Saturday Morning Physics on 10/21/2023: Hunting for ghost particles - neutrino astronomy at the South Pole

On October 21, 2023, the Department invites you Department Saturday Morning Physics. The speaker will be Prof. Dr. Anna Franckowiak, who will give a talk on “The Hunt for Ghost Particles – Neutrino Astronomy at the South Pole.”

From the tiniest particles to major discoveries—Saturday Morning Physics offers exciting physics topics for everyone. Lecturers from Department Physics and Astronomy present topics from various fields of physics in an accessible manner. On October 21, 2023, Anna Franckowiak, an astrophysicist at the Astronomical Institute, will give a lecture on the topic “The Hunt for Ghost Particles – Neutrino Astronomy at the South Pole”:

Neutrinos are the most extraordinary particles among the elementary particles known to us. They have a tiny mass (a few millionths of the electron mass) and no electric charge. The small particles are produced, for example, in nuclear fission and nuclear fusion.

These properties even allow neutrinos to escape from places where the matter is so dense that light is absorbed - for example from the interior of the sun. Neutrinos can therefore provide unique information that remains hidden from classical astronomy. Unfortunately, the same properties also make neutrinos extremely difficult to detect. Gigantic detectors are required to detect the extremely rare cases in which a neutrino hits an atomic nucleus and leaves a visible trace. This is why the IceCube Neutrino Observatory was built in the crystal-clear ice of the South Pole. With an instrumented volume of one cubic kilometer (the equivalent of around 400,000 Olympic swimming pools), it is the largest particle detector in the world.

Of particular interest are high-energy neutrinos generated in the most energetic processes in the universe, for example by exploding stars or by super-massive black holes. Thanks to their unique properties, neutrinos can provide us with an insight into processes in the universe that were previously not understood.

Prof. Dr Anna Franckowiak

The Department cordially Department all interested parties to attend the lectures at the Pauluskirche in Bochum during the winter semester. As in previous years, fresh waffles and coffee will be served before the lecture. Here you will find all the information regarding the start time and location of the lectures: