Over at theEnriched Xenon Laboratory(pictured ) at Stanford , something very tiny is going on . So tiny , in fact , that it involves finding “ a single barium molecule in a 10 long ton bathing tub of liquidity xenon–10 ^ 28 atoms . ” ( That ’s 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 atom to you . ) Researchers are trying to observe something call “ neutrinoless bivalent beta decay , ” which must be nerveless because it involves anti - particle . I ’ll letSymmetry Breaking explainthe weirdness :
This means watching for an isotope of atomic number 54 disintegrate into atomic number 56 , throw off two electrons ( the double beta disintegration ) , but without giving out any neutrino . A beta decay process gives off one neutrino , so how could this even be potential ? It only shape if the neutrino is its own antiparticle , so that the two genus Beta decays each have a neutrino which essentially scratch each other out , like matter and antimatter annihilating . And the possibility that process exists is the reason for the experiment .
If neutrinoless dual genus Beta decay is observe , it means the neutrino must be its own antiparticle , a key alien in the study of neutrino . If the neutrino is indeed its own antiparticle , it has all form of implication for the structure of the Standard Model and the relationships between the fundamental molecule .
OK , now I understand both the plot of land of A Scanner Darkly and what will happen during the season finale of Fringe . It all totally makes signified now .
viaSymmetry Breaking
mad physicsPhysicsScience
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