Ghost particles and Project Poltergeist: Long-ago Lab physicists studied science that haunted them
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
A neutrino is a tiny, almost massless particle that travels at near light speeds. They were first formed in the early universe and are continually being produced in the nuclear reactions of stars, like the sun, and nuclear reactions on earth. The existence of these “ghost particles” was incredibly difficult to detect, but doing so has helped scientists better understand fundamental principles in physics. Los Alamos Manhattan Project scientist Frederick Reines, along with his colleague Clyde Cowan, is credited with the experimental discovery of the nearly massless elementary particle after his team definitively proved the neutrino’s existence in 1956. Reines received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1995.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- 89233218CNA000001
- OSTI ID:
- 1699400
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-20-28709
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Building a better neutrino trap
The Discovery and Nondiscovery of Neutrinos: The Reines Cowan Experiment and the 17Kev Neutrino