TRIDENT Ghost Particle Detector
Source: Times of India
GS II: Science and Technology
Overview
- News in Brief
- About TRIDENT?
- What are Neutrinos?
- Neutrino Observatory in Inida
Why in the News?
China is undertaking a massive scientific endeavour by constructing the world’s largest ghost particle detector beneath the Western Pacific Ocean’s surface
- It is named the Tropical Deep-sea Neutrino Telescope (TRIDENT) or Ocean Bell in Chinese.
News in Brief
- The project is set for completion in 2030.
- It aims to capture elusive neutrinos as they briefly become detectable in the deep ocean depths.
- It provides valuable insights into their cosmic origins.
- Neutrinos, are often referred to as ghost particles.
About TRIDENT?
- TRIDENT, anchored 11,500 feet (3,500 meters) below the ocean’s surface.
- Employs the Earth itself as a shield to detect neutrinos penetrating from the opposite side of the planet.
- TRIDENT is near the equator which makes it receive neutrinos coming from all directions with the rotation of the Earth.
- The location also enables all-sky observation without any blind spots.
- TRIDENT Ghost Particle Detector will utilize more than 24,000 optical sensors.
- It will distributed across 1,211 strings.
- Each is 2,300 feet (700m) in length, ascending from the seabed.
- It is arranged in a Penrose tiling pattern.
- The detector will span 2.5 miles (4 kilometres) in diameter.
- Scan an impressive 1.7 cubic miles (7.5 cubic kilometres).
What are Neutrinos?
- They are subatomic particles with almost zero mass and no electrical charge.
- They pass through matter with minimal interaction, making them notoriously difficult to detect.
- Why they are called Ghost Particles?
- They rarely collide with atoms and are difficult to find.
- They can only be seen when they interact with other particles rarely.
- That is why they are called ghost particles.
- It is believed that Neutrinos are created from radioactive decay.
- Nuclear forces treat electrons and neutrinos identically.
- There is evidence that neutrinos are essential for understanding the origins of our universe.
Neutrino Observatory in Inida
- India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) will observe neutrinos produced in the atmosphere of the Earth.
- This observation will tell us more about the properties of neutrino particles, whose main source is the Sun and the Earth’s atmosphere.
- The neutrino detector will be a magnetized iron calorimeter, which will be the heaviest one made by any country.
- The site identified is in Bodi West Hills, in Theni district, Tamil Nadu.
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