total of 8 detected “events,” possibly due to neutrinos arriving at the Earth from Supernova 1987A, was observed in an underground detector located in a salt mine near Cleveland. The detector had, at the time, been operating continuously for several years looking for events that were triggered by the decay of the proton. However, events characteristic of proton decay were never observed. Nevertheless, the detector recorded on average two random “background” events spread out over each day. (a) What is the probability that 8 random “background” events will be detected during any one day? Over a 10-year period of operating the detector, during how many days would you expect to observe 8 events per day, assuming they were simply due to random fluctuations of the detected backgrounds? On February 23, 1987, a burst of 8 events occured within a time span of just 13 seconds. (b) What is the probability of detecting 8 background events in a 13 second period? How long would you typically have to wait (in years) to observe such an occurance, assuming it was indeed due to the usual random backgrounds? (c) Based on your answers to parts (a) and (b), when should the experimenters claim an
A total of 8 detected “
(a) What is the
expect to observe 8 events per day, assuming they were simply due to random fluctuations of the detected backgrounds?
On February 23, 1987, a burst of 8 events occured within a time span of just 13 seconds.
(b) What is the probability of detecting 8 background events in a 13 second period? How long would you typically have to wait (in years) to observe such an occurance, assuming it was indeed due to the usual random backgrounds?
(c) Based on your answers to parts (a) and (b), when should the experimenters claim an
important discovery?
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