• burntbutterbiscuits
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    11
    ·
    1 year ago

    But they don’t interact with anything so how are we detecting them I think is what he is asking.

    • Skua@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      1 year ago

      They do interact with other stuff a little bit. It’s very difficult to detect them because they hardly interact with anything, but it’s not absolutely nothing so it’s not impossible to detect them. This is well beyond my level of physics knowledge, but apparently one such interaction is a process called inverse beta decay. High-energy antineutrinos that crash in to protons produce a pair of particles that is much more easily detectable. A rule of physics called lepton conservation, which is about the fundamental building blocks of particles involved in a reaction not changing, makes this pair of detectable particles identifiable as being caused by an incoming antineutrino.

      • burntbutterbiscuits
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        1 year ago

        Are these the same particles they are trying to detect with the big ice detector thingee in Antarctica

        • Skua@kbin.social
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          1 year ago

          Assuming you’re referring to the IceCube neutrino observatory, yes (although I think it also does regular neutrinos, not just antineutrinos)