Ghost Particle

In Search of the Elusive and Mysterious Neutrino

Alan Chodos, James Riordon

• Publisher: The MIT Press
• Year: 2023
• eBook ISBN: 9780262373555
• Edition: 0
• Subtopic: Science History

Isaac Asimov is said to have observed of the neutrino: "The only reason scientists suggested its existence was their need to make calculations come out even. And yet the nothing-particle was not a nothing at all." In fact, as one of the most enigmatic and most populous particles in the universe—about 100 trillion are flying through you every second—the neutrino may hold the clues to some of our deepest cosmic mysteries. In Ghost Particle, Alan Chodos and James Riordon recount the dramatic history of the neutrino—from the initial suggestion that the particle was merely a desperate solution to a puzzle that threatened to undermine the burgeoning field of particle physics to its modern role in illuminating the universe via neutrino telescopes.

Alan Chodos and James Riordon are deft and engaging guides as they conduct readers through the experiences of intrepid scientists and the challenges they faced, and continue to face, in their search for the ghostly neutrino. Along the way, the authors provide expert insight into the significance of neutrino research from the particle's first, momentous discovery to recent, revolutionary advances in neutrino detection and astronomy. Chodos and Riordon describe how neutrinos may soon provide clues to some of the biggest questions we encounter today, including how to understand the dark matter that makes up most of the universe—and why anything exists in the universe at all.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• Foreword by Don Lincoln
• Preface
•  Portrait of a Ghost
• 1 Neutrino Enigma
• 2 A Desperate Proposal
• 3 Project Poltergeist
• 4 Adrift in a Particle Sea
• 5 Turn On the Sun
• 6 The Incredible Flavor Changer
• 7 Shadows in the Particle Garden
• 8 Cosmic Connections
• 9 Lifting a Veil on the Universe
• 10 Made-to-Order Neutrinos
• 11 A Coherent Tale
• 12 Infinity through a Keyhole
• 13 Into the Unknown
• 14 What Can You Do with a Neutrino?
• 15 On the Fringes and over the Edge
• 16 More to Come for Little Neutral One
• Acknowledgments
• Appendix
• Glossary
• Notes
• Further Reading
• Index