Neutrinos are on the short list of the biggest mysteries in fundamental physics, and Wichita State University researchers are taking a lead role in investigating them.
“The unsolved question right now is ‘Why do they have mass? How do they have mass?’” said Jonathan Folkerts, Wichita State graduate student. “When neutrinos were first thought of, we figured they had to be massless, but they do some things that mean they have to have mass.”
In late September, Folkerts, Jarred Novak and Trent English presented papers on the design of their neutrino detector prototype at the International Astronautical Congress in Paris, representing the NASA-funded Solar Neutrino Orbiting Laboratory Detector Development Project.