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muon neutrino

physics
Also known as: mu-neutrino

Quick Summary

A muon neutrino is a type of elementary subatomic particle. It has no electric charge and very little mass, and it is subject to the weak force, not the strong force. Muon neutrinos are one of three types of neutrinos, each associated with a charged lepton: the electron, the muon, and the tau. The muon neutrino is specifically linked to the muon.1

Muon neutrinos were identified in 1962 through experiments using particle accelerators. These experiments showed that muon neutrinos produced muons when they reacted with matter, rather than electrons, distinguishing them from electron neutrinos. Muon neutrinos are unstable and decay into an electron and two types of neutrinos.12

Current research investigates whether neutrinos have mass, as the Standard Model of particle physics predicts they should be massless. Experiments suggest that neutrinos can change from one type to another, known as neutrino oscillations, which is only possible if they have mass.3

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