
Professor Justin Evans, from the University of Manchester, is co-spokesperson of the experiment, and has been leading this analysis for the past two years. With the evidence for sterile neutrinos becoming weaker, scientists are investigating other possibilities for anomalies in perceived neutrino behaviour. These results mark a turning point in neutrino research. The data is consistent with what the Standard Model predicts: three kinds of neutrinos only. Four complementary analyses released by the international MicroBooNE collaboration, at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), deal a blow to the fourth neutrino hypothesis.Īll four analyses show no sign of the sterile neutrino, and instead the results align with the Standard Model. The team used cutting-edge technology to record precise 3D images of neutrino events and examine particle interactions in detail. The international experiment has close to 200 collaborators from 36 institutions in five countries, and is supported by STFC in the UK. But these elusive particles seem to hold answers to some of the biggest questions in physics – such as why the universe is made up of more matter than antimatter.Ī 170-ton neutrino detector the size of a small bus was created to study these particles – and became known as MicroBooNE. Neutrinos are the most abundant particle with mass in our universe, but they rarely interact with other matter, thus making them hard to study. In these previous experiments, neutrinos were observed acting in a way not explained by the Standard Model of Physics – the leading theory to explain the building blocks of the universe and everything in it.
#Neutrino particle software
The project involved expertise from the University of Warwick’s Department of Physics, who developed sophisticated software called the Pandora package to analyse the detailed images of neutrino interactions recorded by the MicroBooNE detector.įor more than two decades, this proposed fourth neutrino has remained a promising explanation for anomalies seen in earlier physics experiments. The results were gathered by an international team at the MicroBooNE experiment in the United States, with leadership from a UK team funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). The existence of the theorised particle, known as a sterile neutrino, is considered a possible explanation for anomalies seen in previous physics experiments. Results from a global science experiment involving a University of Warwick scientist have cast doubt on the existence of a theoretical particle beyond the Standard Model.
