Aiken celebrates the discovery of the neutrino

A crowd of more than 50 people gathered in front of the Greater Aiken Chamber of Commerce Friday morning to commemorate scientific history made in Aiken 54 years ago.

Members of local government, county residents and Savannah River Site employees and their families kicked off the all-day celebration of the discovery of the neutrino, an elementary particle with no charge and nearly no mass first detected at SRS.

The discovery, made by a team led by Clyde Cowan and Frederick Reines, earned the only Nobel Prize for physics ever awarded in the state of South Carolina to date.

"Neutrinos are the closest thing to nothing that's still something," SRS Heritage Foundation Executive Director Walt Joseph said last week, a sentiment that was also printed on T-shirts worn by several members of the audience.

"If the neutrino had never been detected, the conservation of energy would have always been in doubt," Joseph said Friday.

The discovery of the neutrino came about when scientists were unable to account for a small amount of energy in their calculational models that they could not detect. Through the use of P Reactor at SRS, Cowan and Reines were able to detect the particle, which can pass through matter almost undisturbed.

The importance of the discovery did not stop at its detection, Joseph said, but allowed scientists to apply the new knowledge to calculations related to the Big Bang, also known as the "Birth of the Universe."

The ceremony's speakers, including County Council chairman Ronnie Young, praised the members of the audience - many of whom wore shirts with SRS emblems embroidered on them - for their contributions to an important piece of local history.

"Those who come after us will understand the heritage of the site," Young said.

Among the crowd on Friday morning were Marian Cowan Kriston and Elizabeth Cowan Riordon, daughters of the late Clyde Cowan, who returned to Aiken this week from Maryland and Ohio, respectively.

"The family is so excited, and we have such memories of Aiken. It is so wonderful that they've kept the history," said Marian, who was just over 1 year old at the time of the discovery. "It is so exciting what they're doing because the newcomers don't know the history."

Elizabeth, who was 11 years old when her father detected the neutrino at SRS, recalls the partnership between her father and Reines.

"Fred kept the math going, and Daddy - he liked the math, but he kept the equipment going," she said.

The historical marker, which now stands directly in front of the chamber building at 121 Richland Ave., was also unveiled during the ceremony. The plaque, a replica of the original plaque awarded by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission which is now at the University of California-Irvine, was also officially unveiled at the ceremony.

The celebration continued Friday afternoon with informative presentations at USCA's Etherredge Center. The crowd watched a video of the late Cowan discussing the experiments and research that led to the neutrino's detection, as well as presentations about neutrinos in particle astrophysics and neutrino research in using accelerators.

The evening concluded with a sit-down dinner at Newberry Hall and a speech by Dr. John Palms, distinguished president emeritus of the University of South Carolina.

The event was part of Aiken's 175th anniversary celebration.

Contact Anna Dolianitis at adolianitis@aikenstandard.com.