Portuguese physicists achieve record low-energy neutrino detection with XENON experiment
A team from Portugal's University of Coimbra, part of the international XENON collaboration, has detected neutrinos at an unprecedented 17 keV energy level.
Scientists from Portugal's University of Coimbra, working within the global XENON collaboration, have reached a new milestone by observing neutrino interactions at energies down to 17 keV, a level described as unprecedented by the university. The XENON detector, installed about 1,300 metres underground at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory in Italy, benefits from the deep location to shield against background radiation.
While the apparatus was originally designed to search for dark matter, the latest data demonstrate its capability to detect ultra-rare neutrino events. The Portuguese team, led by José Matias Lopes, attributes the breakthrough to over twenty years of incremental technological advances across the collaboration. By extending the detector’s sensitivity to such faint signals, researchers hope to gain deeper insight into fundamental particles and unresolved cosmic mysteries.
Why it matters
The breakthrough expands a dark-matter detector’s use, opening new avenues for studying elusive neutrinos and fundamental physics.
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