Professor Kim Choong-sun’s Article Receives Attention from American Physical Society

The article “Discovering sterile neutrinos lighter than MW at the LHC,” written by Yonsei Physics Professor Kim Choong-sun and Professor Claudio Dib from Santa María University in Chile, was recognized by the American Physical Society—the world’s largest organization of physicists—in its “Spotlighting Exceptional Research” column.  Published November 18 in Physics Review D, Professor Kim and Professor Dib’s new theoretical study shows that observations of W boson decays at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Geneva could potentially uncover the antiparticle nature of the neutrino.

Bosons are elementary particles responsible for what physicists call the “weak force,” while neutrinos are elementary particles that have an incredibly small mass, much less than electrons. Sterile neutrinos, then, are hypothetical particles that are extremely difficult to find; they are detected by a theory stating that when sterile neutrinos are near other neutrinos, they increase their own mass by lowering the mass of nearby neutrinos.  

Of their theoretical research, Professor Kim said: “If the Sterile Neutrino really exists, as proposed by the article, then it will be discovered in the near future by the LHC labs in Geneva. From there” he continued, “a new type of heavy sterile neutrino’s existence will be proved; and, for the first time, the existence of dark matter will be illuminated.”