Antineutrino

Antineutrino
Composition:	Neutrino
Theorized:	1930
Discovered:	1956
Symbol:	$\overline{\nu}_e$ , $\overline{\nu}_\mu$ and $\overline{\nu}_\tau$
No. of types:	3 - electron, muon and tau
Electric charge:	0
Color charge:	0
Spin:	1/2

In physics, antineutrinos, the antiparticles of beta decay experiments constrain that mass to be very small.

Because antineutrinos and neutrinos are neutral particles it is possible that they are actually the same particle. Particles which have this property are known as Majorana particles. If neutrinos are indeed Majorana particles then the neutrinoless double beta decay process is allowed. Several experiments have been proposed to search for this process.

Sandia National Laboratories is researching the use of antineutrino detectors to monitor nuclear reactors, and to detect very low yield nuclear tests; such tests with yield under 1 kiloton are difficult to detect using conventional seismic detectors if evasive methods such as seismic decoupling are used. Spectral analysis of antineutrinos produced by the reactors can be used to remotely assert the isotopic composition of the reactor core. [1]

Antineutrino

See also