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One of the first traces of cosmic muon particles recorded by the ProtoDUNE detector at CERN. Three wire planes, each composed of thousands of individual wires, recorded the muon signal as it traveled about 3.8 meters through liquid argon in the detector, and the combined images give scientists a three-dimensional image of the particle path. . Credit: DUNE collaboration
The world's largest liquid argon neutrino detector has just recorded its first particle tracks, marking the beginning of a new chapter in the history of deep underground neutrino international experimentation. (DUNE).
The scientific mission of DUNE is dedicated to the discovery of the mysteries of neutrinos, the most abundant (and most mysterious) matter particles in the universe. Neutrinos are all around us, but we know very little about them. DUNE scientists believe that neutrinos can help answer one of the most pressing questions in physics: why do we live in a universe dominated by matter? In other words, why are we here?
The huge ProtoDUNE detector – the size of a three-story house and the shape of a gigantic cube – was built at CERN, the European laboratory of particle physics, as the first of two prototypes of what will be a much larger detector. the DUNE project, hosted by the National Fermilab Laboratory of the US Department of Energy in the United States. When the first DUNE detector modules will record data in 2026, they will each be 20 times larger than these prototypes. There will be four modules in total.
This is the first time that CERN has invested in the development of infrastructure and detectors for a particle physics project in the United States.
Inside the first ProtoDUNE detector, before it is filled with liquid argon. Credit: CERN
It took two years to build the first ProtoDUNE detector and eight weeks to fill it with 800 tons of liquid argon, which must be maintained at temperatures below minus 184 degrees Celsius (minus 300 degrees Fahrenheit). The detector records traces of particles in this argon from both cosmic rays and a beam created in the CERN accelerator complex. Now that the first leads have been seen, scientists will be using the detector over the next few months to test the technology in depth.
"Just two years ago, we completed the new CERN building to house two prototypes of large-scale detectors that are the cornerstone of DUNE," said Marzio Nessi, responsible for the CERN neutrino platform. . "Now we have the first detector that takes nice data, and the second detector, which uses a different approach to liquid argon technology, will be online in a few months."
The first ProtoDUNE detector technology will be the same as that used for the first of the DUNE detection modules in the United States, which will be built 1.6 km underground at the Sanford underground research facility in South Dakota. . More than 1,000 scientists and engineers from 32 countries in five continents – Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America – work on the development, design and construction of DUNE detectors. The opening ceremony of the caverns that will house the experiment took place in July 2017.
"Seeing the first traces of particles is a major success for the entire DUNE collaboration," said Stefan Soldner-Rembold, co-spokesperson for DUNE at the University of Manchester, UK. "DUNE is the largest collaboration of scientists working on neutrino research in the world, with the intention of creating a cutting-edge experiment that could change the way we view the universe."
When the neutrinos enter the detectors and enter the argon nuclei, they produce charged particles. These particles leave traces of ionization in the liquid, as shown by sophisticated tracking systems capable of creating three-dimensional images of invisible subatomic processes.
"CERN is proud of the success of the Neutrino platform and its enthusiasm for being a partner of DUNE, with institutions and universities from its Member States and beyond," said Fabiola Gianotti, Director General of CERN. "These early results from ProtoDUNE are a great example of what can be achieved when laboratories around the world collaborate.The research with DUNE is complementary to the LHC research and other experiments at CERN." Exceptional questions in particle physics today. "
DUNE will study not only neutrinos, but also their antimatter counterparts. Scientists will look for differences in behavior between neutrinos and antineutrinos, which could give us clues about the dominance of the visible universe by matter. DUNE will also seek to detect the neutrinos produced by the explosion of a star, which could reveal the formation of neutron stars and black holes, and will be interested in the question of whether the protons live forever or end up to deteriorate. The observation of the disintegration of protons would bring us closer to the realization of Einstein's dream of a grand unified theory.
Explore more:
Physicists celebrate the vital component of the global neutrino experiment at CERN
More information:
www.dunescience.org/
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