GHOST PARTICLES: NEUTRINOS ARE EVERYWHERE

COURSE LEADERS: John Anderson
MEETS: 5 Wednesdays TIME: 1:00pm - 3:00pm
DATES COURSE MEETS: 4/1, 4/8, 4/15, 4/22, 4/29
PRICE: $50.00
LOCATION: 8081 E. Orchard Rd., Greenwood Village, CO 80111 Map
TYPE: Lecture,Discussion,Reading,Video
CATEGORY: SCIENCE / TECHNOLOGY & MEDICINE
DESCRIPTION:

If neutrinos, a fundamental component of matter, did not exist, the sun would not shine, and we would not be here. While billions of them pass through every square inch of our bodies every second, they are hard to find and study. These elusive particles have been known since 1930, but poorly understood until recently, studied today through exotic experiments in Antarctica, deep gold mines, and the Mediterranean Sea. The science around neutrinos is at the forefront of particle physics research and dark matter. Two Americans earned Nobel Prizes for their work, but others aren’t so revered—one defected and the other disappeared. The final week of class includes guest speaker Prof. Alysia Marino from CU, Boulder.

Required Reading: Ray Jayawardhana, Neutrino Hunters -The Thrilling Chase for a Ghostly Particle to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe (Scientific American/FSG, New York), 2013.

Recommended Reading: Christine Sutton, Spaceship Neutrino, (Cambridge), 1992.