Phenomenology of Neutrino Oscillations

We review the status of several phenomenological topics of current interest in neutrino oscillations: (i) Solar neutrino oscillations after the first Sudbury Neutrino Observatory measurements, including both model-independent and model-dependent results; (ii) Dominant nu_mu-->nu_tau oscillations of atmospheric and K2K neutrinos, and possible subdominant oscillations induced by either extra states or extra interactions; and (iii) Four-neutrino scenarios embedding the controversial LSND evidence for oscillations.Comment: 9 pages, including 12 figures. Presented at TAUP 2001: Topics in Astroparticle and Underground Physics, Assergi, Italy, 8-12 Sep. 200

Analysis of oscillations of atmospheric neutrinos

We briefly review the current status of standard oscillations of atmospheric neutrinos in schemes with two, three, and four flavor mixing. It is shown that, although the pure \nu_\mu-->\nu_\tau channel provides an excellent 2\nu fit to the data, one cannot exclude, at present, the occurrence of additional subleading \nu_\mu-->\nu_e oscillations (3\nu schemes) or of sizable \nu_\mu-->\nu_s oscillations (4\nu schemes). It is also shown that the wide dynamical range of energy and pathlength probed by the Super-Kamiokande experiment puts severe constraints on nonstandard explanations of the atmospheric neutrino data, with a few notable exceptions.Comment: Talk at the 19th International Conference on Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics - Neutrino 2000 (Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, 16-21 June 2000

Addendum to: Model-dependent and -independent implications of the first Sudbury Neutrino Observatory results

In the light of recent experimental and theoretical improvements, we review our previous model-independent comparison [hep-ph/0106247] of the Super-Kamiokande (SK) and Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) solar neutrino event rates, including updated values for the ``equalized'' SK datum and for the reference Standard Solar Model (SSM) B neutrino flux. We find that the joint SK+SNO evidence for active neutrino flavor transitions is confirmed at the level of 3.3 standard deviations, independently of possible transitions to sterile states. Barring sterile neutrinos, we estimate the 3-sigma range for the $^8$B neutrino flux (normalized to SSM) as f_B=0.96 +0.54-0.55. Accordingly, the 3-sigma range for the energy-averaged nu_e survival probability is found to be = 0.31 +0.55-0.16, independently of the functional form of P_ee. An increase of the reference nu_e + d --> p + p + e cross section by ~3%, as suggested by recent theoretical calculations, would slightly shift the central values of f_B and of to ~1.00 and ~0.29, respectively, and would strengthen the model-independent evidence for nu_e transitions into active states at the level of ~3.6 sigma.Comment: 6 pages + 2 figures. Addendum to hep-ph/010624

Analysis of energy- and time-dependence of supernova shock effects on neutrino crossing probabilities

It has recently been realized that supernova neutrino signals may be affected by shock propagation over a time interval of a few seconds after bounce. In the standard three-neutrino oscillation scenario, such effects crucially depend on the neutrino level crossing probability P_H in the 1-3 sector. By using a simplified parametrization of the time-dependent supernova radial density profile, we explicitly show that simple analytical expressions for P_H accurately reproduce the phase-averaged results of numerical calculations in the relevant parameter space. Such expressions are then used to study the structure of P_H as a function of energy and time, with particular attention to cases involving multiple crossing along the shock profile. Illustrative applications are given in terms of positron spectra generated by supernova electron antineutrinos through inverse beta decay.Comment: Major changes both in the text and in the figures in order to include the effect of a step-like shock front density profile; final version to appear in Physical Review

Probing supernova shock waves and neutrino flavor transitions in next-generation water-Cherenkov detectors

Several current projects aim at building a large water-Cherenkov detector, with a fiducial volume about 20 times larger than in the current Super-Kamiokande experiment. These projects include the Underground nucleon decay and Neutrino Observatory (UNO) in the Henderson Mine (Colorado), the Hyper-Kamiokande (HK) detector in the Tochibora Mine (Japan), and the MEgaton class PHYSics (MEMPHYS) detector in the Frejus site (Europe). We study the physics potential of a reference next-generation detector (0.4 Mton of fiducial mass) in providing information on supernova neutrino flavor transitions with unprecedented statistics. After discussing the ingredients of our calculations, we compute neutrino event rates from inverse beta decay ($\bar\nu_e p\to e^+ n$), elastic scattering on electrons, and scattering on oxygen, with emphasis on their time spectra, which may encode combined information on neutrino oscillation parameters and on supernova forward (and possibly reverse) shock waves. In particular, we show that an appropriate ratio of low-to-high energy events can faithfully monitor the time evolution of the neutrino crossing probability along the shock-wave profile. We also discuss some background issues related to the detection of supernova relic neutrinos, with and without the addition of gadolinium.Comment: Revised version (27 pages, 13 eps figures), to appear in JCAP. Includes revised numerical estimates and figures. In particular: calculations of inverse beta decay event rates improved by using the differential cross section by Vissani and Strumia (astro-ph/0302055); supernova relic neutrino flux calculations updated by using recent GALEX Mission data (astro-ph/0411424) on the star formation rate (SFR). References added. Conclusions unchange

Zenith distribution of atmospheric neutrino events and electron neutrino mixing

Assuming atmospheric neutrino oscillations with dominant nu_munu_tau transitions, we discuss how subdominant nu_e mixing (within the Chooz reactor bounds) can alter the zenith distributions of neutrino-induced electrons and muons. We isolate two peculiar distortion effects, one mainly related to nu_e mixing in vacuum and the other to matter oscillations, that may be sufficiently large to be detected by the SuperKamiokande atmospheric nu experiment. These effects (absent for pure two-flavor nu_munu_tau transitions) do not vanish in the limit of energy-averaged oscillations.Comment: 6 pages, RevTeX, no figure

The solar neutrino problem after three hundred days of data at SuperKamiokande

We present an updated analysis of the solar neutrino problem in terms of both Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein (MSW) and vacuum neutrino oscillations, with the inclusion of the preliminary data collected by the SuperKamiokande experiment during 306.3 days of operation. In particular, the observed energy spectrum of the recoil electrons from 8B neutrino scattering is discussed in detail and is used to constrain the mass-mixing parameter space. It is shown that: 1) the small mixing MSW solution is preferred over the large mixing one; 2) the vacuum oscillation solutions are strongly constrained by the energy spectrum measurement; and 3) the detection of a possible semiannual modulation of the 8B \nu flux due to vacuum oscillations should require at least one more year of operation of SuperKamiokande.Comment: 15 pages (RevTeX) + 8 figures (postscript). Requires epsfig.st

Atmospheric, Solar, and CHOOZ neutrinos: a global three generation analysis

We perform a global three generation analysis of the current solar and atmospheric evidence in favor of neutrino oscillations. We also include the negative results coming from CHOOZ to constrain the nu_e mixing. We study the zones of mass-mixing oscillations parameters compatible with all the data. It is shown that almost pure nu_mu nu_tau oscillations are required to explain the atmospheric neutrino anomaly and almost pure nu_1 nu_2 oscillations to account for the solar neutrino deficit.Comment: 4 pages, talk given at 36th Rencontres de Moriond: Electroweak Interactions and Unified Theories, Les Arcs, France, 10-17 Mar 200

Oscillations of solar atmosphere neutrinos

The Sun is a source of high energy neutrinos (E > 10 GeV) produced by cosmic ray interactions in the solar atmosphere. We study the impact of three-flavor oscillations (in vacuum and in matter) on solar atmosphere neutrinos, and calculate their observable fluxes at Earth, as well as their event rates in a kilometer-scale detector in water or ice. We find that peculiar three-flavor oscillation effects in matter, which can occur in the energy range probed by solar atmosphere neutrinos, are significantly suppressed by averaging over the production region and over the neutrino and antineutrino components. In particular, we find that the relation between the neutrino fluxes at the Sun and at the Earth can be approximately expressed in terms of phase-averaged ``vacuum'' oscillations, dominated by a single mixing parameter (the angle theta_23).Comment: v2: 11 pages, 8 eps figures. Content added (Sec. III D and Fig. 6), references updated. Matches the published versio