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Jun 25, 2015

[CA] India based Neutrino Observatory (INO): Part 1

Current Affairs
India based Neutrino Observatory (INO)

What is INO?
·        Mega science project (Rs. 1584 crore by Hindu; Rs. 1350 crore by TIFR) under 12th Five year plan.
·        To setup an underground lab for pure science.
·        INO is the first mega collaborative experimental project to be undertaken in India and could set a precedent for large-scale collaborative efforts in basic sciences
Function on INO
·        INO lab has 50,000 tonnes magnetic detector and an Iron Calorimeter (ICAL) detector.
·        To study neutrinos and particle physics.
·        Later can be used for doing under-ground experiments in pure research in biology, physics and chemistry as well.
Where is INO?
·        Bodi west hills, Theni district, Tamil Nadu
·        When completed, the INO will house the world's most massive magnet, four times larger than the 12,500-tonne magnet in the Compact Muon Solenoid detector at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland
Who owns INO?
·        Jointly funded by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST)
·        BARC, Tata institute of Fundamental research (TIFR) and dozen other Indian research institutes.
·        26 Indian institutions and 100 scientists are involved in this project with TIFR as the nodal institute



Location factors
·        To detect Neutrino and their reactions, the lab has to be at least 1000 m below surface, to reduce natural cosmic radiation.
·        Mountains of South India, are most ideal for this lab, because they’ve dense rock (mostly gneiss) while the Himalayas are mostly metamorphic sedimentary rock with only pockets of gneiss.
·        Bodi west hills is made up of Charnockite (hardest rock known.) Earthquake risk minimum.

·        Hence better than hills in Karnataka, because they’ve more schistic type rocks, the rocks.



What is Neutrino?
·        Neutrinos are subatomic particles and, like photons and electrons, are one of the fundamental particles of nature
·        Neutrinos are products of radioactive decay
·        Neutrinos are streaming all over the universe in great abundance
·        After Photons, neutrinos are the most abundant particles in the universe
·        Scientists believe that the majority of the neutrinos that are floating around were born around 15 million years ago
·        Neutrinos are also being produced constantly – from terrestrial sources such as nuclear power stations and particle accelerators; in the atmosphere due to interactions of cosmic rays with nuclei resulting in what are called as ‘atmospheric neutrinos’
·        Like Photons, neutrinos do not carry any electric charge
·        Neutrinos have tiny mass (Photos do not have any mass)
·        Among the fundamental particles, neutrinos are a bit strange
·        About 100 trillion neutrinos from the sun and other cosmic sources pass through our bodies every second without us even realizing it
·        Neutrinos are elusive and not easily detected
·        Frederick Reines (in 1956) led the discovery of neutrino
·        Neutrino detectors are usually placed deep underground, typically a kilometer or still deeper. The large overburden of rock or earth above the detectors reduces the background cosmic ray particles by a million times or more.

Types of Neutrinos:
Neutrinos are known to come in three types –
Ø  Electron
Ø  Muon
Ø  Tau
Which of the above neutrino is heaviest? – result is not known; scientists are 'investigating'…

Neutrinos - types
Neutrino
Ve
Charged partner
Electron
Muon
Tau




Part 2
[Why Bodi Hills chosen as site? Neutrino Oscillation / History of INO / TN Political Parties oppose / China and Neutrino]  CLICK HERE 
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