Not so long ago, precisely on 5 June, a news
Great science comes from a physics conference "Neutrino 98" a
takes place in Japan. Neutrinos, elementary particles that one is much more
smaller than the electron, it has mass, according to a report from the
an international team joined in the experiment

Super-Kamiokande. Team of physicists that consists of approximately 120 people from
many countries including the U.S., Japan, Germany, and Poland is
doing research on data collected during the year by
an underground neutrino research laboratory in Japan.
If the report proves true and can be confirmed again by the team
more, it will bring a very broad impact on several
theoretical physics, especially the discussion of the interactions of elementary particles, theory
than the origin of the universe as well as the problem of mass loss
(Missing mass problem) and the theory of solar neutrinos.
Neutrinos, or neutron small, is a name given by
physicist and Nobel laureate known from Germany: Wolfgang Pauli.
Neutrinos are particles attracted the attention of physicists
because of mystique. Neutrinos also one of the buildings
basic than the universe together with the electron, muon, and
tau, is included in a class of particles called leptons. Lepton
together with six types of quark particles are forming the basis of all
objects in the universe.
Discovered experimentally in 1956 (in the form of anti-
particles) by Fred Reines (Nobel physics winner in 1995) and Clyde
Cowan, consists of three neutrino flavors (flavor), namely: the electron neutrino,
mu neutrinos and tau neutrinos. Neutrinos have no electric charge and
has been deemed to have no weight, but neutrino has
antineutrino antiparticles called. These particles are unique due
very reluctant to interact. As a result, neutrinos
can easily pass through anything, including our earth, and very difficult to
detected.
Estimated neutrino in large quantities regardless of the reaction
core of our sun, and thus expected to be detected in
laboratories on Earth. To reduce the influence of the distortion of light
cosmic neutrino detectors need to be placed underground. Using the
water tank as much as 50 thousand tons and is equipped with a phototube
(Photomultiplier tube) as many as 13 thousand pieces, Kamiokande team found
that neutrinos can oscillate or change flavors. Because it can
it was concluded that the oscillating neutrinos actually have mass.
This discovery is controversial because theoretical physics during this
often seen as the basic theory of interacting particles, which is called
standard model theory, predicts that neutrinos had no
massless. If the discovery of neutrino mass proved to be true then it probably will
make the standard model theory should be corrected.
The discovery of neutrino mass is also disturbing other areas of physics that
cosmology. This discovery could be expected to resolve the problems of loss
mass in our universe (the missing mass problem). It has been a long time
the physicists always been haunted by the question: Why is there
differences in theory and observations of the universe's mass? If heavier than
the stars, planets, along with other natural objects
add up all the results turned out to be still lighter than the heavy
the entire universe.
The physicists assume that the masses are missing or not
look. So far, these experts theorize that there is a particle
unique difference that causes mass in the universe. But the theory
This kind of weakness due to the unique particle theorized
has never been found.
From the findings it can be concluded Kamiokande team that turns
unique particles other than neutrinos are not massless.
According to the big bang theory (Big Bang) our universe began
from a point in the incredible heat that exploded and continues to expand
to date. Physicists Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson (both
later won the Nobel physics prize in 1978) in 1965
discovered the remains of the big bang relic microwave current
has cooled to a temperature of about 3 Kelvin. But one of the things that
still debated expansion of the universe is matter itself.
Will this continue to happen without end? The discovery of neutrino
mass is expected to be able to answer this difficult question.
Imagine a completely neutrinos massless, as
expected during this time. The force of gravity would not affect
at all the particles have no weight. But what
occur if neutrinos actually has weight? In a number of profound
a lot of these neutrinos would be able to affect the expansion of the
universe. It seems there is possibility of expansion of the universe one day
will stop and the contraction or shrinking back if it turns out
neutrinos have mass.
Recently there was one more problem of physics to be disturbed by the results
This discovery is the solar neutrino problem, where there is difference
the number of calculations and observations of neutrinos produced by the sun
we.
For the validity of the present invention an international team of super experiments
Kamiokande in its report also invite other teams of scientists to
confirm their findings. But according to past experience,
reports of neutrino oscillations and neutrino mass is always controversy and
rarely can be confirmed again.
For the moment the experts have to wait for experiments
Such can only be done by only a handful of experiments in
around the world. To be sure if the invention was later proved
true then obviously the impact will be felt on several theories of physics
modern.

Related links: new discoveries