A Michigan State University researcher has co-led a joint analysis between two major neutrino experiments, bringing scientists closer to understanding the mystery of how the universe came to be.

For the first time, the T2K experiment in Japan and the NOvA experiment in the United States have combined data from across the globe to tighten measurements of neutrino properties — the tiny, ghostlike particles that stream through the universe and rarely interact with other matter.

Together, their analysis, published in Nature, provides some of the most precise measurements of how neutrinos change types as they travel. This work lays the foundation for future experiments that could deepen understanding of how the universe evolved — or could break existing theories altogether. The material is based on work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy.