About 100 scientists from over 10 countries, working on the creation of a unique neutrino detector in the Mediterranean Sea, have gathered at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (TSU). TSU is among those research centers and universities from 15 countries that are involved in the KM3NeT experiment. The experiment aims at conducting experiments in the Earth and Sea Sciences. The international conference dedicated to the experiment was opened at Tbilisi State University on February 26.
The main objective of the International Conference on Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics is to discuss the researches in the Earth and Sea Sciences. Rector of TSU, George Sharvashidze, Georgian and foreign academics and students attended the opening of the conference, which will last for four days.
Rector George Sharvashidze noted the importance of involvement of Georgian scientists in the collaboration. “The members of our group are working on software development, on the data, which are shared and analyzed by foreign partners. Much will depend on the scientific success of this project. Our scientists, who are involved in the project’s routine activities, are making a great contribution to it. I am sure that the project will prove successful,” the TSU Rector said.
Head of TSU High Energy Physics Institute, Mikheil Nioradze said that the Georgian group mainly makes an intellectual contribution to the experiment. “Implementation of this important project is planned in the Mediterranean Sea and over 100 physicists from a lot of countries are participating in it. The experiment is about Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics, which is the main problem in modern physics. A neutrino is a particle, which can pass through the entire earth diameter without any interaction and can provide us with information from the galaxy. Therefore, Neutrino Physics arouses huge interest worldwide and a lot of experiments are being conducted today to study the characteristics of neutrinos. So, we, our young people and scientists, are participating in this important experiment,” Mikheil Nioradze said.
The High Energy Physics Institute at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University and KM3NeT are conducting joint research in the field of Astroparticle Physics. The KM3NeT international scientific collaboration unites research centers and universities of 15 countries, including Germany, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Greece and France. The High Energy Physics Institute joined this international collaboration in 2017. The researchers and students of the Georgian group are taking part in the software development of the project, computer simulations, data taking and analysis of selected experimental events.
KM3NeT is a research infrastructure housing the next generation neutrino detectors in the Mediterranean Sea. Once completed, the telescopes will have detector volumes between megaton
and several cubic kilometers of clear sea water. Located in the deepest seas of the Mediterranean, KM3NeT will open a new window on our Universe, but also contribute to the research of the properties of the elusive neutrino particles.
The KM3NeT scientists will search for neutrinos from distant astrophysical sources and contribute to the research of the properties of the elusive neutrino particles. The facility will also house instrumentation for Earth and Sea sciences for long-term and on-line monitoring of the deep sea environment and the sea bottom at depth of several kilometers.
The Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded four times – in 1998, 1995, 2002 and 2015 – for the research conducted in Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics.
