Thermal expansion of the earth and the speed of neutrinos

TL;DR

Thermal expansion of the Earth can significantly impact neutrino speed measurements by altering baseline distances, potentially affecting the interpretation of superluminal neutrino results.

Contribution

This paper highlights the importance of accounting for Earth's thermal expansion in neutrino speed experiments, a factor previously underappreciated.

Findings

Thermal expansion can cause measurable baseline variations.

GPS-based surface measurements may differ from underground baselines.

Neglecting thermal effects can lead to incorrect conclusions about neutrino speeds.

Abstract

It is pointed out that one of the systematic effects that can affect the measurement of the speed of neutrinos significantly is the variability of the unaveraged measurement of the distance between two points on the earth due to thermal expansion. Possible difference between estimates done with surface GPS apparatus and the true underground baseline can change substantially the statistical significance of the result of superluminal speed of neutrinos, reported recently.