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Physicists Discover "Violation of a Fundamental Symmetry of the Universe"
i09.com ^ | November 3, 2010 | Staff

Posted on 11/04/2010 12:31:54 PM PDT by lbryce

Today physicists announced that they may have found the key to explaining dark matter in the universe. It all has to do with the potential discovery of a "sterile neutrino."

According to a release about the new study:
Neutrinos are neutral elementary particles born in the radioactive decay of other particles. The known "flavors" of neutrinos are the neutral counterparts of electrons and their heavier cousins, muons and taus. Regardless of a neutrino's original flavor, the particles constantly flip from one type to another in a phenomenon called "neutrino flavor oscillation."

An electron neutrino might become a muon neutrino, and then later an electron neutrino again. Scientists previously believed three flavors of neutrino exist. In this Mini Booster Neutrino Experiment, dubbed MiniBooNE, researchers detected more oscillations than would be possible if there were only three flavors.

"These results imply that there are either new particles or forces we had not previously imagined," said Byron Roe, professor emeritus in the Department of Physics, and an author of a paper on the results newly published online in Physical Review Letters.

"The simplest explanation involves adding new neutrino-like particles, or sterile neutrinos, which do not have the normal weak interactions."

The three known types of neutrino interact with matter primarily through the weak nuclear force, which makes them difficult to detect. It is hypothesized that this fourth flavor would not interact through the weak force, making it even harder to find.

The existence of sterile neutrinos could help explain the composition of the universe, said William Louis, a scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory who was a doctoral student of Roe's at U-M and is involved in the MiniBooNE experiment.

(Excerpt) Read more at io9.com ...


TOPICS: Extended News
KEYWORDS: cosmology; darkenergy; darkforce; darkmatter; muonneutrino; neutrinos; physics; science; speedofdark; sterileneutrino; stringtheory
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To: lbryce
The title is a bit misleading. It has long been hypothesized that an "asymmetry" in the universe is what allows it to exist in anything like the present form. The math apparently requires this, but perhaps the physical explanation/verification has been long in coming.
101 posted on 11/04/2010 8:12:19 PM PDT by hinckley buzzard
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To: lbryce

You took the words right out of my mouth!!


102 posted on 11/05/2010 5:40:56 AM PDT by ontap
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To: GeronL

Every new discovery seems to throw their old theories out the window. lol.

Except evolution. They got that one perfect the first time and there is no possibility of being the slightest bit wrong. Do not touch the holy grail.

But you are right. Other than that, all theories are transient until better data is found.


103 posted on 11/05/2010 5:51:34 AM PDT by Mom MD (Jesus is the Light of the world!)
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To: Mom MD

lol.

yes.

Global Warming too, they just need to work out the details of a computer model


104 posted on 11/05/2010 6:20:51 AM PDT by GeronL (http://libertyfic.proboards.com <--- My Fiction/ Science Fiction Board)
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To: The Comedian
It's the asymmetry that gave rise to matter.

"The Comedian" name suits you well.

FReegards!


105 posted on 11/05/2010 7:42:32 AM PDT by Agamemnon (Darwinism is the glue that holds liberalism together)
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To: evets

You are referring to the First Law of thermodynamics, but it says the total of mass AND ENERGY in a closed system remains constant.

But according to Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity (and our best science today), mass is merely one property time/space/energy/matter. All are interchangeable.


106 posted on 11/05/2010 10:09:16 AM PDT by Captain Steve
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To: SunkenCiv

These “little neutral ones” seem to be multiplying. What else can they not detect?


107 posted on 11/05/2010 1:14:21 PM PDT by allmost
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To: evets

Two days later this still makes me laugh. Thanks!


108 posted on 11/05/2010 3:25:53 PM PDT by Aevery_Freeman (Fear God and Government - especially when one tries to become the other!)
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To: allmost

Seems like a neutrino detector would be a surefire way to win a high school science fair — under these standards. ;’)


109 posted on 11/05/2010 4:53:37 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (The 2nd Amendment follows right behind the 1st because some people are hard of hearing.)
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To: Aevery_Freeman
Lol. It was an 'enlightening' experience. Thank you!
110 posted on 11/08/2010 10:38:51 AM PST by evets (beer)
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To: Aevery_Freeman

sorry for the bad joke

this uneducated mind, who’s physics intel is limited to info learned some 40 years ago prior to ‘quarks’, is trying to understand, so, I went to the io9 article ‘The Undiscovered Particles on the Edge of Known Physics’, where I read, “sterile neutrinos... are nearly identical to neutrinos except they only interact through gravity”

in io9’s ‘The Ultimate Field Guide to Subatomic Particles” neutrinos are described as decayed neutrons, or “electron anti-neutrino”

So, are the physicists saying that it is interaction with the gravity of the SN that causes nutrinos to change to the (heavier) muons and taus, and loss of interaction that causes a reversal back to a (lighter) nutrino at a rate faster than expected? or is it the interaction with an ‘anti’ substance that changes a muon back to a nutrino? and, finally, how can an ‘anti’ be ‘serile’(neutral) ?


111 posted on 11/08/2010 11:14:56 AM PST by blueplum
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