If you saw Carlos Argüelles-Delgado’s childhood bedroom, the blackboard to solve problems, the math textbooks they asked for as a birthday present, you probably won’t be surprised that this kid grows up to push the boundaries of physics. modern.
For years, physicists have known that the most successful theory for describing what the universe is made of, called the standard model, it’s broken. By peering into one of the biggest cracks in the framework, the neutrinos, Argüelles aims to discover what’s next for the field.
Neutrinos are mysterious even to subatomic particles. They are difficult to study because they barely interact with matter, and what scientists know about them is puzzling, such as the fact that neutrinos have mass when the standard model predicts you should not. “That’s why I like neutrinos,” says Argüelles. “They misbehave”.
Many scientists think this confusing behavior is a sign that the neutrinos are being affected by undiscovered particles. In that case, demystifying neutrinos could open a new window on the universe. The question is: Who are these hidden partners and how can scientists find them?
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To search for answers, Argüelles often relies on data from the IceCube Neutrino Observatory in Antarctica. IceCube’s thousands of buried detectors detect neutrinos from the faint flashes of light they leave behind after interacting with ice..
For his doctorate, Argüelles reviewed these signals to look for “sterile” neutrinos. If this breed of neutrinos exists, they would interact with matter even less than normal neutrinos. Sterile neutrinos could explain several troubling problems with the standard model, such as why neutrinos have mass and Why is antimatter rarer than matter?. Sterile neutrinos are also candidates for dark matterthe unidentified substance that weighs more than normal matter in the universe.
The search turned out to be a huge project, but Argüelles finished it in about half the time typical for American doctorates in the physical sciences. And although they found no sign of the possible particle, Argüelles ruled out some ideas about what it could be.
“It was an incredible performance,” says neutrino physicist Francis Halzen, who advised Argüelles on his Ph.D. he works at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is the principal scientist for IceCube. “It was a work of art.”
Argüelles is also looking for other possible hidden particles, such as WIMPs, a hypothetical particle that could be a form of dark matter. And Argüelles is not afraid to continue investigating beyond his specialty. Although he is not an expert in quantum computers, for example, Argüelles was the first to use a quantum computer to simulate how neutrinos can change from one type to another. That could one day help scientists better understand neutrino-rich events like supernova explosions.
“I hate when people tell me I can’t do something,” says Argüelles.
Halzen describes Argüelles as fearless, the kind of scientist who is never afraid to ask questions. “I don’t think they have any respect for his reputation, ever,” he says.
background
Argüelles’s attitude toward research is, in part, shaped by past struggles to overcome hardship and discrimination.
“There are worse things in life than not being able to solve a problem,” they say.
Growing up in Peru meant building a life on changing terrain. The economy was unstable, and at times, the Argüelles family struggled to make ends meet.
Although Argüelles’s parents were supportive and saw the knowledge as a safe investment, they initially rejected Argüelles’ desire to study physics. Argüelles, wiping a tear from his eye, remembers that his father told him: “You’re going to starve.” Soon Argüelles’ parents accepted the career choice.
Argüelles says that Peru, when they were growing up, was also an “extremely negative environment” for LGBTQ+ people. “I’m a gay man,” they say, “and it was very, very, very difficult.”
Same-sex marriages are not recognized in Peru. Hate crimes and discrimination based on sexual orientation were only outlawed in 2017, through a presidential decree that the country’s Congress tried but failed to overturn.
When Argüelles left Peru in 2012 to pursue his Ph.D., he found that studying physics in the United States was not without its obstacles. Hardly anyone up in the field looked like them. They struggled under the weight of expectations and felt that expressing their anxieties would brand them as weak. But with the help of mentors, Argüelles persevered.
Now, as an assistant professor at Harvard, Argüelles sees his students, particularly women and Hispanics, facing the same challenges. Argüelles is passionate about supporting them.
“It’s about not giving up, right?” Arguelles says. “I still go through some of this stuff myself. But I will survive it.
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