Neutrinos: Why Do These "Useless" Ghost Particles Exist?

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REFERENCES
How Higgs Field Confers Mass: • The Crazy Mass-Giving ...
New CERN data: tinyurl.com/2a3dsnqb
How Neutrinos Break Standard Model: tinyurl.com/26tjauvl
CHAPTERS
0:00 Neutrinos so small!
1:34 Masterworks art investing
3:20 How Neutrinos solved a conundrum
5:29 Where do Neutrinos come from & how detected
7:27 Mystery of Neutrino mass
11:08 Why can't the Higgs Field explain Neutrino mass?
12:35 Why we wouldn't exist without Neutrinos
SUMMARY
Are Neutrinos useless? Would we exist without neutrinos? What are neutrinos? And what purpose do they serve? Where do Neutrinos come from?
They are the second most abundant particles after photons. They do not carry a charge, and they interact very weakly. This why they can go right through the earth without interacting with anything. So how did we know they existed?
They were first theorized in 1930 by Wolfgang Pauli. He was trying to solve a mystery in physics - why some of the energy in a radioactive Beta decay appeared to be missing. A beta decay occurs when an atom has too many neutrons or protons in its nucleus. When there are too many neutrons, the nucleus becomes more stable by transforming a neutron into a proton. This process emits an electron.
Pauli proposed that perhaps a second invisible particle was being emitted along with the electron, which carried the different energies, allowing for overall energy to be conserved. Enrico Fermi later coined the term Neutrino for this particle.
How were they experimentally detected if they don’t interact with anything? They are so abundant that if you build a detector large enough, and leave it on for long enough, a small percentage of these neutrinos will interact often enough that we can detect them. They were confirmed experimentally in 1956 by Fred Reines and Clyde Cowan, for which a Nobel Prize was later awarded. Their detector weighed 10 tons and was placed near a powerful fission reactor. The fission and fusion processes produce a lot of neutrinos.
#neutrino
#neutrinos
The tremendous fusion reactions inside stars like our sun is the reason these particles are so abundant. How are neutrinos produced in the sun? When the sun fuses Hydrogen to Helium, the end result turns 4 protons into a helium nucleus consisting of 2 protons and 2 neutrons. This process produces two positrons and two neutrinos.
Neutrinos were initially thought to be massless, but we now believe that they do have mass because the neutrinos from the sun went missing. We didn’t detect nearly as many neutrinos as we should have. This was called the “Solar Neutrino Problem.” It turned out that neutrinos, come in three different types, called “flavors.” The flavors are electron neutrinos, muon neutrinos and tau neutrinos. Electron neutrinos were the ones we were looking for, but when we learned how to detect the other two flavors, muon and tau neutrinos, the missing neutrinos could be accounted for.
This changing of flavors can only happen if these three particles have a non-zero mass. Why? The simple answer is that in order for flavor change to happen, some passing of time must occur for the particle. If no time passed for the particle, then no change could happen.
On its way to earth, the neutrino is in a kind of superposition or a mixed state of various possible masses and flavors. This is called neutrino oscillation. The source of this neutrino mass and its oscillation is the mystery.
The Higgs field cannot explain its mass because the Higgs flips the handedness or “chirality" of fermions if it interacts with them. This is how the Higgs confers mass. But this mechanism doesn’t work for the neutrino because it stays in its left-handed state forever. Right handed Neutrinos don’t exist.
We wouldn’t exist without neutrinos the sun wouldn’t shine without Neutrinos. And no life would exist without the sun.
Furthermore, neutrinos are also involved in Beta Minus decay. This decay allows free Neutrons to decay into protons. Without this process, the universe may have consisted of mostly neutrons, so much fewer atoms may have formed, precluding formation of life.

[@KonradTheWizzard]

Nice Video! A tiny mistake in one of the animations though: the annihilation of electrons and positrons produces TWO gamma photons (of 511keV each) in opposite directions. That's how we are able to create actual images in Positron Emission Tomography: we can paint a line between two photons detected at the same time and then overlay millions of those lines to form something similar to a "heat map".

[@ArvinAsh]

Good point. Thank you.

[@ozzymandius666]

@@ArvinAsh Thumbs up for explaining the chirality-mixing role of the Higgs field.

[@wojtek_tty]

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[@wearethefruitoftheuniverse]

Could mass have a heirarchy that can clue is in on how wave energy can become matter kzbin.info/www/bejne/mHeTo3WnZr1kaKs

[@learning_with_irving4266]

Hmmm 🤔 yes of course...-"My dumb self pretending to understand such intellect" 😅

[@bandongogogo]

Please Arvin, never stop making these! Your style and energy are awesome and inspiring!

[@Well_Earned_Siesta]

+1

[@enterprisesoftwarearchitect]

One of his best!!

[@andrewrivera4029]

Never ever?

[@MaloPiloto]

I sure agree. Another great video from Arvin….

[@raya.p.l5919]

❤Warning it is intense energy wash. Hold on holy Ghost

[@justjoe1368]

Thank you! It wasn't until I saw the visualization here of the electron constantly switching its handedness from left to right due to its interaction with the Higgs field that I finally understood how the Higgs field gives a particle mass. As you explained, the rate at which a particle switches from left to right creates a certain amount of energy and that energy is where the particle's mass comes from.

[@oskarskalski2982]

Watch Lenny Susskinds' lecture about Higgs. It digs much deeper into this topic. Maybe it's confusing at the start because you don't see "higgsiness" there but at the end it all comes together. It's "Demystifying higgs boson with Leaonard Susskind". I tend to rewatch this lecturefrom time to time to jog my memory on this topic.

[@cobyiv]

Yeah that explanation of Higgs field is best I’ve ever seen myself

[@enterprisesoftwarearchitect]

Roger Penrose describes this switching in “Road to Reality” (his largest book) and I wondered why I hadn’t heard that description before.

[@caitlin6324]

Same! Something about that visualization is so intuitive.

[@KrossFire330]

Please help me understand. If the oscillation of the electrons interacting with the higgs field produces energy and thus mass, then where did the original energy come from that allowed the elections to oscillate in the first place???

[@szolanek]

I never regret watching his videos. Such a clear explanations and superb animations.

[@photon434]

Another phenomenal video. Clear and concise explanations of complex concepts. Thank you for giving us a deeper understanding of our world.

[@Atoms137]

You are one of my favorite educators on KZbin❤

[@Fcozer]

So, if I got it correctly, neutrinos are created in a process that is essential to our existence; however, as far as we know, neutrinos themselves seems pretty useless 😅 Hopefully we will learn more about these particles! Loved the video and the explanation about the Higgs mechanism!

[@dtfanatic247]

I’m a neutrino! 😅

[@WhoIsLikeHim]

@@dtfanatic247 you're useless

[@das_it_mane]

Arvin you have a gift. No one can make that complex topics as simple to digest as you do. I always learn something new from your videos

[@rayoflight62]

Great video Dr. Ash! All info are correct and to the point, while precisely and clearly delivered without ambiguity. My compliments... Greetings, Anthony

[@donholmstrom6482]

Thank you. I've seen many physics videos covering particles but this video has provided several things that I've never heard before.

[@pasijutaulietuviuesas9174]

This is amazing. These videos uncover so many unanswered questions that I couldn't find anywhere else. For example, the only answer to how the Higgs field gives particles mass I've found was always "it drags particles" or analogies with crowded places. Not once have I heard a connection with chirality. Now I need more! Keep up the fantastic work!

[@thomaskn1012]

I love Arvin Ash’s straightforward explanations for the average person to understand. It’s on point with what a true educator would do.

[@PSG_Mobile]

You really know how to explain complex things simply!

[@dann5480]

It isn't complex at all.

[@rperryblue]

You are the best at explaining these concepts. Well done! Please keep it up!

[@Quadflash]

Dr. Ash, thank you! This video clearly explained several phenomena that had previously left my head aching -- how the Higgs field confers mass, why neutrinos don't interact with most matter, why gamma rays are very high energy photons, what flavors are in quantum contexts.

[@williamtsmith9668]

If neutrinos don't interact with "most" matter, then they must interact with "some" matter. So. What is the matter? 👻☠️🗽🙏💯

[@richardconway6425]

Omg, that was brilliant Arvin!! I learnt BRAND NEW THINGS in that 12 minute video that I didn't know before. Like this idea of the "missing mass"; I didn't realise that it had been established that it wasn't the higgs field that gave neutrinos their mass. That is so intriguing. I must now go back and watch some of your other recent videos to catch up!! Thank you!

[@Edo9River]

Arvin, I have watched this video several times. I have also watched 3 other neutrino explanations. Your video a a good balance of clear explanation and desnsity of information. Therefore it is a pleasant task to rewatch your work, you don't waste many words (except your necessary sponsor promotion).

[@VECT0R777]

Excellent explanation! I learned something i didn't know before this. Thank you so much!

[@ssssssssssss885]

This is one of Arvin's best videos. I learned new things that escaped me although I've been studying Q-Physics and the Std-M for quite a while.

[@djgruby]

Very good video, and very well explained phenomena. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[@LowellBoggs]

Thank you for explaining how the Higgs field gives the electron it's mass. I have been looking for a clear, simple, and un silly-fied explanation for a long time. Love your videos. Well thought out and very beautiful. This was an even more clear explanation that Leo Suskind have.

[@oskarskalski2982]

Do you mean "Demystifying higgs boson with Leonard Susskind"? I beg to differ because he told everything Arvin told her and expanded on it much more.

[@LowellBoggs]

If the higgs field flips the spin of electrons in flight, how does this effect the Stern Gerlach experiment?

[@JohnDlugosz]

So why does the electron have a spin that stays put? (and it's its by the way)

[@victorvinue6330]

Awesome video Arvin! please keep up your amazing work

[@SumitPrasaduniverse]

Thank you Arvin, for making video on Neutrinos 😊

[@quantx6572]

Wow, really well done. Several gaps in my knowledge filled with video. Damn you're good, Arvin 😀

[@KrossFire330]

Your videos make me want to become a particle physicist. Or at least keep learning all I can about particle physics. Please keep making these videos so I can continue to learn!!

[@NNiSYS]

Again this neutrino from Lima, dear Arvin. Thank you for your CLARITY & for sharing your BEING! Keep on showering us with your neutrinos! My love to you.

[@msislam6751]

We are with you Arvin. Amazing content

[@JerryMlinarevic]

Neutrinos are Siamese twins who initially existed separately inside quarks creating fields from particles and steered fields in their crazy twisted way of life. When the twins were able to reach out and grab hands inside quarks they decided to conjoin and go on they fairy-wheel life shaking their own hands as they journey the cosmos searching for new experiences.

[@jonathanker6195]

Hi, first thank you very much for your great work. I would like to know if it'll be possible to do a video about the Kaluza-Klein theory ? It will be great to understand it's implication, how gravity and electromagnetism are viewed to be bind, what all of it means etc. Thank again, stay strong !

[@williejohnson487]

Thank you, Arvin. Nicely done.

[@colbynye5995]

Fantastic topic! I've been wondering what it's purpose is for such a long time! Thanks for your content!

[@shahilkumar94]

Thank you Arvin for the best physics lesson I ever had

[@louislesch3878]

Awesome video Arvin. I think it would have been great to mention the DUNE project being built by Fermilab which will explore the neutrino oscillation phenomenon. Maybe this could have lead to a collaboration video with Dr. Don Lincoln who hosts the Fermilab KZbin channel. Again, awesome video. Thanks again.

[@madmattdigs9518]

I live near Fermilab and they have days where they allow the public to come in there. They do presentations, explaining the work they do there, and afterward you can have snacks and talk to scientists. It’s great, I’ve done it several times. One of the presentations I sat in was about the neutrino detector they’re building.

[@user-hs3gq7vi7c]

Great video as always….!!!❤But basically for me.. What is always most curious about is what the opposite properties of neutrinos and antineutrinos are…. Would you please let me know it?

[@TM-yn4iu]

Truly appreciated video(s) from both a scientific and informative perspective. I thank you!

[@journeymantraveller3338]

Arvin is pretty good. Clear discussion with detail and context and timely anticipation of questions.

[@DanielDogeanu]

That chirality thing blew me away! You need to do a video about how Higgs field works in detail!

[@oskarskalski2982]

Watch Leonard Susskinds' lecture "Demystifying higgs boson with Leaonard Susskind "

[@DanielDogeanu]

@@oskarskalski2982 I will, thanks!

[@MaryAnnNytowl]

Definitely a great explanation of why we should be glad they exist. Didn't really go back to more information on the imaging discussed at the beginning, though. That was a letdown, I must say. 😕

[@broslyons8045]

Thank you - that was incredible- hard enough to understand or visualize- but you made it great-

[@Kaffeesuchti1985]

Wow, this video was awesome!!! Please keep this up, GREAT WORK!!!

[@JamesSimmons]

Isn't it interesting that in the agnostic field of particle physics we still ask ourselves questions like what the purpose of neutrinos are, defaulting to a mindset of intelligent design 🤷‍♂️

[@Quroxify]

The answer you are looking for is quite obvious. The neutrino Must exist or else conservation of momentum fails in the case of beta emissions. The neutrino patches this hole. Without neutrinos the standard model is crap. There, now you understand the purpose of the neutrino.

[@blanckieification]

Thank you! I miss intelectual videos like this in a world of idiocy

[@annaklein6765]

I love your way to explain difficult things. Thank you very much.

[@zach4505]

Amazingly put together. 👌

[@shethtejas104]

Thanks Arvin for taking us to the very edges of modern physics every time. How else would I have known that the mass of a neutrino is an ongoing mystery. By the way I think I have some evidence. I am unable to shed the last 5 kilo off my body to reach the target weight. Been trying for years now. I thought it was pastries. But dang! now I know its the neutrinos :D

[@drsbutler]

Lol

[@shethtejas104]

@@drsbutler From now on, if someone's fat, I will call him a 'neutron star'. lolzzzzzzzz

[@Dudleymiddleton]

The light year chunk of lead is mindblowing - proper ninja particle!

[@hanpanBR]

"Yo mama is so thick a neutrino just hit her"

[@davidklang8174]

One of your best videos, Arvin!

[@svergurd3873]

Excellent explanation! It really clarified many things to me! I had some idea of these questions, but now I understand much better.

[@misterlau5246]

I remember Star Trek TNG Geordi's visor was capable of detecting neutrinos 😳🖖🤨🤓 The problem with Higgs mechanism is that explaining it in layman's terms is always incomplete of course. Anyways, the part about changing the electrons is a good idea with your animated graphics. I remember Riemann surfaces on books, phase space with top view, spirals 🥺 and now there are some great 3D art just by plotting those surfaces in, well, 3D

[@tkrisnadas]

Awesome video Arvin. What about neutrinos' interaction through gravity? If it has mass and produced in prodigious quantities it should have a large gravitational effect should it not? It should manifest right? Many thanks

[@ArvinAsh]

They have so little mass, that even the large numbers don't amount to much. All the neutrinos in the universe amount to, at most, 1% of the energy of the universe.

[@radiator007]

Well.. your information so valuable and well presented. Congrats.

[@bj97301]

Crazy! Love the video. Thank you.

[@LynxUrbain]

Thank you ! How was the maximum value of each mass (each neutrino type) measured / calculated? Is it more difficult to measure/ detect a muon or tau neutrino, since muons and tau have shorter lifetimes than electrons? If you get the chance and the time, could you, please, talk about the different types of neutrino detectors, and detection techniques.

[@O_Lee69]

google for K.A.T.R.I.N. experiment. They are measuring the energy of the electrons coming from beta decays. They know the exact total energy from this process. Interesting are the high energy electrons. The remaining energy is the mass and kinetic energy of the neutrino. So they can set an upper limit for the neutrino mass.

[@Blakblooded]

Ahhh, neutrinos. One of Star Trek's go to particles (along with tachyons) when they need to yada yada some "science."

[@ArvinAsh]

Don't forget about "subspace communications" and "spacetime anomalies"

[@Blakblooded]

@@ArvinAsh The "anomaly of the week" is a tried and true Star Trek staple.

[@ogi22]

Thank you Mr Ash! You really expanded my knowledge on how particles gain mass in a Higgs field and those graphics were brilliant! I just wish you and other science educators a lot of patience and persistence in making such videos. And since we really live in interesting times, i hope we will see many more videos like this one.

[@nickush7512]

Always a pleasure, thanks, and thanks those behind many helpful coments.

[@erictaylor5462]

10:20 So it's like trying to weigh your housecat on a truck scale.

[@ArvinAsh]

More like weighing a feather.

[@ericvondell5157]

More like a Feather than a Cat! Neutrinos Are Best described as "Cosmic Fluff" but, They're so Ghostly it makes me wonder if maybe, Ghosts might actually be something Real! Quantum Physics Is Just plain Bizarre! This is the first Science Discussion that's Ever helped me to Think of These Things as something Tangible!

[@Earwaxfire909]

Reminds me of my grad-school days. Elementary particle physicists have a hard time saying, "I haven't got a clue." Or even, "Something is missing." Colors and Flavors always drove me nuts, searching for certainty in their uncertainty principles. I still don't understand what they mean.

[@theslay66]

They symbolize some types of interactions between the particles, that have no equivalent at our scale. It's not a matter of "not understanding what is happening, so let's just give it a fancy name". It's a matter of observing that some particles interact in some way, that can be modelized mathematically as a property of the particle following some precise rule. However, there is no object in the macroscopic world with such property, so we just put on it a name to differenciate the state that the particle can take -like we make up a name for any new thing we discover. We choose "color" for the strong force interaction because mathematically it's similar to how color additivity works, but that's all there is to it. And "flavor" because, well, they're just different types of the same things, so why not name it like that. The problem here is always the same : for an intuitive understanding of something, we need to borrow some similarity with something we already know of. We use analogies. However what happens at this scale is so strange, so different from what we are used to observe at the macroscopic scale, that sometimes no analogy can really help. But this doesn't mean we don't understand what's going on, in the sense that we are able to precisely describe, and predict, how these particles interact. And for a scientific theory, that's all that really matters.

[@Earwaxfire909]

@@theslay66 I've yet to see a coherent description of color and flavor. And gluon properties are one of the messiest ideas yet. How elementary particles undergo fluctuations in these properties is not well described at all. And because of that, they are not yet well understood. The properties of elementary particles are not at all elementary. Something gigantic is missing from this sub-nuclear story.

[@jamesraymond1158]

I'm curious about what kind of work you're doing now. Is your grad school physics useful to you in some way?

[@Earwaxfire909]

@@jamesraymond1158 I do molecular biology now. Got my PhD in both subjects. Solid state nuclear magnetic resonance of proteins, looking at the coupling between thermal stability and molecular dynamics. Now a huge range of things from DNA microarrays to new theories of enzyme kinetics to inflammation in cell cultures. I love physics. But saw my brightest friends graduate with PhDs in elementary particles and in general relativity and end up pumping gas and waiting tables. So I knew I had to do something else.

[@theslay66]

@@Earwaxfire909 But it works the same way as the electric charge, or mass. In what way do you have any coherent explanation for these properties ? The only difference is that they manifest at the macroscopic level, so you can somehow think you have a clear view of what they are. But when you try to examine what they really are at the quantum scale, it's no more or less alien than color or flavor. They all are interactions with some kind of fields. And what are fields ? Heck, what is space-time ? Nothing more than mathematical constructs we use to describe how reality works. I'm not saying that the theory is perfect, and that we're not missing something there. We obviously are. But it seems to me you're thinking so for the wrong reasons.

[@rezenpm]

This one is a banger. Well done sir!

[@faresalhawaj9936]

Excellent explanation. Thank you

[@sy20000]

They are not useless they are cute.

[@carriecoltart5661]

Neutrino for president

[@Joao456Zamper]

I've seen several neutrinos videos, this is by far, the best one.

[@colinadevivero]

Excellent work. As always 😊

[@larrygraham3377]

Thank you for this wonderful video. I never understood the science of the Nutrino. After this video I now have a clearer understanding. Again, Thanks !!! 🤯🤯🤯

[@franciscovalenzuela4152]

Thanks for these videos ❤❤

[@nbrown6648]

Excellent explanation - thank you !

[@josephoyanadel4184]

Excellent account of the philosophical question Thanks!

[@onebylandtwoifbysearunifby5475]

Another fine video, well illustrated.

[@Stefan_trekkie]

Superb explanation of what gives the energy due to Higgs field

[@jessfucket]

thank you again!

[@turkfiles]

Appreciate every one of your videos. Neutrinos are such an interesting part of the Standard Model.

[@samgag94]

amazing explanation! by far the most complete and most simple to understand for a non physicist I've seen

[@epelly3]

One of your greatest videos yet ty

[@altareggo]

Closing in on a million subs......keep on making great presentations like this, and it'll be no time at all!!

[@higherresolution4490]

Wow, that cleared up half-a-dozen questions I've had for years. You are one excellent teacher! Quite an enjoyable / inspirational program. I attended UCI and remember asking Frederick Reines if the neutrino discovery was inferred or an isolated event (like what we see at CERN with the Higgs field). He wasn't too happy with my question!

[@ArvinAsh]

Really? I'm surprised he was not happy to answer the question.

[@gdeamonlord]

gotta love these videos

[@WendyDunham]

Excellent! The complex topic is distilled into very understandable concepts and in a seemingly effortless manner, which is a testament to the teacher’s skill. Such clear, concise educational videos don’t happen by accident - there is a master at work here! 👍

[@ArvinAsh]

Many thanks! Glad you enjoy these videos

[@lianimi]

neutrino helicity finally makes sense! thank you for your eloquent explanations

[@pepevelez4742]

so very interesting, thank you you are the best.

[@teashea1]

another wonderful video ------ so excellent

[@emergentform1188]

Wow I know more about neutrinos now that I thought I ever would. Hooray Arvin! ❤💯

[@emergentform1188]

@@spaghettitroll no clue, wild stuff!

[@enterprisesoftwarearchitect]

Maybe your best video! Just awesome!!

[@kaldrazadrim]

This channel has the best beat drop of any intro music!

[@user-xj8ub5er1c]

Thanks for the greek subtitles my friend

[@VagnerGon]

First video I see from this channel. More than enough to sub already!

[@ArvinAsh]

Welcome aboard!

[@corvette9675]

As usual an excellent video.

[@bishwajitbhattacharjee-xm6xp]

Good great video is blessing for social media users . Ash is very specified on supernovae .He is like a good teacher removed the dust and Ash from standard model table.. He also went beyond to Higgs mechanism to put the mystery of neutrino and generation. Though neutrinos are charge les handless unlike electron's family. Thank you they are every where.

[@rabidL3M0NS]

That bit about how the Higgs gives mass is mind blowing, what a strange reality this is, and the fact that some species of eukaryote from earth can create large scale symbolic abstractions of the very fundamentals of the reality which gave rise to them is just a miracle!

[@SmogandBlack]

Very nice (as always) 😊.

[@juanantonioalbacetecalero6538]

Thanks!

[@savitriayapilla3943]

Great video.. tq for giving the text of this video..

[@alirezanabavian771]

Thanks as much as there are many neutrinos in the universe for your excellent teaching

[@Edo9River]

Also your kind of socratic style of rhetorical questioning structure feels natural, as students and teachers interactions in the classroom. At least this is what I am accustomed to.

[@Alex.The.Lionnnnn]

When I learnt about neutrinos at uni, I kind of pictured them as little tiny particles of energy converted into mass in it's most neutral form. It helps visualise it and that's how I understand things.

[@alessandromangiapia7082]

Absolutely fantastic! Please continue doing these videos

[@JoeParizer]

Awesome channel

[@lettersforkumar]

Hi Arvin, I watch all of your videos. Thank you for presenting complex ting i so simple way. These days I am trying to look after theories and evidences on quantum consciousness and penros-hameroff postulates seems promising. Can you please make s video on this from the start? like from sir roger peneos’s idea and later micro tubeles by hameroff? it would be wonderful for all of us.

[@jmpem209]

Hi Arvin. Related to your quantum gravity videos, can you make a Feynman diagram for a proton and an electron coming together? I've never seen that one. Thank you.

[@cyberneticlinkcyberneticli6101]

Thanks for the explanation now i know 2 importance of Neutrino 1 has already as light of the sun 2 the potential of new research link to dark energy dark matter or unknown world particle

[@lontongtepungroti2777]

you're amazing !!!!!!!!!!