Particle Astrophysics

SNOLAB是一个从事粒子天体物理学研究的国际实验室。SNO+是一种多用途中微子探测器，位于淡水河谷克雷顿矿地下2公里处，将用于研究来自太阳、附近超新星、地球或附近反应堆的称为中微子的微小粒子。该检测器由一个大型丙烯酸容器组成，容器中充满了液体有机闪烁体，周围环绕着光敏检测器（光电倍增管）。通过添加额外的元素，在这种情况下碲到检测器体积，可以观察到一个非常罕见的衰变，其结果可以用来加深我们对中微子性质的理解。如果中微子是它自己的反粒子，即所谓的马约拉纳粒子，我们就观察到了对称性破坏，这可能有助于我们理解为什么宇宙中的物质比反物质多得多。中微子及其性质是当今粒子天体物理学领域许多悬而未决的问题的关键。

SNOLAB is an international laboratory for particle astrophysics research. SNO+ is a multipurpose neutrino detector, located 2 km deep underground in Vale's Creighton mine which will be used to study tiny particles called neutrinos from the sun, a nearby supernova, the earth or close-by reactors. The detector consists of a large acrylic vessel filled with a liquid organic scintillator and surrounded by light sensitive detectors (photomultipliers). By adding an additional element, in this case Tellurium into the detector volume, a very rare decay can be observed and the results can be used to deepen our understanding of the properties of neutrinos. If the neutrino is its own antiparticle, a so-called Majorana particle, we have observed a symmetry violation, which could contribute to our understanding of why we have significantly more matter than antimatter in our universe. Neutrinos and their properties are the key to a number of open questions in the field of particle astrophysics today.