, its presence was inferred through the muon it produced. The energy of the neutrino was estimated to be 220 million billion electron volts, an astonishing 30,000 times greater than the energy achievable by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world's most powerful particle accelerator. To reach such energies, the LHC would need to be expanded to a size equivalent to the Earth's circumference.The discovery raises exciting questions about the nature of these high-energy phenomena and the existence of powerful particle accelerators in the universe. While the source of this particular neutrino remains unknown, the team suspects that it originated from a blazar, a type of AGN known for its extremely bright jets of matter. Blazars are believed to be capable of accelerating particles to unimaginable energies, potentially providing the conditions necessary for the creation of such energetic neutrinos
Neutrino High-Energy Cosmic Ray Blazar Active Galactic Nucleus Km3net Particle Physics Supermassive Black Hole
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