As neutrinos travel, they change their properties-a phenomenon which is little understood. While this aloofness makes neutrinos incredibly difficult to detect, it is also the principle underlying the Deep Under Ground Neutrino Experiment, which will be the first tenant in the new LBNF cavern. Neutrinos can traverse thousands of kilometers through rock and dirt before bumping into a terrestrial atom. вЂњWe need a powerful neutrino beam and huge detectors if we want to measure and understand their properties.вЂќ вЂњStudying neutrinos could provide answers to some major mysteries in physics, such as why is the Universe made entirely of matter and not antimatter,вЂќ saysВ Filippo Resnati, a CERN researcher working at the Neutrino Platform. Previous research has shown that neutrinos play by a different set of rules than all other particles, giving scientist hope that neutrinos might be the key to many lingering questions about the origin and evolution of the cosmos. Neutrinos are among the most abundant fundamental particle in the universe, but little is known about them because they rarely interact with ordinary matter. This animation explains how the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility will operate and supply neutrino beams to the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) 1300km from the source. вЂњThe Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility in the United States, whose start of construction is officially inaugurated with todayвЂ™s ground-breaking ceremony, brings together the international particle physics community to explore some of the most interesting properties of neutrinos.вЂ™ вЂњSome of the open questions in fundamental physics today are related to extremelyВ fascinating and elusive particles called neutrinos,вЂќВ says CERNвЂ™s Director-General Fabiola Gianotti. Researchers at CERN are currently building prototypes for these detectors and experimenting with new technologies that will enhance our pictures of these ghostly cosmic nomads.

The 1.6km-deep experimental cavern is part of the Long Baseline Neutrino Facility, an international research centre located in the United States that will eventually host four giant neutrino detectors. Today, construction started on an international mega-science facility that will employ the expertise of CERN to study the properties of neutrinos ghostly fundamental particles that play by an unknown set of rules.

Long baseline neutrino facility