Have we found the holy grail of physics?

Quantum gravity could slow neutrinos as they travel through space: they arrive at Earth three days late, an inquiry has asked.Have we found the holy grail of physics?

Neutrinos are very mysterious particles that do not interact with matter. They are produced in high-energy processes such as stellar explosions or cosmic ray collisions.

These particles travel through space at very close to the speed of light, but what if there was something to slow them down? That’s what a team of physicists who analyzed data from the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole suggests.

The researchers, publishing their results in the journal Nature Astronomy, identified seven neutrinos with a high probability of coming from gamma-ray bursts, the brightest and most energetic events in deep space.

These neutrinos were detected with a delay of up to three days relative to the gamma rays that accompanied them, indicating that something had slowed them down.

whats going on?

What would it be? Physicists believe this is an effect Quantum gravityMetaphorically, it is considered the holy grail of physics because it combines quantum mechanics and general relativity.

According to the theory of general relativity, space-time is not continuous, but consists of tiny “grains” or “vortices” that can only be seen on very small scales. These space-time fluctuations affect very fast moving particles like neutrinos and cause them to lose energy.

This effect is very small, but the neutrinos accumulate over the enormous distance they travel from their source to Earth. For this reason, it can only be observed in very energetic neutrinos from very distant sources, such as gamma-ray bursts.

Circumstantial evidence?

If this hypothesis is confirmed, it would be indirect proof of the existence of quantum gravity, which theoretical physics has been searching for for decades. Furthermore, it may have implications for better understanding the nature of neutrinos and their role in the universe.

But not everyone is convinced of the consistency of the explanation proposed by the new research, warnsThe physical world.

Some experts point out that the detected neutrinos are of the “cascade” type, meaning that their direction of arrival cannot be precisely determined. This makes it difficult to connect it to the gamma-ray bursts that you apparently came late.

Additionally, there are other possible explanations for the delay of neutrinos, such as interactions with other particles or fields in their path.

Ancient hypothesis

It has long been suggested that some features of the icecube data may be manifestations of quantum gravity-modified laws of neutrino propagation. Investigation Released last year was abandoned.

The authors of this previous investigation examined more than seven years of data and found no signs of the modified structure of spacetime imprinted on the characteristics of the neutrinos detected by IceCube.

That’s why scientists say more data and further analysis are needed to confirm or disprove the idea of ​​quantum gravity breaking.

The IceCube Neutrino Observatory expands its ability to detect more neutrinos with greater precision. There are other projects to study these ghost particles, such as the KM3NeT neutrino telescope in the Mediterranean or the Baikal-GVT hydroponic laboratory in Lake Baikal, which could confirm or rule out a possible detection of quantum gravity.

Is there really?

Verify that quantum gravity created by physicists really exists Abhay Ashtekar In 1986, this was of great importance because it would allow us to better understand how the universe formed.

However, the prospects for directly testing it remain dim: doing so would require a particle accelerator the size of the Milky Way… or access to the interior of a black hole.

Faced with these inaccessible paths, the icecube represents a possible shortcut, however, to confirm the existence of quantum gravity in the universe, astrophysical neutrinos, a possible story of quantum gravity.

The IceCube is a one-cubic-kilometer neutrino detector embedded in ice at the geographic South Pole. Completed in December 2010, it is made up of more than 5,000 optical digital modules suspended in a cubic kilometer of ice buried underground at the South Pole.

Optimistic neutrinos

Neutrinos are cosmic messengers that can reveal secrets about the universe and fundamental physics. They could help us solve one of science’s biggest challenges: how to connect quantum mechanics and general relativity.

as? Because if quantum gravity exists, we will have finally found the bridge that connects the ordinary physical universe to the quantum universe. Because? Because gravity, as we know it, disappears in the quantum world, where gravitational effects are just as important as quantum effects, but cannot be measured.

A theory capable of describing both worlds that neutrinos can offer has been pursued by physicists since Albert Einstein published his general theory of relativity at the turn of the last century (1915 and 1916). Neutrinos may be the key to achieving that. Although we still don’t know if we’ve found the holy grail of new physics.

Note

Does quantum gravity slow down neutrinos? Giovanni Amelino-Camellia et al. Natural Astronomy (2023). DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-023-01993-z