Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO): China’s Leap Toward Solving Neutrino Mysteries

Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO): China’s Leap Toward Solving Neutrino Mysteries

Sub : Sci

Sec: Space tech

Why in News

China’s Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO), located in southern Guangdong, is nearing completion and is set to revolutionize our understanding of neutrinos, subatomic particles key to unlocking many cosmic mysteries. With global collaboration, JUNO is expected to provide groundbreaking insights into neutrino behavior, mass hierarchy, and their impact on fundamental physics.

About JUNO and Its Purpose

• JUNO is located 700 meters underground in China’s Guangdong province.
• A giant sphere equipped with thousands of light-detecting tubes will be housed within a 12-storey cylindrical pool of water.
• The experiment aims to study elusive subatomic particles known as neutrinos, products of nuclear reactions.
• JUNO will focus on determining the mass hierarchy of neutrinos, providing insights into the universe’s subatomic processes and matter formation.
• JUNO will observe solar neutrinos, providing real-time data on solar processes. It will also study neutrinos released by the radioactive decay of elements like uranium and thorium in the Earth, helping researchers understand mantle convection and tectonic plate movement.
• Global Collaboration: JUNO involves scientists from France, Germany, Italy, Russia, the U.S., and Taiwan. JUNO’s research will be a collaborative effort involving data sharing and analysis across countries.
• Operational Timeline: Set to begin operation by late 2025, JUNO will surpass other major neutrino observatories, including the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) in the U.S., which is still under construction.

What are neutrinos?

• Neutrinos are the second most abundant particles in the world, after photons, or the light particle.
• Neutrinos are mysterious particles,produced copiously in nuclear reactions in the Sun, stars, and elsewhere.
• Neutrinos are tiny, near-massless particles produced by nuclear reactions. Every second, trillions pass through matter, including the human body.
• They also “oscillate”–meaning that different types of neutrinos change into one another. Probing of oscillations of neutrinos and their relations with mass are crucial in studying the origin of the universe.
• Neutrinos are created by various radioactive decays; during a supernova, by cosmic rays striking atoms etc.
• There are three known varieties of neutrinos, and they can transform from one type to another mid-flight. Understanding which type is the lightest or heaviest could explain processes from the universe’s early days and why matter exists in its current form.
• JUNO will track neutrinos emitted from nearby Guangdong nuclear power plants, focusing on neutrino transformation, or oscillation, to solve the neutrino mass hierarchy problem.