50 research outputs found
New Results from the MINOS Experiment
In this paper we present the latest results from the MINOS Experiment. This
includes a new measurement of the atmospheric neutrino oscillation parameters
based on 3.36 x 10^20 protons-on-target of data and a first analysis of neutral
current events in the Far Detector. The prospects for nu-e appearance
measurements in MINOS are also discussed.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, for the Proceedings of the Neutrino 2008
Conference, Christchurch, N
Global neutrino data and recent reactor fluxes: status of three-flavour oscillation parameters
We present the results of a global neutrino oscillation data analysis within
the three-flavour framework. We include latest results from the MINOS
long-baseline experiment (including electron neutrino appearance as well as
anti-neutrino data), updating all relevant solar (SK II+III), atmospheric (SK
I+II+III) and reactor (KamLAND) data. Furthermore, we include a recent
re-calculation of the anti-neutrino fluxes emitted from nuclear reactors. These
results have important consequences for the analysis of reactor experiments and
in particular for the status of the mixing angle . In our
recommended default analysis we find from the global fit that the hint for
non-zero remains weak, at 1.8 for both neutrino mass
hierarchy schemes. However, we discuss in detail the dependence of these
results on assumptions concerning the reactor neutrino analysis.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures and 2 tables, v2: corrected version, main
conclusions unchanged, references adde
Where we are on : addendum to "Global neutrino data and recent reactor fluxes: status of three-flavour oscillation parameters"
In this addendum to arXiv:1103.0734 we consider the recent results from
long-baseline searches at the T2K and MINOS experiments and
investigate their implications for the mixing angle and the
leptonic Dirac CP phase . By combining the indication for a
non-zero value of coming from T2K data with global neutrino
oscillation data we obtain a significance for of about
with best fit points for normal
(inverted) neutrino mass ordering. These results depend somewhat on assumptions
concerning the analysis of reactor neutrino data.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures and 1 tabl
Lepton Number Violation in TeV Scale See-Saw Extensions of the Standard Model
The low-energy neutrino physics constraints on the TeV scale type I see-saw
scenarios of neutrino mass generation are revisited. It is shown that lepton
charge (L) violation, associated to the production and decays of heavy Majorana
neutrinos N_{j} having masses in the range of M_j \sim (100 \div 1000) GeV and
present in such scenarios, is hardly to be observed at ongoing and future
particle accelerator experiments, LHC included, because of very strong
constraints on the parameters and couplings responsible for the corresponding
|\Delta L| = 2 processes. If the heavy Majorana neutrinos N_j are observed and
they are associated only with the type I mechanism, they will behave
effectively like pseudo-Dirac fermions. Conversely, the observation of effects
proving the Majorana nature of N_j would imply that these heavy neutrinos have
additional relatively strong couplings to the Standard Model particles or that
light neutrino masses compatible with the observations are generated by a
mechanism other than see-saw (e.g., radiatively at one or two loop level) in
which the heavy Majorana neutrinos N_j are nevertheless involved.Comment: Contribution to the Proceedings of DISCRETE 2010- Symposium on
Prospects in the Physics of Discrete Symmetries, 8 page
Unity of CP and T Violation in Neutrino Oscillations
In a previous work a simultaneous P- CP[P] and P- T[P] bi-probability plot
was proposed as a useful tool for unified graphical description of CP and T
violation in neutrino oscillation. The ``baseball diamond'' structure of the
plot is understood as a consequence of the approximate CP-CP and the T-CP
relations obeyed by the oscillation probabilities. In this paper, we make a
step forward toward deeper understanding of the unified graphical
representation by showing that these two relations are identical in its
content, suggesting a truly unifying view of CP and T violation in neutrino
oscillations. We suspect that the unity reflects the underlying CPT theorem. We
also present calculation of corrections to the CP-CP and the T-CP relations to
leading order in Delta m^2_{21} / Delta m^2_{31} and s^2_{13}.Comment: 20 references added, version to appear in "Focus Issue on Neutrino
Physics" of New Journal of Physic
Finite flavour groups of fermions
We present an overview of the theory of finite groups, with regard to their
application as flavour symmetries in particle physics. In a general part, we
discuss useful theorems concerning group structure, conjugacy classes,
representations and character tables. In a specialized part, we attempt to give
a fairly comprehensive review of finite subgroups of SO(3) and SU(3), in which
we apply and illustrate the general theory. Moreover, we also provide a concise
description of the symmetric and alternating groups and comment on the
relationship between finite subgroups of U(3) and finite subgroups of SU(3).
Though in this review we give a detailed description of a wide range of finite
groups, the main focus is on the methods which allow the exploration of their
different aspects.Comment: 89 pages, 6 figures, some references added, rearrangement of part of
the material, section on SU(3) subgroups substantially extended, some minor
revisions. Version for publication in J. Phys. A. Table 12 corrected to match
eq.(256), table 14 and eq.(314) corrected to match the 2-dimensional irreps
defined on p.6
Learning from tau appearance
The study of numu->nutau oscillation and the explicit observation of the
nutau through the identification of the final-state tau lepton ("direct
appearance search") represent the most straightforward test of the oscillation
phenomenon. It is, nonetheless, the most challenging from the experimental
point of view. In this paper we discuss the current empirical evidence for
direct appearance of tau neutrinos at the atmospheric scale and the
perspectives for the next few years, up to the completion of the CNGS physics
programme. We investigate the relevance of this specific oscillation channel to
gain insight into neutrino physics within the standard three-family framework.
Finally, we discuss the opportunities offered by precision studies of
numu->nutau transitions in the occurrence of more exotic scenarios emerging
from additional sterile neutrinos or non-standard interactions.Comment: 26 pages, 7 figures, to appear in NJ
Constraints from Solar and Reactor Neutrinos on Unparticle Long-Range Forces
We have investigated the impact of long-range forces induced by unparticle
operators of scalar, vector and tensor nature coupled to fermions in the
interpretation of solar neutrinos and KamLAND data. If the unparticle couplings
to the neutrinos are mildly non-universal, such long-range forces will not
factorize out in the neutrino flavour evolution. As a consequence large
deviations from the observed standard matter-induced oscillation pattern for
solar neutrinos would be generated. In this case, severe limits can be set on
the infrared fix point scale, Lambda_u, and the new physics scale, M, as a
function of the ultraviolet (d_UV) and anomalous (d) dimension of the
unparticle operator. For a scalar unparticle, for instance, assuming the
non-universality of the lepton couplings to unparticles to be of the order of a
few per mil we find that, for d_UV=3 and d=1.1, M is constrained to be M >
O(10^9) TeV (M > O(10^10) TeV) if Lambda_u= 1 TeV (10 TeV). For given values of
Lambda_u and d, the corresponding bounds on M for vector [tensor] unparticles
are approximately 100 [3/Sqrt(Lambda_u/TeV)] times those for the scalar case.
Conversely, these results can be translated into severe constraints on
universality violation of the fermion couplings to unparticle operators with
scales which can be accessible at future colliders.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures. Minor changes due to precision in numerical
factors and correction in figure labels. References added. Conclusions remain
unchange
Measurement of the neutrino mass splitting and flavor mixing by MINOS
Measurements of neutrino oscillations using the disappearance of muon neutrinos from the Fermilab NuMI neutrino beam as observed by the two MINOS detectors are reported. New analysis methods have been applied to an enlarged data sample from an exposure of protons on target. A fit to neutrino oscillations yields values of ,eV for the atmospheric mass splitting and m sin^2!(2 heta) > 0.90 (90%,C.L.) for the mixing angle. Pure neutrino decay and quantum decoherence hypotheses are excluded at 7 and 9 standard deviations, respectively
Search for sterile neutrino mixing in the MINOS long-baseline experiment
A search for depletion of the combined flux of active neutrino species over a 735 km baseline is reported using neutral-current interaction data recorded by the MINOS detectors in the NuMI neutrino beam. Such a depletion is not expected according to conventional interpretations of neutrino oscillation data involving the three known neutrino flavors. A depletion would be a signature of oscillations or decay to postulated noninteracting sterile neutrinos, scenarios not ruled out by existing data. From an exposure of 3.18×1020 protons on target in which neutrinos of energies between ~500¿¿MeV and 120 GeV are produced predominantly as ¿µ, the visible energy spectrum of candidate neutral-current reactions in the MINOS far detector is reconstructed. Comparison of this spectrum to that inferred from a similarly selected near-detector sample shows that of the portion of the ¿µ flux observed to disappear in charged-current interaction data, the fraction that could be converting to a sterile state is less than 52% at 90% confidence level (C.L.). The hypothesis that active neutrinos mix with a single sterile neutrino via oscillations is tested by fitting the data to various models. In the particular four-neutrino models considered, the mixing angles ¿24 and ¿34 are constrained to be less than 11° and 56° at 90% C.L., respectively. The possibility that active neutrinos may decay to sterile neutrinos is also investigated. Pure neutrino decay without oscillations is ruled out at 5.4 standard deviations. For the scenario in which active neutrinos decay into sterile states concurrently with neutrino oscillations, a lower limit is established for the neutrino decay lifetime t3/m3>2.1×10-12¿¿s/eV at 90% C.L