Behavioral Effects of Developmental Exposure to JWH-018 in Wild-Type and Disrupted in Schizophrenia 1 (disc1) Mutant Zebrafish

Synthetic cannabinoids can cause acute adverse psychological effects, but the potential impact when exposure happens before birth is unknown. Use of synthetic cannabinoids during pregnancy may affect fetal brain development, and such effects could be moderated by the genetic makeup of an individual. Disrupted in schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) is a gene with important roles in neurodevelopment that has been associated with psychiatric disorders in pedigree analyses. Using zebrafish as a model, we investigated (1) the behavioral impact of developmental exposure to 3 μM 1-pentyl-3-(1-naphthoyl)-indole (JWH-018; a common psychoactive synthetic cannabinoid) and (2) whether disc1 moderates the effects of JWH-018. As altered anxiety responses are seen in several psychiatric disorders, we focused on zebrafish anxiety-like behavior. Zebrafish embryos were exposed to JWH-018 from one to six days post-fertilization. Anxiety-like behavior was assessed using forced light/dark and acoustic startle assays in larvae and novel tank diving in adults. Compared to controls, both acutely and developmentally exposed zebrafish larvae had impaired locomotion during the forced light/dark test, but anxiety levels and response to startle stimuli were unaltered. Adult zebrafish developmentally exposed to JWH-018 spent less time on the bottom of the tank, suggesting decreased anxiety. Loss-of-function in disc1 increased anxiety-like behavior in the tank diving assay but did not alter sensitivity to JWH-018. Results suggest developmental exposure to JWH-018 has a long-term behavioral impact in zebrafish, which is not moderated by disc1

Lepton number violating interactions and their effects on neutrino oscillation experiments

Mixing between bosons that transform differently under the standard model gauge group, but identically under its unbroken subgroup, can induce interactions that violate the total lepton number. We discuss four-fermion operators that mediate lepton number violating neutrino interactions both in a model-independent framework and within supersymmetry (SUSY) without R-parity. The effective couplings of such operators are constrained by: i) the upper bounds on the relevant elementary couplings between the bosons and the fermions, ii) by the limit on universality violation in pion decays, iii) by the data on neutrinoless double beta decay and, iv) by loop-induced neutrino masses. We find that the present bounds imply that lepton number violating neutrino interactions are not relevant for the solar and atmospheric neutrino problems. Within SUSY without R-parity also the LSND anomaly cannot be explained by such interactions, but one cannot rule out an effect model-independently. Possible consequences for future terrestrial neutrino oscillation experiments and for neutrinos from a supernova are discussed.Comment: 28 pages, 2 figures, Late

Mass hierarchy, 2-3 mixing and CP-phase with Huge Atmospheric Neutrino Detectors

We explore the physics potential of multi-megaton scale ice or water Cherenkov detectors with low ($\sim 1$ GeV) threshold. Using some proposed characteristics of the PINGU detector setup we compute the distributions of events versus neutrino energy $E_\nu$ and zenith angle $\theta_z$, and study their dependence on yet unknown neutrino parameters. The $(E_\nu - \theta_z)$ regions are identified where the distributions have the highest sensitivity to the neutrino mass hierarchy, to the deviation of the 2-3 mixing from the maximal one and to the CP-phase. We evaluate significance of the measurements of the neutrino parameters and explore dependence of this significance on the accuracy of reconstruction of the neutrino energy and direction. The effect of degeneracy of the parameters on the sensitivities is also discussed. We estimate the characteristics of future detectors (energy and angle resolution, volume, etc.) required for establishing the neutrino mass hierarchy with high confidence level. We find that the hierarchy can be identified at $3\sigma$ -- $10\sigma$ level (depending on the reconstruction accuracies) after 5 years of PINGU operation.Comment: 39 pages, 21 figures. Description of Fig.3 correcte

Phenomenology of Maximal and Near-Maximal Lepton Mixing

We study the phenomenological consequences of maximal and near-maximal mixing of the electron neutrino with other ($x$=tau and/or muon) neutrinos. We describe the deviations from maximal mixing in terms of a parameter $\epsilon\equiv1-2\sin^2\theta_{ex}$ and quantify the present experimental status for $|\epsilon|<0.3$. We find that the global analysis of solar neutrino data allows maximal mixing with confidence level better than 99% for $10^{-8}$ eV^2\lsim\Delta m^2\lsim2\times10^{-7} eV$^2$. In the mass ranges \Delta m^2\gsim 1.5\times10^{-5} eV$^2$ and $4\times10^{-10}$ eV^2\lsim\Delta m^2\lsim2\times10^{-7} eV$^2$ the full interval $|\epsilon|<0.3$ is allowed within 4$\sigma$(99.995 % CL). We suggest ways to measure $\epsilon$ in future experiments. The observable that is most sensitive to $\epsilon$ is the rate [NC]/[CC] in combination with the Day-Night asymmetry in the SNO detector. With theoretical and statistical uncertainties, the expected accuracy after 5 years is $\Delta \epsilon\sim 0.07$. We also discuss the effects of maximal and near-maximal $\nu_e$-mixing in atmospheric neutrinos, supernova neutrinos, and neutrinoless double beta decay.Comment: 49 pages Latex file using RevTeX. 16 postscript figures included. ( Fig.2 and Fig.4 bitmapped for compression,better resolution at http://ific.uv.es/~pppac/). Improved presentation: some statements included and labels added in figures. Some misprint corrected. Final version to appear in Phys. Rev D. Report no: IFIC/00-40, IASSNS-HEP-00-5

Phenomenological Consequences of sub-leading Terms in See-Saw Formulas

Several aspects of next-to-leading (NLO) order corrections to see-saw formulas are discussed and phenomenologically relevant situations are identified. We generalize the formalism to calculate the NLO terms developed for the type I see-saw to variants like the inverse, double or linear see-saw, i.e., to cases in which more than two mass scales are present. In the standard type I case with very heavy fermion singlets the sub-leading terms are negligible. However, effects in the percent regime are possible when sub-matrices of the complete neutral fermion mass matrix obey a moderate hierarchy, e.g. weak scale and TeV scale. Examples are cancellations of large terms leading to small neutrino masses, or inverse see-saw scenarios. We furthermore identify situations in which no NLO corrections to certain observables arise, namely for mu-tau symmetry and cases with a vanishing neutrino mass. Finally, we emphasize that the unavoidable unitarity violation in see-saw scenarios with extra fermions can be calculated with the formalism in a straightforward manner.Comment: 22 pages, matches published versio

Four--Neutrino Oscillation Solutions of the Solar Neutrino Problem

We present an analysis of the neutrino oscillation solutions of the solar neutrino problem in the framework of four-neutrino mixing where a sterile neutrino is added to the three standard ones. We perform a fit to the full data set corresponding to the 825-day Super-Kamiokande data sample as well as to Chlorine, GALLEX and SAGE and Kamiokande experiments. In our analysis we use all measured total event rates as well as all Super-Kamiokande data on the zenith angle dependence and the recoil electron energy spectrum. We consider both transitions via the Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein (MSW) mechanism as well as oscillations in vacuum (just-so) and find the allowed solutions for different values of the additional mixing angles. This framework permits transitions into active or sterile neutrinos controlled by the additional parameter $\cos^2(\vartheta_{23}) \cos^2(\vartheta_{24})$ . We discuss the maximum allowed values of this additional mixing parameter for the different solutions.Comment: 28 pages Latex file using RevTeX. 8 postscript figures included (bitmapped for compression). Detailed explanation of criterion 3 and lower two graphs of Fig. 8. Misprints corrected in table II.A full version of the paper can be found at http://ific.uv.es/~penya/papers/four

A realistic pattern of fermion masses from a five-dimensional SO(10) model

We provide a unified description of fermion masses and mixing angles in the framework of a supersymmetric grand unified SO(10) model with anarchic Yukawa couplings of order unity. The space-time is five dimensional and the extra flat spatial dimension is compactified on the orbifold $S^1/(Z_2 \times Z_2')$, leading to Pati-Salam gauge symmetry on the boundary where Yukawa interactions are localised. The gauge symmetry breaking is completed by means of a rather economic scalar sector, avoiding the doublet-triplet splitting problem. The matter fields live in the bulk and their massless modes get exponential profiles, which naturally explain the mass hierarchy of the different fermion generations. Quarks and leptons properties are naturally reproduced by a mechanism, first proposed by Kitano and Li, that lifts the SO(10) degeneracy of bulk masses in terms of a single parameter. The model provides a realistic pattern of fermion masses and mixing angles for large values of $\tan\beta$. It favours normally ordered neutrino mass spectrum with the lightest neutrino mass below 0.01 eV and no preference for leptonic CP violating phases. The right handed neutrino mass spectrum is very hierarchical and does not allow for thermal leptogenesis. We analyse several variants of the basic framework and find that the results concerning the fermion spectrum are remarkably stable.Comment: 30 pages, 7 figures, 4 table

Super-Kamiokande atmospheric neutrino data, zenith distributions, and three-flavor oscillations

We present a detailed analysis of the zenith angle distributions of atmospheric neutrino events observed in the Super-Kamiokande (SK) underground experiment, assuming two-flavor and three-flavor oscillations (with one dominant mass scale) among active neutrinos. In particular, we calculate the five angular distributions associated to sub-GeV and multi-GeV \mu-like and e-like events and to upward through-going muons, for a total of 30 accurately computed observables (zenith bins). First we study how such observables vary with the oscillation parameters, and then we perform a fit to the experimental data as measured in SK for an exposure of 33 kTy (535 days). In the two-flavor mixing case, we confirm the results of the SK Collaboration analysis, namely, that \nu_\mu\nu_\tau oscillations are preferred over \nu_\mu\nu_e, and that the no oscillation case is excluded with high confidence. In the three-flavor mixing case, we perform our analysis with and without the additional constraints imposed by the CHOOZ reactor experiment. In both cases, the analysis favors a dominance of the \nu_\mu\nu_\tau channel. Without the CHOOZ constraints, the amplitudes of the subdominant \nu_\munu_e and \nu_e\nu_\tau transitions can also be relatively large, indicating that, at present, current SK data do not exclude sizable \nu_e mixing by themselves. After combining the CHOOZ and SK data, the amplitudes of the subdominant transitions are constrained to be smaller, but they can still play a nonnegligible role both in atmospheric and other neutrino oscillation searches. In particular, we find that the \nu_e appearance probability expected in long baseline experiments can reach the testable level of ~15%.Comment: 35 pages (RevTeX), including 20 ps figures (with epsfig.sty

Neutrino mass spectrum and neutrinoless double beta decay

The relations between the effective Majorana mass of the electron neutrino, $m_{ee}$, responsible for neutrinoless double beta decay, and the neutrino oscillation parameters are considered. We show that for any specific oscillation pattern $m_{ee}$ can take any value (from zero to the existing upper bound) for normal mass hierarchy and it can have a minimum for inverse hierarchy. This means that oscillation experiments cannot fix in general $m_{ee}$. Mass ranges for $m_{ee}$ can be predicted in terms of oscillation parameters with additional assumptions about the level of degeneracy and the type of hierarchy of the neutrino mass spectrum. These predictions for $m_{ee}$ are systematically studied in the specific schemes of neutrino mass and flavor which explain the solar and atmospheric neutrino data. The contributions from individual mass eigenstates in terms of oscillation parameters have been quantified. We study the dependence of $m_{ee}$ on the non-oscillation parameters: the overall scale of the neutrino mass and the relative mass phases. We analyze how forthcoming oscillation experiments will improve the predictions for $m_{ee}$. On the basis of these studies we evaluate the discovery potential of future \znbb decay searches. The role \znbb decay searches will play in the reconstruction of the neutrino mass spectrum is clarified. The key scales of $m_{ee}$, which will lead to the discrimination among various schemes are: $m_{ee} \sim 0.1$ eV and $m_{ee} \sim 0.005$ eV.Comment: 47 pages, 35 figure

Balloon Measurements of Cosmic Ray Muon Spectra in the Atmosphere along with those of Primary Protons and Helium Nuclei over Mid-Latitude

We report here the measurements of the energy spectra of atmospheric muons and of the cosmic ray primary proton and helium nuclei in a single experiment. These were carried out using the MASS superconducting spectrometer in a balloon flight experiment in 1991. The relevance of these results to the atmospheric neutrino anomaly is emphasized. In particular, this approach allows uncertainties caused by the level of solar modulation, the geomagnetic cut-off of the primaries and possible experimental systematics to be decoupled in the comparison of calculated fluxes of muons to measured muon fluxes. The muon observations cover the momentum and depth ranges of 0.3-40 GeV/c and 5-886 g/cmsquared, respectively. The proton and helium primary measurements cover the rigidity range from 3 to 100 GV, in which both the solar modulation and the geomagnetic cut-off affect the energy spectra at low energies.Comment: 31 pages, including 17 figures, simplified apparatus figure, to appear in Phys. Rev.