Neutrinos, the elusive particles that have puzzled scientists for decades, have finally been observed inside colliders, thanks to the efforts of two major research collaborations at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The FASER (Forward Search Experiment) and SND (Scattering and Neutrino Detector)@LHC collaborations have independently made groundbreaking observations of collider neutrinos, marking a significant milestone in the field of particle physics research.
Neutrinos, despite being one of the most abundant particles in the universe, have been notoriously difficult to observe due to their neutral charge and low interaction probability with other matter. However, physicists have utilized detectors and advanced equipment to study known sources of neutrinos, such as the sun, cosmic rays, supernovae, particle accelerators, and nuclear reactors. The direct observation of neutrinos inside colliders has remained a long-standing goal in particle physics.
The FASER collaboration, established with the aim of studying light and weakly interacting particles, achieved the first observation of neutrinos at the LHC. Their detector, located over 400m away from the ATLAS experiment in a separate tunnel, detected neutrinos produced in the same “interaction region” inside the LHC as ATLAS. This breakthrough allowed FASER to detect 153 high-energy neutrinos with a small and inexpensive detector, which was built in a short period of time. The FASER collaboration’s achievement bridges the gap between high-energy and high-intensity experiments in particle physics.
The SND@LHC Collaboration: Overcoming Background Challenges
The SND@LHC collaboration, focusing on the detection of neutrinos, utilized a detector strategically positioned at a site in the LHC with a high flux of neutrinos. Shielded from proton collision debris by concrete and rock, the SND@LHC detector successfully overcame the challenge of background noise caused by high-energy muons and identified neutrino interactions by analyzing distinctive patterns. During their first data collection run, the SND@LHC collaboration recorded 95% of the collision data delivered to them and observed collider neutrino events.
The discovery of collider neutrinos by both the FASER and SND@LHC collaborations presents exciting opportunities for further research in particle physics. These observations may shed light on fundamental questions within the Standard Model, such as the existence of three generations of matter particles and the structure of colliding protons. Additionally, the high-energy neutrinos detected by FASER and SND@LHC could serve as a gateway for studying the properties of neutrinos in greater detail and for searching for other elusive particles.
Future Prospects and Breakthrough Potential
The FASER collaboration plans to continue running their detector for many more years, collecting a significant amount of data and mapping out high-energy neutrino interactions with greater precision. The collaboration is also working on the Forward Physics Facility, an initiative to build a new underground cavern at the LHC. This facility would enable the detection of millions of high-energy neutrinos, along with the search for milli-charged particles and other phenomena related to dark matter.
The observation of neutrinos inside colliders, made possible by the FASER and SND@LHC collaborations at the LHC, represents a significant breakthrough in particle physics research. These milestone achievements open up new avenues for studying neutrinos and their properties, as well as for exploring the mysteries of the Standard Model and the nature of dark matter. The ongoing data collection efforts of these collaborations hold the promise of more meaningful discoveries in the future, further advancing our understanding of the fundamental building blocks of the universe.
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