An international team of researchers has detected the most energetic “ghost particle” ever discovered, using a network of sensors located on the bottom of the Mediterranean.
The Mediterranean hides the most energetic “ghost particle” photo Covidex
This particle, known as Neutrino, has an energy of 30 times larger than any of the several hundreds of neutrini observed. Neutrines are subatomic particles extremely difficult to detect, because they do not interact with matter. Although they come from the farthest corners of the universe and cross planets, stars and galaxies, their structure remains intact.
“Neutrines are special cosmic messengers, bringing us unique information about the mechanisms involved in the most energetic phenomena and allowing us to explore the most distant areas of the universe.”, Declared the co -author of the study Rosa Coniglione, deputy spokesman KM3NET and researcher at the National Institute of Nuclear Physics in Italy.
An energy particle since the birth of the universe
The analysis of this particle, called KM3-230213A, was carried out by KM3NET Collaboration, a team of over 360 researchers from all over the world. The discovery was published in Nature magazine, quoted by CNN. The energy of the neutrino has been estimated at 220 million billion electrons, 30,000 times higher than that generated by the famous Large Hadron Collider (CERN) particle accelerator near Geneva.
These neutrini can be created by the interaction of proton with photons remaining from Big Bang. They travel almost with the speed of light, and their detection offers indications about the origin of the cosmic rays, the most energetic particles in the universe.
Neutrins are invisible and difficult to see, but when they interact with water or ice, they emit a blue light. This is the principle used by neutrin telescopes, such as KM3NET in the Mediterranean and Icecube from Antarctica. KM3NET was designed to detect these particles using a system of sensors anchored on the bottom of the sea.
The discovery of the record neutrino took place on February 13, 2023, when the particle was captured by the ARCA detector, located 3,450 meters deep, offshore. At the time of detection, only 10% of the planned sensors were installed, but enough to capture the event. The particle has generated signals in over one third of the active sensors and produced over 28,000 light photons.
An extraterrestrial component
The researchers believe that neutrino comes from outside our galaxy, but its exact origin remains unknown. Possible sources include supermasive black holes, gamma ray explosions or supernove remnants. The team identified 12 possible blazari – extremely bright nuclei of active galaxies – which could be responsible for this phenomenon, but additional studies are required.
“Many cosmic neutrin detections fail to show strong correlations with cataloged objects, probably indicating source populations that are very distant from the ground or suggesting a type of astrophysical object still undiscovered“Said Erik K. Blaufuss, a scientist and astrophysicist of particle in the Department of Physics at the University of Maryland, College Park.
