Neutrinos are nasty little particles that just float through space like they’re practically nothing, but as it turns out, they can actually interact with light.
Interactions between neutrinos and photons can occur in the strong magnetic fields found in the plasma that wraps around stars, according to new calculations.
This is a discovery that could help us understand why the sun’s atmosphere is much hotter than the surface, said Kenzo Ishikawa, a physicist at Hokkaido University, and Yutaka Tobita, a physicist at Hokkaido University of Science. Of course, he said, it could help study the mysterious ghost particles in the sun. Learn more.
“Our results are important for understanding the quantum mechanical interactions of the most fundamental particles of matter.” Ishikawa says.. “They may also help reveal details of currently poorly understood phenomena in the Sun and other stars.”
Neutrino is Among the most abundant particles They are second only to photons in the universe. But they mostly keep to themselves. Neutrinos have almost no mass and rarely interact with matter. For neutrinos, the universe is like a shadow or a ghost, and they can easily pass through them. Billions of neutrinos are now passing through you like little ghosts.
But scientists believe in neutrinos may be important To investigate and elucidate astrophysical phenomena why is the universe the way it is, deepen your understanding of particle physics. Figuring out whether and how they interact with the universe will reveal information not only about neutrinos, but also about particle interactions and the quantum universe.
Ishikawa and Tobita’s research is theoretical, using mathematical analysis to determine the circumstances under which neutrinos may interact with electromagnetic quanta, or photons. And they discovered a highly magnetized plasma, a gas that is either: positively or negatively chargedsubtraction or addition of electrons provides the appropriate environment.
“Under normal ‘classical’ conditions, neutrinos would not interact with photons.” Ishikawa says..
“But we have shown how neutrinos and photons can be induced to interact in a uniform magnetic field on very large scales (as many as 10).3 km – Found in the form of matter known as plasma, which occurs around stars. ”
Previously, Mr. Ishikawa and Mr. Tobita explored the possibility A theoretical phenomenon known as the electroweak Hall effect could drive neutrino interactions in the solar atmosphere. This is when, under extreme conditions, the two fundamental interactions of the universe occur. electromagnetism And that weak forcekind of brings the smooth together.
The researchers found that under electroweak theory, neutrinos can interact with photons. If a star’s atmosphere can create an environment suitable for the electroweak Hall effect, such interactions could occur there.
In their paper, Ishikawa and Tobita calculate the energy state of the photon-neutrino system during this interaction.
“In addition to contributing to the understanding of fundamental physics, our study may also help explain what is called the solar coronal heating puzzle.” Ishikawa says..
“This is a long-standing mystery about how the sun’s outermost atmosphere, or corona, becomes much hotter than the sun’s surface. Our research shows that interactions between neutrinos and photons release energy. and that energy heats the surface of the sun’s solar corona. ”
In future research, the pair hope to further investigate how neutrinos and photons exchange energy in extreme environments.
This research physics open.