On July 12, 2018, scientists at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory announced the discovery of high-energy neutrinos. This discovery once again confirmed the correctness of the most famous physicist of the twentieth century.
Even mysterious ghostly particles, barely interacting with ordinary matter, follow the general theory of relativity, once again confirming Einstein's correctness. To date, these high-energy subatomic particles provide the best evidence for the Lorentz principle.
The Lorentz principle is the cornerstone of Einstein's theory of relativity, which states that all objects follow the laws of physics as long as they move at a constant speed. According to one aspect of the theory of relativity, all objects observe the same speed of light, even if they themselves move at different speeds. An astronaut moving at a speed of a million kilometers per hour will observe the same speed of light as a snail crawling a path in a village. They will observe light moving at a speed of 299,792 kilometers per second.
However, scientists have not stopped testing Einstein's theory of relativity since 1905, ever since he first published it. In the 1950s, when neutrinos were discovered, some experts wondered if uncharged particles obey the Lorentz principle. The researchers wondered if a mysterious force called Lorentz violation could make these objects change their behavior, refuting Einstein's theories.
The ratio of the probabilities of the transition of vertical neutrinos to horizontal in the IceCube / The IceCube Collaboration observatory.
In a new study published in the journal Nature Physics, scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge and the IceCube Collaboration at Amundsen-Scott Station at the South Pole have found that even neutrinos obey the theory of relativity.
After analyzing the data collected over two years by the IceCube neutrino detector, weighing one gigaton, the researchers concluded that no anomalies were found indicating that neutrinos disregard Einstein's laws.
“We looked for Lorentz-violating deviations, but we couldn't find,” says lead author, professor of physics at MIT. "This closes the book on the possibility of Lorentz violation for a number of high energy neutrinos for a very long time."
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By following the Lorentz principle, researchers can predict the degree to which neutrinos of a given mass will oscillate. This means that a neutrino must travel certain distances before it becomes a muon. Any deviation from this principle would be enough to turn Einstein's theory of relativity, at least at the neutrino level.
However, both this study and its results became outstanding discoveries in the world of science, since for the first time researchers had the opportunity to study high-energy neutrinos on Earth. And if the Lorentz violation took place, then it would very easily be detected at such high energies.
“We were able to define the boundaries of this hypothetical field that are much, much more accurate than all the previous ones,” says Konrad.
Vladimir Mirny