Can sterile neutrinos exist?

From Scientific American, November 4, 2021: Physicists have wondered if neutrino particles come in a mysterious fourth variety. Now new experimental findings complicate the question. Physicists have wondered if neutrino particles come in a mysterious fourth variety. The MicroBooNE experiment findings announced last week by Fermilab heightened the mystery of why too many particles showed up in a detector during an experiment on the 1990s.

New measurement rules out sterile neutrinos

From Forbes, October 27, 2021: Fermilab’s Don Lincoln discusses the journey of the hypothetical sterile neutrino and the results of the MicroBooNE experiment hosted at Fermilab. Have sterile neutrinos been ruled out?

MicroBooNE ‘shines a flashlight’ on tricky neutrinos

From Yale News, October 27, 2021: On Oct. 27, the international MicroBooNE collaboration announced the first results of MicroBooNE’s search for an anomaly that could have indicated a fourth type of neutrino, a subatomic particle considered a fundamental building block of matter.

Neutrino result heralds new chapter in physics

From the BBC, October 27, 2021: Yesterday, the MIcroBooNE collaboration opened a new chapter in physics with the announcement of their results; the search failed to find the particle, known as the sterile neutrino.

MicroBooNE experiment’s first results show no hint of a sterile neutrino

Press release

Four complementary analyses by Fermilab’s MicroBooNE show no signs of a theorized fourth kind of neutrino known as the sterile neutrino. Its existence is considered a possible explanation for anomalies seen in previous physics experiments.

‘Rock star of neutrinos’ to appear on ‘Nova’

From the Daily Herald, September 30, 2021: From Glenbrook South high school to the deputy head of the Neutrino Division, an interview with Fermilab rock star Sam Zeller.

Cartoon of three balls in different shades of pink popping out of doors marked for the three different kinds of neutrinos: tau, muon and electron. To the right of them, three tiny scientists in white lab coats on scaffolding.

The search for the sterile neutrino

Back when it was theorized, scientists weren’t sure they would ever detect the neutrino. Now scientists, including some at Fermilab, are searching for a version of the particle that could be even more elusive.

Talented early career researchers join Queen Mary on STFC-funded fellowships

From Queen Mary University of London, April 26, 2021: Fermilab scientist Dr. Kirsty Duffy was awarded the Ernest Rutherford Fellowship from the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) to establish a new research group working on MicroBooNE at Queen Mary University of London. Duffy will continue to host the Even Bananas video series which explores neutrinos until the end of the year.

Physicists achieve significant improvement in spotting neutrinos in a cosmic haystack

From Science Magazine (UK), June 9, 2021: Brookhaven scientists have developed new ways for the MicroBooNE detector at Fermilab to filter out cosmic ray tracks to pinpoint elusive neutrino interactions with unprecedented clarity.

Three vertical planes of sense wires stand in the center of this 3D chart that shows on the left how particles flying through the detector create electrons that drift to the sense wires of the detector, and on the right shows electric signals – the waveforms – that these wires will collect as a function of time. To the left, an incoming neutrino travels through the liquid argon of the time projection chamber, and it eventually splits into two charged particles that knock loose electrons in the liquid. To the right of the sense wires, waveforms are shown for the Y plane and the V plane.

Physicists achieve significant improvement in spotting accelerator-produced neutrinos in a cosmic haystack

Press release

Ground-breaking image reconstruction and analysis algorithms developed for surface-based MicroBooNE detector filter out cosmic ray tracks to pinpoint elusive neutrino interactions with unprecedented clarity.