Physics Nobel for Japanese and Canadian discovery of neutrinos – Globovisión

A Japanese, Takaaki Kajita, and a Canadian, Arthur B. McDonald , on Tuesday won the Nobel Prize in Physics for their “historical discoveries” about the neutrino a fundamental cosmic particle to understand the universe and its origins.

Kajita, born in 1959, and McDonald, in 1943, have refuted a principle of quantum physics, admitted long time, according to which the neutrino had no mass. Thus, this revelation is a triumph of matter over antimatter

His work led to “the conclusion of a considerable extent, that neutrinos, long considered to be without mass, have, albeit weak, “writes the jury, which greets a” historic breakthrough. “

This allows understand the inner workings of matter and learn to better the universe , said the Swedish jury.

When contacted by the Nobel Foundation, Takaaki Kajita said to have heard of the prize for their Swedish colleagues, when checking his e-mail.

“It’s a real surprise for me,” he reacted. “It’s a little hard to believe.”

Arthur McDonald said he shared the “prize with many colleagues who conducted considerable work,” he said.

The neutrino, an elementary particle of matter which could be likened to a ghost or a chameleon is a billion times more present in the universe that each of the members of the atom, but despite this is incredibly difficult to detect .

The neutrino, that intrigues physicists since the 60s, is devoid effect of electric charge, allowing you to go through all sorts of obstacles.

Its existence was formulated in 1931 by the Austrian Wolfgang Pauli, Nobel Prize 1945, and demonstrated experimentally 25 years later, by the American Frederick Reines, Nobel Prize 1995.

In 2002, the Nobel rewarded a duo of American and Japanese physicists, Raymond Davis Jr and Masatoshi Koshiba, who revealed his famous oscillations. as they propagate through space at a speed close to the light, the neutrino has the curious ability to morph into three forms or different identities

But so far the neutrino still kept their secrets, as scientists disagreed about the mass of this particle: Some considered null and others very weak, less than a millionth of the mass of the electron

.

Therefore, one of the great challenges is to “capture” these elusive neutrinos. So, in 10,000 million neutrinos passing through the Earth, one atom interacts with our planet and a ‘wall’ lead with a thickness of a light-year to stop half of these particles would be necessary.

Now, Takaaki Kajita, University of Tokyo, and Arthur McDonald of Queen’s in Kingston (Ontario, Canada), have agreed to everyone to ‘catch’ neutrinos between the networks of their observatories, the Super-Kamiokande in Japan and the Observatory of Sudbury in Canada.

In 2014, the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Japanese Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano, as well as American born in Japan Shuji Nakamura , for inventing the light bulbs LED, a ubiquitous technology today in our daily lives.

On Monday, the first Nobel Prize in 2015, the Medicine was awarded jointly to William Campbell of Irish origin , Japanese and Chinese Satoshi Omura Tu Youyou for developing treatments against malaria and parasitic infections.

After the Nobel in Physics on Tuesday, followed by the Chemistry Wednesday, Literature Thursday and the Peace Prize on Friday in Oslo. The series will close on October 12 with the award of Economy.

The Nobel includes a reward of 8 million Swedish kronor, about 855,000 euros or $ 950,000.

AFP