Neutrinos and the Hunt for these Ghostly Particles

Abstract: Neutrinos are tiny elementary particles that are created in astrophysical events such as super novae but also on Earth, for example in nuclear and fusion reactors. To our knowledge, neutrinos are in fact the most abundant massive particles in the universe, yet they are the least understood elementary particle. Scientists must build massive detectors and deploy them in laboratories deep underground in mines in order to have a chance at learning more about the ghostly neutrino. It is an exciting time for neutrino research as next generation detectors are just being developed. I will give a historic introduction to neutrinos and present current and future detectors that aim at unlocking some of the neutrinos’ mysteries.