Neutrinos: How a desperate remedy became a profound enigma

Nobel laureate professor Sheldon Glashow lectures December 13th

University of Hawaiʻi
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Posted: Nov 30, 2005

HONOLULU — The Colleges of Arts & Sciences of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa continue their Nobel Laureate Lecture Series with a presentation on December 13, 2005 by Boston University professor and Nobel prize winner, Sheldon Glashow. Beginning at 7 p.m. in the Art Auditorium, Room 132, Art Building, University of Hawaiÿi at Mänoa, this lecture is FREE and open to the public.

Neutrinos, the "little neutral ones," are one of the least understood, yet fundamental, particles which make up the universe. They are similar to electrons, but are electrically neutral, and so are unaffected by the usual electromagnetic forces that govern our world. First predicted by Wolfgang Pauli, an Austrian scientist, in 1930, neutrinos eventually became known as the unseen particles that carried off energy and momentum in certain radioactive decays.

Today, these ghostly particles are routinely studied at nuclear reactors, particle accelerators, and physics labs in many countries. Scientists have proven that neutrinos have mass and undergo spontaneous changes of identity, but they also have many unanswered questions in regard to this fascinating particle. The central problem of how quarks acquire mass, and how neutrinos play into this acquisition, is only part of the fascinating and challenging work theorists have struggled with
for decades.

Professor, and physicist, Glashow is the Arthur G.B. Metcalf Professor of Physics at Boston University and, along with Steven Weinberg and Abdus Salam, won the 1979 Nobel Prize. Glashow‘s novel and notable research in the fields of elementary particle physics and cosmology, has led to the prediction of neutral currents, charmed particles, and intermediate vector bosons. He played a key role in creating today‘s ʻstandard model of particle physics,‘ in developing its more speculative generalization, the ʻgrand-unified theory,‘ and in unifying weak and electromagnetic forces. Author of more than 300 research papers, Glashow has also produced three books:
Interactions, The Charm of Physics, and From Alchemy to Quarks.

The Nobel Laureate Series is made possible by the Dai Ho Chun Distinguished Visitor Endowment Fund in the Colleges of Arts and Sciences. For more information, please call the Office of Community & Alumni Relations, Colleges of Arts & Sciences, 956-4051.