Source: Wikimedia Commons

In the mid-1990s, alternative rock band They Might Be Giants released a single titled Why Does the Sun Shine? As a way of partial explanation, the band explained that the Sun is a mass of incandescent gas, but the rest of the lyrics provide an answer that would be considered superficial to Advanced Physics researcher Álvaro Chavarría Gordienko from Costa Rica.

Earlier this year, Mr. Chavarria and fellow researchers from the Borexino Collaboration team (dedicated to the intricate study of dark matter) published a breakthrough paper in the respected Nature journal, explaining:

In the core of the Sun, energy is released through sequences of nuclear reactions that convert hydrogen into helium. The primary reaction is thought to be the fusion of two protons with the emission of a low-energy neutrino. These so-called pp neutrinos constitute nearly the entirety of the solar neutrino flux, vastly outnumbering those emitted in the reactions that follow. Although solar neutrinos from secondary processes have been observed, proving the nuclear origin of the Sun’s energy and contributing to the discovery of neutrino oscillations, those from proton–proton fusion have hitherto eluded direct detection.

It so happens that the research above was deemed to be among the top breakthroughs of 2014 by Physics World magazine, right along with the landing of the Rosetta spacecraft on a comet and advances in magnetic holography. Princeton University explains:

Sometimes called “ghost particles,” neutrinos are extremely difficult to detect because they slip through ordinary matter without leaving a trace.

“The detection of this type of solar neutrino confirms an important piece of the theory about how the sun makes energy, and if you understand the sun then you understand stars in general,” said Professor of Physics Frank Calaprice, who has led Princeton’s part of the Borexino collaboration.

Borexino is the first to measure the particles directly as well as to count the rate at which neutrinos are produced. Knowing how many neutrinos are produced tells scientists how much solar energy is being generated at the core of the sun.

Speaking to national newspaper La Nacion, Mr. Chavarria explained the importance of his research, which puts physics in an almost philosophical perspective because of our new, deeper knowledge of the stars as being primordial to sustain life:

“The oxygen we breathe, the carbon contained in our bodies, is a product of nuclear fussion processes that originate in the stars. Our research corroborates the nuclear fusion mechanisms of the Sun and further ratifies our theories of how stars actually function.”

That a physics researcher from Costa Rica participated in this groundbreaking study is a source of pride among the burgeoning scientific community in our country.