China has embarked on a groundbreaking endeavor with the creation of an immense telescope in the western Pacific Ocean, heralding a new era in neutrino research. This monumental facility’s primary mission is to detect the enigmatic “ghost particles” known as neutrinos, making it the largest neutrino-detecting telescope on the planet.
Neutrinos, a type of electron that, like neutrons, possess no charge, rank among the most abundant particles in the universe. Despite their abundance, they are also among the tiniest, with trillions of neutrinos passing through space every second. For years, neutrinos were believed to be massless, but evidence emerged indicating that they possess a minute mass.
Currently, the most extensive neutrino-detecting telescope is the “IceCube” located at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, buried deep within the Antarctic ice. It comprises sensors distributed throughout a cubic kilometer of ice. However, China is taking this pursuit to an entirely new level with its upcoming telescope, aptly named “Trident.”
Positioned in the South China Sea, the Trident telescope is projected to span an astonishing 7.5 cubic kilometers. Scientists assert that its sheer size will enable it to detect a significantly larger number of neutrinos, rendering it “10,000 times more sensitive” than any existing underwater telescopes. The construction of the Trident telescope is already underway and is scheduled for completion within this decade, representing an extraordinary leap in neutrino research capabilities.
Anticipated to be operational by 2030, “Trident,” affectionately known as ‘Ocean Bell’ or ‘Hai ling’ in Chinese, will be positioned at a depth of 11,500 feet (3,500 meters) beneath the surface of the Western Pacific Ocean.
Featuring over 24,000 optical sensors distributed across 1,211 strings, each extending 2,300 feet (700 meters) from the ocean floor, this unique configuration adheres to a Penrose tiling pattern and spans a substantial 4 km diameter.
The quest to understand neutrinos carries immense significance as it holds the potential to unravel one of the cosmos’s most perplexing mysteries: the origins of cosmic rays. These high-energy particles, hurtling through space at nearly the speed of light, have confounded scientists for decades. Neutrinos, with their distinctive properties and interactions with water, offer a promising avenue for gaining insights into the enigmatic sources and mechanisms behind cosmic rays.