| Composition | Elementary particle |
|---|---|
| Statistics | Fermionic |
| Family | Lepton |
| Generation | Third |
| Interactions | Weak, gravity |
| Symbol | ν τ |
| Antiparticle | Tau antineutrino ( ν τ) |
| Theorized | Mid 1970s |
| Discovered | DONUT collaboration (2000) |
| Mass | Nonzero (See Neutrino mass) |
| Electric charge | 0 e |
| Color charge | No |
| Spin | 1/2 |
| Weak isospin | 1/2 |
| Weak hypercharge | −1 |
| Chirality | left-handed (for right-handed neutrinos, see sterile neutrino) |
The tau neutrino or tauon neutrino is an elementary particle which has the symbol
ν
τ and zero electric charge. Together with the tau (τ), it forms the third generation of leptons, hence the name tau neutrino. Its existence was immediately implied after the tau particle was detected in a series of experiments between 1974 and 1977 by Martin Lewis Perl with his colleagues at the SLAC–LBL group.[1] The discovery of the tau neutrino was announced in July 2000 by the DONUT collaboration (Direct Observation of the Nu Tau).[2][3] In 2024, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory published findings of seven astrophysical tau neutrino candidates.[4][5]