Neutrinos

Dark Matter Neutrinos Supersymmetry Extra Dimensions Home

Neutrinos are among the most elusive particles to have been discovered. They interact with ordinary matter so rarely, that they can travel through the entire Earth without making any contact. I am especially interested in using very energetic neutrinos from space (cosmic neutrinos) to learn more about the fundamental laws of nature. If our universe possesses extra dimensions of space, for example, then energetic neutrinos may interact very differently than would be predicted otherwise. One possibility is that microscopic black holes could be produced in neutrino collisions with matter. One of the tools being developed to study energetic cosmic neutrinos is the IceCube neutrino telescope (pictured). IceCube, when completed, will consist of an array of detectors spread out over a full cubic kilometer of ice more than a mile beneath the surface of the South Pole. Neutrinos interacting inside of or near this volume can be detected through the light that is given off. IceCube and experiments like it are opening a new window through which to observe our universe. IceCube may also be capable of studying dark matter by detecting neutrinos which have been produced through dark matter particles annihilating each other in the core of the Sun.