Neutrinos to probe Earth depths

The authors first outline the interesting properties of anti-neutrinos: they can give clues on the origin of Earth and its thermal history and on the production of heavy elements in supernovae, and could give information on the evolution of fuel within nuclear plants. Two large antineutrino sensors are already being used by geologists to determine the amount of uranium and thorium and their distribution in the depths of the Earth. The authors recall the properties of the three different types of neutrinos, as well as the history of their discovery from their theoretical definition to their experimental evidence. They evoke the specific phenomenon of neutrino oscillation and their transformation, the relationship between neutrino, antineutrino and beta radiation, and some experiments designed to observe these particles (notably the KamLAND experiment). They describe how future neutrino detectors could be used to monitor the evolution of nuclear fuel, and the exploitation of neutrino properties by geologists and astrophysicists