Antineutrino
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Antineutrinos are neutral particles produced in nuclear beta decay. They have a nuclear spin of 1/2, and they are part of the lepton family of particles. Antineutrinos interact with other matter only through the gravitational and weak nuclear forces, making them very difficult to detect experimentally. Neutrino oscillation experiments indicate that antineutrinos have mass, but beta decay experiments constrain that mass to be very small.
Because antineutrinos and neutrinos are neutral particles it is possible that they are actually the same particle. Particles which have this property are known as Majorana particles. If neutrinos are indeed Majorana particles then the neutrinoless double beta decay process is allowed, and several experiments have been proposed to search for this process.
External links
- Search for neutrinoless double beta decay with enriched 76Ge in Gran Sasso 1990–2003 (http://www.mpi-hd.mpg.de/non_acc/POSITIVE-EVID/NEW-2004/PL586-2004.pdf)
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| Particles: Electron | Muon | Tauon | Electron neutrino | Muon neutrino | Tau neutrino | |
| Antiparticles : Positron | Antimuon | Antitauon | Electron antineutrino | Muon antineutrino | Tau antineutrino |