China's Groundbreaking Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory Reaches Critical Liquid Injection Milestone!

In an exciting development for the field of particle physics, the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) in South China's Guangdong Province has officially entered the liquid injection phase. This pivotal step was confirmed by the Institute of High Energy Physics, part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), marking a significant milestone in one of the nation's key scientific endeavors.

As part of this phase, ultra-pure water is being injected into the observatory's detector pool at a remarkable rate of 100 tons per hour. This process will enhance the facility’s ability to detect neutrinos, the elusive particles that have fascinated scientists for decades.

Neutrinos are known as "ghost particles" because they rarely interact with ordinary matter, allowing them to pass through virtually everything—including humans and the Earth—without a trace. These particles have been around since the Big Bang and are produced by various cosmic events, such as nuclear reactions in stars, supernovae, and even human-made nuclear reactors.

The liquid injection will unfold in two stages: the first phase for two months involves filling the spaces surrounding the acrylic sphere of the central detector with ultra-pure water, followed by a six-month phase during which this water will be replaced with a high-performance liquid scintillator. This cutting-edge scintillator will enable the detection of faint signals from neutrinos, which otherwise would remain undetectable.

This highly ambitious project, set to wrap up the liquid injection process by August 2025, will then move into full operational mode, ready to collect invaluable data. The heart of JUNO is its liquid scintillator detector, a massive apparatus weighing an impressive 20,000 tons, situated 700 meters underground, beneath a 44-meter-deep water pool. The sophisticated design encompasses a robust stainless steel frame supporting a large acrylic sphere, along with thousands of photomultiplier tubes and electronic components designed to capture and analyze neutrino events with extreme precision.

The JUNO observatory has outperformed existing international standards, achieving a 20-fold boost in liquid scintillator volume and a threefold increase in light detection efficiency with an exceptional 3 percent energy resolution. This technological advancement positions JUNO as a leader in neutrino research and a cornerstone facility in the global scientific collaboration focused on understanding the mysterious properties of neutrinos.

Experts believe JUNO’s ambitious goal is to unravel the nuances of the neutrino mass hierarchy and contribute to several cutting-edge research projects. Once complete, JUNO will join forces with Japan's Hyper-Kamiokande and the U.S.'s Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, forming a triad of world-class facilities dedicated to neutrino physics.

With its unique experimental design and first-mover advantage in this research area, JUNO is poised to elevate China's prominence in the realm of fundamental particle studies and ensure its leadership in the global scientific community.

Stay tuned as this revolutionary facility continues to push the boundaries of our understanding of the universe!