A Relic Neutrino Detector

Probably the most promising way of detecting cosmic neutrinos is measuring the mechanical force exerted by elastic scattering of cosmic neutrinos from macroscopic targets. The expected acceleration is $\sim {10}^{-23}cm\mathrm{/}{s}^2$ for Dirac neutrinos of mass $\sim 10eV$ and local density $\sim {10}^7\mathrm{/}c{m}^3$. A novel torsion balance design is presented. which addresses the sensitivity-limiting factors of existing balances, such as seismic and thermal noise, and angular readout resolution and stability.