Naked Science Forum

Non Life Sciences => Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology => Topic started by: Diogo_Afonso_Leitao on 18/02/2016 19:06:15

Title: What is the difference between Electron, Muon and Tau Neutrinos?
Post by: Diogo_Afonso_Leitao on 18/02/2016 19:06:15

Hello :)

I would like to know shat is the difference between Electron, Muon and Tau Neutrinos. Do they differ in mass and velocity or just in their interaction with matter? And how can one become another one in Neutrino Oscillations?

Thank you very much!

Title: Re: What is the difference between Electron, Muon and Tau Neutrinos?
Post by: chiralSPO on 18/02/2016 22:58:23

Neutrinos are some of the least-well understood elementary particles. Although we are constantly bathed in a stream of neutrinos, they interact so weakly with matter that they are very hard to detect, let alone measure.

They are predicted to have different masses, but so far I am unaware of any direct measurement of mass of a neutrino. There are some experimental data that place upper bounds on the mass, but even so, they are significantly less massive than electrons.

I don't know how much is known about the neutrino oscillation, but it was only fairly recently predicted, and even more recently shown to occur.

There are other members here with more knowledge than I have on the subject. Hopefully they will add to this discussion soon.