Cherenkov Radiation

A flash of light that happens as a result of a particle traveling faster than the speed of light in a given medium. This is very similar to a sonic boom, but with light instead of sound. The speed of light is different based on what the light is traveling through—for example, light travels slower in water than in air. This is why experiments like IceCube and Super Kamiokande use water or ice, so that we can detect neutrinos through the cherenkov radiation they give off.


Lepton

A lepton is a type of particle. You’ve most likely heard of the most famous lepton, the electron. Along with electrons, there are two other types of charged leptons called muons and taus. Each of these have a corresponding neutrino, which is neutrally charged, giving us a total of six leptons.


Neutrino

This particle is a special type of lepton. Unlike the other leptons, neutrinos carry no charge and have very little mass. This makes them extremely hard to detect, even though there are an incredible number of them in the universe. Neutrinos have many interesting properties, which we want to study more closely, such as their ability to oscillate between flavors.

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Neutrino Flavors

Neutrinos come in three different types, which we call flavors. The flavors correspond to the three charged leptons. We have electron, muon, and tau neutrinos. Each flavor of neutrino has a different mass.


Neutrino Oscillations

Something very interesting about neutrinos is that they change flavors. Say you observe an electron neutrino at Point A, then observe it again at Point B which is 20 meters away. You may see that the electron neutrino you detected at point A is now a muon neutrino at point B. As the neutrino travels, it is a quantum mechanical mix of the three different flavors.