Ghost Particle: Neutrino Detector (3D)

Detector

Tank diameter (path length L) 30 m

Target density (water → heavy oil) 1000 kg/m³

Beam

Neutrino energy (sets cross-section σ) 5.0 GeV

Beam flux Φ 1.0×10⁷ /m²/s

Simulated time acceleration 1×

Live Readouts

P(interact) per crossing

—

Mean free path λ

—

Expected rate R

—

Interactions seen

How it works

A neutrino crossing a target of path length L filled with a medium of nucleon number density n interacts with a fixed interaction cross-section σ. The probability of at least one interaction is the standard exponential-attenuation law:

P = 1 − e^(−nσL)   ≈ nσL   for nσL ≪ 1
n = ρ / m_u                (nucleon number density)
σ(E) ≈ 0.677×10⁻³⁸ cm² × E[GeV]   (charged-current DIS, ν-nucleon)
R = Φ · A · P               (interactions per second, A = πD²/4)

Real neutrino cross-sections are so small (σ ~ 10⁻³⁸–10⁻⁴³ cm²) that even a detector many metres across leaves P around 10⁻¹⁰–10⁻¹¹ per crossing — this is exactly why real experiments (Super-Kamiokande, IceCube) use kiloton-to-gigaton targets and run for years: rate R is a product of a tiny probability and an enormous exposure (flux × time), not a large probability. The "time acceleration" slider lets you fast-forward through that exposure instead of falsifying the physics.

Tank diameter — sets path length L; doubling it doubles P in the linear regime, exactly as the formula predicts.
Target density — sets nucleon density n; denser targets (heavy liquids) raise the interaction rate for the same volume, which is why real detectors pick dense, cheap, transparent media (water, mineral oil, liquid scintillator).
Neutrino energy — raises σ roughly linearly, the real behaviour of deep-inelastic ν-nucleon scattering used by accelerator experiments to pick beam energy.
Beam flux Φ and time acceleration — together set how much exposure (flux × time) accumulates; R scales linearly with both, same as the real rate equation.

Neutrino beam Cherenkov flash PMT wall (idle)

⚡ Interaction detected!

⚠ Couldn't load the 3D engineThree.js failed to load from the CDN. Check your connection and reload.