The University of Colorado at Boulder physics department will continue its new monthly Saturday Physics Series with a presentation on "The Road to the Neutrino" on Saturday, March 8.
Physics Professor Allan Franklin will examine the history of how physicists came to propose the existence of the neutrino, now recognized as one of the fundamental particles that make up the universe, at 2 p.m. in the JILA Auditorium.
Similar to the more familiar electron -- except that they don't carry an electric charge -- neutrinos were first predicted to exist in 1931 by theorist Wolfgang Pauli. Scientists now know that trillions of neutrinos pass through everybody and everything on Earth every minute. They are, however, extremely difficult to detect because they rarely interact with matter.
During his show, Franklin will explain the scientific idea of the neutrino and how the theory turned out to be correct.
The new series is sponsored by an outreach grant from the Division of Continuing Education at CU-Boulder and is targeted for Colorado high school students, teachers and adults.
On April 12, Professor Neil Ashby of physics will present "Global Positioning Systems," the final Saturday Physics Series lecture for the 2002-03 school year.
For more information about the March 8 show, including directions to the JILA Auditorium, call (303) 492-6952.