Muon neutrino
| Composition | Elementary particle |
|---|---|
| Statistics | Fermionic |
| Generation | Second |
| Interactions | Weak, Gravity |
| Symbol | ν μ |
| Antiparticle | Muon antineutrino (ν μ) |
| Theorized | (1940s) |
| Discovered | Leon Lederman, Melvin Schwartz and Jack Steinberger (1962) |
| Mass | Small but non-zero. See neutrino mass. |
| Electric charge | 0 e |
| Color charge | No |
| Spin | 1⁄2 |
| Weak isospin | LH: ?, RH: ? |
| Weak hypercharge | LH: ?, RH: ? |
The muon neutrino is a subatomic lepton elementary particle which has the symbol ν
μ and no net electric charge. Together with the muon it forms the second generation of leptons, hence its name muon neutrino. It was first hypothesized in the early 1940s by several people,[citation needed] and was discovered in 1962 by Leon Lederman, Melvin Schwartz and Jack Steinberger. The discovery was rewarded with the 1988 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Discovery
In 1962 Leon M. Lederman, Melvin Schwartz and Jack Steinberger showed[1] that more than one type of neutrino exists by first detecting interactions of the muon neutrino (already hypothesised with the name neutretto[2]), which earned them the 1988 Nobel Prize.[3]
Speed
In September 2011, OPERA researchers observed muon neutrinos traveling apparently at faster than lightspeed (see: Faster-than-light neutrino anomaly). This result was confirmed again in a second November experiment. These results have been viewed sceptically by the scientific community at large, and more experiments have/are investigating the phenomenon. In March 2012, the ICARUS team published results directly contradicting the results of OPERA. [4]
See also
References
- ^ G. Danby, J.-M. Gaillard, K. Goulianos, L. M. Lederman, N. B. Mistry, M. Schwartz, J. Steinberger (1962). "Observation of high-energy neutrino reactions and the existence of two kinds of neutrinos". Physical Review Letters 9: 36. Bibcode 1962PhRvL...9...36D. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.9.36. http://www.slac.stanford.edu/spires/find/hep/www?j=PRLTA,9,36.
- ^ I.V. Anicin (2005). "The Neutrino - Its Past, Present and Future". SFIN (Institute of Physics, Belgrade) year XV, Series A: Conferences, No. A 2: 3–59. arXiv:physics/0503172. Bibcode 2005physics...3172A.
- ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1988". The Nobel Foundation. http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1988/index.html. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
- ^ M. Antonello et at. (2012). Measurement of the neutrino velocity with the ICARUS detector at the CNGS beam. http://arxiv.org/abs/1203.3433v3
Further reading
- Leon M. Lederman (1988). "Observations in Particle Physics from Two Neutrinos to the Standard Model". Nobel Lectures. The Nobel Foundation. http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1988/lederman-lecture.pdf. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
- Melvin Schwartz (1988). "The First High Energy Neutrino Experiment". Nobel Lectures. The Nobel Foundation. http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1988/schwartz-lecture.pdf. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
- Jack Steinberger (1988). "Experiments with High-Energy Neutrino Beams". Nobel Lectures. The Nobel Foundation. http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1988/steinberger-lecture.pdf. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
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