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Neutrinos and the Proposed India-based Neutrino Observatory

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Abstract

How the Sun shines has puzzled astronomers and biologists over the ages. The answer to this question led to a deeper understanding of an enigmatic particle, the neutrino, through the quantum mechanical phenomenon of neutrino oscillation. Neutrinos produced in various reactions change their type or ‘flavor’ as they propagate, and this requires them to possess a small but non-zero mass—they were earlier thought to be massless. The excitement in the area of studying neutrinos, about which we still know very little, led to the proposal for an India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO). We will review the physics of neutrinos, as well as the physics goals and current status of INO, in this article.

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Acknowledgements

I thank B. Satyanarayana for generous permission to use the photos on mini-ICAL, RPCs, etc., in this article. I thank V. M. Datar and M. V. N. Murthy for their critical reading of the manuscript, which enormously improved its quality and content. I also thank Dhruba Saikia for inviting me to write this article, a most difficult task in the present circumstances.

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  1. The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, IV Cross Road, CIT Campus, Taramani, Chennai, 600 113, India

    D. Indumathi

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  1. D. Indumathi
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D. Indumathi works on the phenomenology of particle physics at The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai. Her interests are in both the field of strong interactions and neutrino physics and she is actively involved with the proposed India-based Neutrino Observatory. She has been a part of science popularisation activities for both school and college students for a long time.

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Indumathi, D. Neutrinos and the Proposed India-based Neutrino Observatory. Reson 27, 185–205 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-022-1308-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-022-1308-3

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