KATRIN Experiment - Overview, Construction, Assembly, Working, Results, Importance And More

KATRIN is an Acronym for Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino. The KATRIN experiment is undertaken to solve one of the biggest questions of particle physics and Cosmology, which is finding the absolute mass of Neutrinos. Neutrinos, one of the ghost particles of the Universe, can be used in solving various open issues and linking the microcosm of elementary particles to the largest structures in the Universe. The Main Spectrometer of KATRIN was built in Deggendorf, a town in Bavaria, Germany. The first test was conducted in October 2016.

In this article, we will cover Static details such as the experiment KATRIN has conducted, results, and associated facts, which candidates can find very helpful in GS prelims and the Science and Technology section of GS paper III of the UPSC IAS exam.

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What is the KATRIN Experiment?

The KATRIN experiment, conducted at the Tritium Laboratory Karlsruhe on the KIT Campus North site, explores fundamental questions in neutrino physics. Neutrinos, often called the "ghost particle of the Universe," are mysterious particles that connect scientific puzzles from the smallest particles to the vast cosmos. Neutrinos are the lightest particles known, hinting at physics beyond the standard model and playing a role in galaxy formation on a cosmic scale.

Previous experiments set an upper limit for the electron anti-neutrino mass at 2.3 eV/c2. KATRIN aims to improve this limit significantly (to 0.2 eV/c2 at a 90% confidence level) or detect it if the actual mass is larger than 0.35 eV/c2, requiring significant improvements in experimental parameters. The international KATRIN Collaboration involves over 150 scientists, engineers, technicians, and students from 12 institutions across several countries, combining expertise in tritium-β-decay for astroparticle physics research.

Overview of KATRIN Experiment

KATRIN experiment is carried out to determine the effective mass of electron antineutrino by studying the kinematics of tritium beta decay having a high sensitivity of 0.2 eV/c2. It is a next-generation large and scale experiment by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany. The measurement setup is approximately 70 m in length and is shown below.

The labeled parts of the setup are described below:

• This section at the rear monitors the activity of the source.
• This section injects molecular tritium into the windowless gaseous tritium source.
• This is the Cryogenic pumping section.
• Here, electrons from the source are magnetically guided toward the spectrometer section.
• This is the pre- spectrometer, which acts as a pre-filter to reduce the flux of electrons before moving into the main spectrometer.
• This is the main spectrometer that performs the energy analysis.
• This is the detector system where transmitted beta decay is counted. It contains a segmented Silicon Detector.

Source: Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

Construction And Assembly of the KATRIN Experiment

MAN DWE GmbH in Deggendorf constructed the spectrometer. However, due to its large size, it couldn't be transported by land from Deggendorf to Karlsruhe, which is about 350 km away. Instead, it was transported via water, starting from the Danube, then through the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and Atlantic Ocean to Rotterdam, and finally up the Rhine River to Karlsruhe. This lengthy journey covered approximately 8600 km and restricted land travel to the last 7 km from the Leopoldshafen docks to the laboratory. Construction progressed well, and several major components were on-site by 2010. The main spectrometer test program was planned for 2013, with full system integration scheduled for 2014. The experiment is situated at the former Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, now known as Campus Nord of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.

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Results of the KATRIN Experiment

Since 2016 two measurements were carried out by KATRIN, first in 2016 and second in 2017

• First Light Measurement – This was when electrons were transmitted from the rear section to the detector on the 14th Oct 2016 for the first time. These electrons were produced by the Photoelectric effect using UV radiation. As a result, a 191 Tcm͐² Magnetic flux tube was generated, which will be used in Neutrino mass measurement.
• Krypton Measurement – A measurement was carried out in July 2017 with an isotope of Krypton 83mKr to test the Spectrometer before the injection of tritium, an isotope of hydrogen.

The Katrin experiment results have ruled whether the mass of Neutrino is more than 1 eV, but it has shown that it is almost 50,000 times lighter than the electrons. It's below 0.8 electron volts.

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How does KATRIN measure the mass of Neutrino?

KATRIN is equipment with one of the highest technological requirements. Tritium, an isotope of hydrogen, is used as a source along with a giant spectrometer. To measure the mass of a neutrino, the energy spectrum of electrons released during the beta decay of tritium, which is a highly unstable isotope, is measured with extreme precision.

Importance of Finding Mass of Neutrino

• Determining the mass of neutrinos holds great importance in the field of physics.
• Neutrinos are subatomic particles with intriguing properties.
• They have very little or no mass according to the Standard Model of particle physics.
• However, recent experiments have suggested that neutrinos might have a nonzero mass.
• Measuring the mass of neutrinos accurately can provide valuable insights into fundamental physics and cosmology.
• It can help answer questions about the nature of matter, the universe's structure, and the mass's origin.
• The mass of neutrinos is linked to phenomena like neutrino oscillations and the cosmic microwave background radiation.
• Studying neutrino mass can also illuminate the properties of dark matter and the universe's evolution.
• Precise measurements of neutrino mass could revolutionize our understanding of particle physics and astrophysics.

About Neutrinos

Neutrinos are tiny, massless particles that travel at the speed of light. Some of the properties of Neutrinos are

• They are born out of physical events such as the bursting of gamma rays and the explosion of stars and are present in abundance in the universe.
• They are massless and electrically neutral, I.e., they have no charge. However, recent studies show that these particles have finite but very small unknown masses.
• Wolfgang Pauli first proposed the existence of the neutrino, but the first documented existence was by Frederick Reines and Clyde Cowan.
• There are three types of leptonic neutrino: Electron, Muon, and Tau Neutrino.
• They are the most penetrating subatomic particles.
• They have a half-integral spin.

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Does Neutrino Affect Human Body

Human bodies are exposed to 100 trillion neutrinos every day, most of which come from the sun. The sun is constantly emitting a trail of low-energy neutrinos every day. However, they don’t affect the lives of humans as they don’t makeup atoms like Electrons, Protons, and Neutrons.

India-Based Neutrino Observatory

• The Indian Based Neutrino Observatory (INO) is a collaborative effort among multiple institutions in India. It aimed to construct an underground laboratory for nuclear physics research.
• Located in Pottipuram, Bodi Hills, Theni district, Tamil Nadu, the INO project is funded jointly by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST) of the Indian government.
• The underground laboratory boasts a solid rock covering of approximately 1200 meters.
• The primary focus of the INO project is the study of neutrinos.
• Additionally, an inter-institutional center for high-energy physics will be established in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, to manage and maintain the underground laboratory.
• One significant aspect of INO is the development of detector technologies and their diverse applications.
• A notable feature of the project is the construction of the Magnetised Iron Calorimeter (ICAL) detector, which will be the largest magnet once completed.

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Conclusion

The KATRIN experiment is a major advancement in the field of Physics and an independent way to determine the mass of a neutrino, which is often referred to as Ghost Particles. India has also set up its own Neutron Observatory (INO), and major developments in the field of Human Resources in the form of the INO Graduate Training Program have already started under Homi Bhabha National Institute. Efforts are being made consistently to make local components and solutions for all engineering works.

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