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Ultra-high energy neutrino detected in the Mediterranean: A groundbreaking discovery

Thursday 13 February 2025 - 16:06

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A giant telescope installed at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea has detected a neutrino with an unprecedented energy level, marking a world-first breakthrough. The French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) described this as an "exceptional discovery" that could open new avenues for understanding extreme energy phenomena in the universe and the origin of cosmic rays.

"This is a remarkable achievement by the KM3NeT telescope, a massive detector currently under construction at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea," stated the CNRS in a press release. The discovery, published in the journal Nature, is the result of the international KM3NeT collaboration.

The KM3NeT observatory, equipped with thousands of light sensors, detected a neutrino with an energy level of approximately 220 petaelectronvolts (PeV), thirty times higher than any neutrino previously observed worldwide. Studying its origin could provide unique insights into cataclysmic cosmic events such as supernovae and black holes.

Despite their abundance in the universe, neutrinos interact very weakly with matter, making them extremely difficult to detect. These "ghost particles," which are a million times lighter than an electron, travel in straight lines from their cosmic sources. By studying them, researchers hope to uncover valuable information about astrophysical phenomena that cannot be accessed through conventional methods.

The KM3NeT detector is primarily funded by France, Italy, and the Netherlands. It consists of two strategic installations in the deep Mediterranean: ARCA, focused on high-energy astronomy off the coast of Sicily, and ORCA, dedicated to low-energy studies near Toulon, France. These deep-sea installations required cutting-edge technology similar to those used in space exploration to withstand extreme and inaccessible environments.

Scientists benefit from the deep-sea conditions, including transparency, absence of stray light, and reduced atmospheric background noise below 1,000 meters. These factors create an ideal setting for observing Cherenkov light, a phenomenon associated with neutrino detection, according to the CNRS.