Can neutrinos pass through a quark

In summary, neutrinos are able to pass through large distances of lead without interacting due to their lack of response to the strong force and the slow response of the weak force. At the quantum level, when a neutrino hits a quark directly, they simply pass through each other without any interaction. This is because interactions between particles are connected to probabilities and the weak force is less probable due to the heavy gauge bosons involved. This is different from our everyday experience with matter, where collisions typically result in interactions.
  • #1
bland
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I am puzzled by the mechanism that enables neutrinos to be able to pass though many light years of lead without interacting with anything. I understand that they do not feel the strong force and that the weak force is slow to respond, but to travel straight though a 100 light year thick slab of lead, surely it not possible that they avoid everything. So what happens at the quantum level when a neutrino hits a quark square on? do they simply go straight through the quark?
 
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Quarks are point particles (as are neutrinos), no intrinsic size. Their effective cross section is mostly a result of the virtual gluons being exchanged (the strong force). It wouldn't really be quarks anyway that stop neutrinos, it would be the surrounding atomic structure as a whole (a lone quark would do nothing to scatter a neutrino). There are cases in which it can absorb a neutrino in a "somewhat analogous" reverse nuclear reaction to what emits a neutrino in the first place.

http://authors.library.caltech.edu/33286/1/BAHpr64d.pdf
http://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/neutrino/Petyt/chapter2.pdf
 
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  • #3
OK, thanks for that reply and the pdf's.
 
  • #4
Well, you shouldn't think of neutrinos as balls striking the quarks...
Things are way more complicated. Since interactions mainly occur by the mediation of force carriers, then if there is no force carrier there is no interaction, even if the particle goes through the other...Interactions are then connected to probabilities, with the weak being the less probable (because of the heavy gauge bosons).
 
  • #5
bland said:
So what happens at the quantum level when a neutrino hits a quark square on? do they simply go straight through the quark?

The same as when a photon hits another photon - nothing happens. They go through each other as if nothing was there.

Particles are not tiny ball bearings. Your intuition says "when things collide, they bounce off or otherwise interact ('rock shatters glass' etc)". Your intuition comes from your everyday experience with baryonic matter. In general, it's wrong: when things collide, they MAY interact, but don't necessarily interact.
 
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Related to Can neutrinos pass through a quark

1. Can neutrinos pass through a quark?

Yes, neutrinos can pass through a quark. Neutrinos are subatomic particles that interact only through the weak nuclear force, which is much weaker than the strong nuclear force that binds quarks together. This allows neutrinos to pass through matter relatively unaffected.

2. How do neutrinos interact with quarks?

Neutrinos interact with quarks through the weak nuclear force, specifically through the process of weak interaction. This process involves the exchange of a W or Z boson between the neutrino and the quark, causing a change in the flavor of the quark.

3. Can neutrinos change the charge of quarks?

No, neutrinos cannot change the charge of quarks. The weak nuclear force only affects the flavor of quarks, not their charge. Neutrinos have a neutral charge, so they cannot directly change the charge of any particle.

4. Do all neutrinos pass through quarks?

Not all neutrinos pass through quarks. There are different types of neutrinos known as flavors, including electron, muon, and tau neutrinos. Each flavor interacts with different types of quarks, so not all neutrinos will pass through a given quark.

5. Are there any exceptions to neutrinos passing through quarks?

Yes, there are some exceptions to neutrinos passing through quarks. In certain rare cases, neutrinos can undergo a process called neutrino oscillation, where they can change from one flavor to another. This occurs when neutrinos travel through different types of matter, such as passing through different types of quarks.

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