Physics Commons^™

Structure Of Matter, 8, David Peak

Structure of Matter

Neutrino mass and family mixing

Neutrinos are products of radioactive decay in many stellar fusion processes, primarily starting with the reaction p + p → ²He*→ ²H + e⁺ +ν_e . The nucleus ²He* is a highly unstable (that’s what the * represents) isotope of helium consisting of four primary u quarks and two primary d quarks. For years (since 1962 or so), various groups have been measuring the solar electron-neutrino flux, invariably observing it to be lower than theoretical predictions. Moreover, neutrinos are generated in the upper atmosphere, via collisions of cosmic ray particles …