Reviewed by Lexie CornerSep 11 2024
After nearly a decade of development, scientists, including those at Rutgers University, have successfully activated a novel device capable of detecting a wide range of elusive microscopic particles.
During the construction of the neutrino detector, Associate Physics Professor Andrew Mastbaum (at left) and postdoctoral associate Ivan Lepetic gave the thumbs up, happy with the progress of the installation of a device called a cosmic ray tagger. Image Credit: Andrew Mastbaum
They are searching for unique, novel types of subatomic particles that could potentially alter the fundamental laws of the universe if discovered.
At Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) in Batavia, Illinois, researchers have activated the Short-Baseline Near Detector (SBND) to begin detecting neutrinos produced by Fermilab's particle accelerator beams.
Neutrinos are among the most abundant particles in the universe, but their interactions with other matter are extremely rare. Approximately 100 trillion neutrinos pass through a person’s body every second without being noticed. Scientists believe these elusive particles played a crucial role in the formation of the universe.
We think neutrinos could help us get at some huge questions, like finding a more complete theory of nature at the smallest scales, or even why our matter-filled universe exists at all.
Andrew Mastbaum, Associate Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University
Scientists are particularly excited about the detector because neutrinos are notoriously difficult to study due to their rare interactions with matter.
Mastbaum added, “Having this detector up and running is a major milestone, the culmination of a monumental international effort, and the start of a really exciting chapter for the field.”
The SBND, part of Fermilab's array of particle detectors, collects data on a neutrino beam produced by the facility's powerful particle accelerators. When a neutrino collides with an atom's nucleus, it sends a stream of particles through the detector. To understand the properties of these elusive neutrinos, physicists must analyze all particles produced in the collision, both visible and invisible.
Neutrinos are among the least understood elementary particles in the Standard Model of particle physics. Previous experiments have revealed unexpected behaviors in neutrinos, suggesting potential gaps in the current understanding of fundamental physics.
According to current theory, there are three types of neutrinos, or "flavors": tau, electron, and muon. However, over the past 30 years, researchers have observed anomalies that hint at the existence of a fourth type, known as a sterile neutrino, which the Standard Model does not predict.
“SBND is a game changer because we will get to study an enormous number of neutrino interactions, finally resolve some long-outstanding experimental mysteries and have remarkable sensitivity to potential physics phenomena beyond the Standard Model,” added Mastbaum.
For nearly ten years, members of the SBND collaboration have been planning, modeling, and constructing the detector.
As part of this collaboration, scientists from Rutgers have contributed to various aspects of the project, including the development of data processing tools, installation and setup procedures, simulation software, and now its ongoing operations.
Notable contributors from Rutgers include former undergraduates Andrew Schwartz ('23) and Amy Flather ('24), postdoctoral researcher Ivan Lepetic, and doctoral student Keng Lin.
I am grateful to contribute to building this machine, knowing that each cable I connect could help unlock the secrets of the universe. Visualizing physics, especially particle physics, can be quite abstract, but your understanding really clicks when you’re actually assembling parts of a machine and seeing the concepts come to life right at your fingertips.
Keng Lin, Doctoral Student, Keng Lin
A multinational team, including 250 physicists and engineers from Brazil, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States, collaborated to construct the SBND detector.
In addition to searching for a potential fourth neutrino, scientists using SBND have several other objectives. Project researchers predict that SBND will record more neutrino interactions per day than any previous detector of its kind, with an estimated 7,000 interactions expected daily. This large data sample will allow researchers to analyze neutrino interactions with unprecedented accuracy.
The insights gained from these interactions will inform future experiments.
The SBND project is just beginning to analyze neutrino signatures. Over the next several years, the collaboration will continue operating the detector and examining millions of recorded neutrino interactions.
It isn’t every day that a detector sees its first neutrinos. We’ve all spent years working toward this moment and this first data is a very promising start to our search for new physics.
David Schmitz, Co-Spokesperson and Associate Professor, SBND Collaboration, Department of Physics, University of Chicago