{"id":23505,"date":"2013-07-11T08:00:40","date_gmt":"2013-07-11T12:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/mathgradblog\/?p=23505"},"modified":"2014-06-27T12:16:38","modified_gmt":"2014-06-27T17:16:38","slug":"neutrinos-mass-challenging-physicists-and-mathematicians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/mathgradblog\/2013\/07\/11\/neutrinos-mass-challenging-physicists-and-mathematicians\/","title":{"rendered":"A Neutrino’s Mass: Challenging Physicists and….Mathematicians?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"images-6\"<\/a>Some puzzles exist beyond the confinement of pure mathematical thought and forge their way into the realm of physical reality.\u00a0\u00a0 In 1930, the theoretical physicist Wolfgang Pauli brought one such conundrum to light.\u00a0 In a letter to famed physicist Lise Meitner, Pauli postulated the existence of a neutrally charged particle with mass less than one percent of a proton to explain underlying phenomena in beta decay. \u00a0\u00a0Neutrinos, as they are now\u00a0called, come in three flavors ; electron, muon, and tau.<\/p>\n

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By the Standard Model of Particle Physics (a theory that seeks unification through properties of sub-atomic particles), neutrinos were assumed to be massless.\u00a0 However, contrary to theory, experimental results yielded that neutrinos have mass.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The resulting question is: What is the measurement of\u00a0a neutrino’s\u00a0mass?\u00a0 No one knows.<\/p>\n

Associate professor of physics, Joseph Formaggio of MIT has built his career around the problem.\u00a0 In an article written by Anne Trafton on the MIT News<\/i> site entitled, \u201cOn the\u00a0hunt for neutrinos\u201d (found here: http:\/\/ow.ly\/mPScf<\/a>) , \u00a0\u00a0Trafton quotes Formaggio explaining the significance of the research:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe SNO experiments revealed that there are three \u2018flavors\u2019 of neutrino that can morph from one to the other. Those experiments, basically put the nail in the coffin and said that neutrinos change flavors, so they must have mass,\u2026. It was a big paradigm shift in thinking about neutrinos, because the Standard Model of particle physics wants neutrinos to be massless, and the fact that they\u2019re not means we don\u2019t understand it at some very deep level.\u201d<\/i>\u2026 <\/i>Trafton later adds, \u201cBy measuring the energy of the electron released during the decay, physicists hope to be able to calculate the mass of the neutrino \u2014 an approach based on Einstein\u2019s E=mc<\/i>2<\/sup><\/i>\u00a0<\/i>equation.”<\/i><\/p>\n

With all of this in mind, what do mathematicians think about the problem?\u00a0 Is it intuitive to assume that there has to be\u00a0 a mathematical tool that could deduce the measurement of a neutrino\u2019s mass rigoursly without much experimental validation? If so, what tool?\u00a0 Since the particle has mass, classical mechanics guarantees that it has a gravitational field.\u00a0 However, the gravitational influence of a neutrino is so faint that it has never been detected with current experimental approaches. \u00a0\u00a0Could the answer be found in a geometrical or topological relationship waiting to be discovered?<\/p>\n

An internet search will give you a list of theories that propose a measurement.\u00a0 However none have been validated with experimentation.\u00a0\u00a0 Furthermore, it would take an ingenious approach to derive it with precise mathematical rigor that extends or augments the tools of theoretical physics. \u00a0A challenge that I do not believe is out of reach for someone with a little creativity and mathematical maturity coupled with a good grasp of physical law.\u00a0 Maybe that someone is you.<\/p>\n

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Some puzzles exist beyond the confinement of pure mathematical thought and forge their way into the realm of physical reality.\u00a0\u00a0 In 1930, the theoretical physicist Wolfgang Pauli brought one such conundrum to light.\u00a0 In a letter to famed physicist Lise … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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