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| − | <p>It's interesting to study the Hep neutrinos because no one has seen them yet. One of SNO's competitors (Super-Kamiokande) has looked, but hasn't seen anything. SNO should be more sensitive for seeing Hep neutrinos since we can see neutrinos via a nuclear reaction called the "Charged Current" reaction; Super-Kamiokande can not see neutrinos via this reaction. SNO's heavy water makes this reaction possible. In the Charged Current reaction, the incoming solar neutrino collides with the neutron in a hydrogen nucleus in the heavy water. The reaction of the neutrino with the neutron produces a proton and an electron. We can't see the proton in SNO, but the electron that is created is moving close to the speed of light so produces a special type of light called Cerenkov light. SNO's 10,000 light detectors are specially designed to see the Cerenkov light.</p>
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| − | <p>With some luck, SNO might see some flashes of light that look like Hep neutrinos. This would be a very interesting discovery. Only time (plus some effort!) will tell whether we have seen any of the elusive Hep neutrinos in SNO.</p>
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Revision as of 22:20, 11 April 2005
