Speaker
Description
Geoneutrinos are tiny particles produced by the radioactive decay chains of elements such as uranium and thorium inside the Earth. Although they interact only very weakly with matter, modern particle detectors can measure them, opening a unique window into the deep interior of our planet, most of which cannot be sampled directly. Their study connects particle physics and geoscience and can help answer important questions about the Earth’s formation, composition, and internal heat production.
Geoneutrinos were first detected by the KamLAND experiment in Japan and the Borexino experiment in Italy using large underground liquid-scintillator detectors. More recently, the SNO+ experiment in Canada also reported evidence for geoneutrinos. These measurements have constrained geological models of the Earth while demonstrating the challenges of detecting such rare signals. JUNO, which began taking data in China in August 2025, is expected to substantially increase global geoneutrino statistics thanks to its large target mass and excellent detector performance.
The 1.5-hour lecture will introduce the basic physics of neutrinos and geoneutrinos, explain how these elusive particles are detected, and show how particle-physics experiments can help us investigate the Earth’s interior. It will also review current experiments and future prospects. During the subsequent 1.5-hour hands-on session, participants will use illustrative examples and simple calculations to explore the relevant physical scales, learn the key principles of geoneutrino detection, and develop an intuitive sense of how geoneutrino analyses are performed and interpreted.