Neutrino radiation hazard
Every second an enormous number of neutrinos passes through the Earth and its inhabitants. Estimate the effect of these fluxes on a human being in terms of radiation dose.
Compute the cross section of neutrino scattering on an electron and the deep inelastic cross section on a nucleon (use the parton distributions of
LHAPDF).Use the fluxes of solar, atmospheric and relic neutrinos from the literature.
Compute the number of interactions per year in a human body of mass 70 kg and the energy deposited.
Convert this number of interactions into an equivalent dose (Sv/year) using the approximation \[D \approx N_{\text{events}} \cdot \langle E_{\text{dep}} \rangle \cdot \frac{Q}{m},\] where \(Q = 1\) is the weighting factor for secondary electrons and muons, \(m = 70\) kg and \(\langle E_{\text{dep}} \rangle\) is the mean energy deposited in the body in one interaction.
Compare this dose with the natural background and the permitted limits. Draw a conclusion: are neutrinos dangerous?