25 research outputs found
Constraining neutrino oscillation parameters with current solar and atmospheric data
We analyze the impact of recent solar, atmospheric and reactor data in the
determination of the neutrino oscillation parameters, taking into account that
both the solar nu_e and the atmospheric nu_mu may convert to a mixture of
active and sterile neutrinos. We use the most recent global solar neutrino
data, including the 1496-day Super-K neutrino data sample, and we investigate
in detail the impact of the SNO neutral current, spectral and day/night data by
performing also an analysis using only the charged current rate from SNO. The
implications of the first 145.1 days of KamLAND data on the determination of
the solar neutrino parameters are also discussed in detail. We confirm the
clear preference of solar+reactor data for the pure active LMA-MSW solution of
the solar neutrino problem, and obtain that the LOW, VAC, SMA and Just-So^2
solutions are disfavored with a Delta_chi^2 = 22, 22, 36, 44, respectively.
Furthermore, we find that the global solar data constrains the admixture of a
sterile neutrino to be less than 43% at 99% CL. By performing an improved fit
of the atmospheric data, we also update the corresponding regions of
oscillation parameters. We find that the recent atmospheric Super-K (1489-day)
and MACRO data have a strong impact on constraining a sterile component in
atmospheric oscillations: if the nu_mu is restricted to the atmospheric mass
states only a sterile admixture of 16% is allowed at 99% CL, while a bound of
35% is obtained in the unconstrained case. Pure sterile oscillations are
disfavored with a Delta_chi^2 = 34.6 compared to the pure active case.Comment: 28 pages, LaTeX file using RevTEX4, 12 figures and 3 tables included.
Improved version including the new KamLAND dat
Lepton Flavour Violation in a Class of Lopsided SO(10) Models
A class of predictive SO(10) grand unified theories with highly asymmetric
mass matrices, known as lopsided textures, has been developed to accommodate
the observed mixing in the neutrino sector. The model class effectively
determines the rate for charged lepton flavour violation, and in particular the
branching ratio for , assuming that the supersymmetric GUT
breaks directly to the constrained minimal supersymmetric standard model
(CMSSM). We find that in light of the combined constraints on the CMSSM
parameters from direct searches and from the WMAP satellite observations, the
resulting predicted rate for in this model class can be
within the current experimental bounds for low , but that the next
generation of experiments would effectively rule out this
model class if LFV is not detected.Comment: 23 page
Constraints on Natural MNS Parameters from |U_e3|
The MNS matrix structure emerging as a result of recent neutrino measurements
strongly suggests two large mixing angles (solar and atmospheric) and one small
angle (|U_e3| << 1). Especially when combined with the neutrino mass hierarchy,
these values turn out to impose rather stringent constraints on possible flavor
models connecting the three active fermion generations. Specifically, we show
that an extremely small value of |U_e3| would require fine tuning of Majorana
mass matrix parameters, particularly in the context of seesaw models.Comment: 21 pages, ReVTeX, 2 .eps figure files, updated references and
acknowledgment
Homestake result, sterile neutrinos and low energy solar neutrino experiments
The Homestake result is about ~ 2 \sigma lower than the Ar-production rate,
Q_{Ar}, predicted by the LMA MSW solution of the solar neutrino problem. Also
there is no apparent upturn of the energy spectrum (R \equiv N_{obs}/N_{SSM})
at low energies in SNO and Super-Kamiokande. Both these facts can be explained
if a light, \Delta m^2_{01} ~ (0.2 - 2) \cdot 10^{-5} eV^2, sterile neutrino
exists which mixes very weakly with active neutrinos: \sin^2 2\alpha ~ (10^{-5}
- 10^{-3}). We perform both the analytical and numerical study of the
conversion effects in the system of two active neutrinos with the LMA
parameters and one weakly mixed sterile neutrino. The presence of sterile
neutrino leads to a dip in the survival probability in the intermediate energy
range E = (0.5 - 5) MeV thus suppressing the Be, or/and pep, CNO as well as B
electron neutrino fluxes. Apart from diminishing Q_{Ar} it leads to decrease of
the Ge-production rate and may lead to decrease of the BOREXINO signal and
CC/NC ratio at SNO. Future studies of the solar neutrinos by SNO, SK, BOREXINO
and KamLAND as well as by the new low energy experiments will allow us to check
this possibility. We present a general analysis of modifications of the LMA
energy profile due to mixing with new neutrino states.Comment: Figures 5 and 6 modified, shorter version will be published in PR
Neutrino Masses with "Zero Sum" Condition:
It is well known that the neutrino mass matrix contains more parameters than
experimentalists can hope to measure in the foreseeable future even if we
impose CP invariance. Thus, various authors have proposed ansatzes to restrict
the form of the neutrino mass matrix further. Here we propose that ; this ``zero sum'' condition can occur in certain
class of models, such as models whose neutrino mass matrix can be expressed as
commutator of two matrices. With this condition, the absolute neutrino mass can
be obtained in terms of the mass-squared differences. When combined with the
accumulated experimental data this condition predicts two types of mass
hierarchies, with one of them characterized by eV, and the other by eV and eV. The mass ranges
predicted is just below the cosmological upper bound of 0.23 eV from recent
WMAP data and can be probed in the near future. We also point out some
implications for direct laboratory measurement of neutrino masses, and the
neutrino mass matrix.Comment: Latex 12 pages. No figures. New references adde
Stringent Constraints on Cosmological Neutrino-Antineutrino Asymmetries from Synchronized Flavor Transformation
We assess a mechanism which can transform neutrino-antineutrino asymmetries
between flavors in the early universe, and confirm that such transformation is
unavoidable in the near bi-maximal framework emerging for the neutrino mixing
matrix. We show that the process is a standard Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein
flavor transformation dictated by a synchronization of momentum states. We also
show that flavor ``equilibration'' is a special feature of maximal mixing, and
carefully examine new constraints placed on neutrino asymmetries. In
particular, the big bang nucleosynthesis limit on electron neutrino degeneracy
xi_e < 0.04 does not apply directly to all flavors, yet confirmation of the
large-mixing-angle solution to the solar neutrino problem will eliminate the
possibility of degenerate big bang nucleosynthesis.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures; minor changes to match PRD versio
Neutrinoless double-beta decay with three or four neutrino mixing
Considering the scheme with mixing of three neutrinos and a mass hierarchy
that can accommodate the results of solar and atmospheric neutrino experiments,
it is shown that the results of solar neutrino experiments imply a lower bound
for the effective Majorana mass in neutrinoless double-beta decay, under the
natural assumptions that massive neutrinos are Majorana particles and there are
no unlikely fine-tuned cancellations among the contributions of the different
neutrino masses. Considering the four-neutrino schemes that can accommodate
also the results of the LSND experiment, it is shown that only one of them is
compatible with the results of neutrinoless double-beta decay experiments and
with the measurement of the abundances of primordial elements produced in
Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis. It is shown that in this scheme, under the
assumptions that massive neutrinos are Majorana particles and there are no
cancellations among the contributions of the different neutrino masses, the
results of the LSND experiment imply a lower bound for the effective Majorana
mass in neutrinoless double-beta decay.Comment: 18 pages including 2 figures, RevTe
Quark and Lepton Mass Matrices in the SO(10) Grand Unified Theory with Generation Flipping
We investigate the SO(10) grand unified model with generation flipping. The
model contains one extra matter multiplet and it mixes with the
usual matter multiplets when the SO(10) is broken down to SU(5).
We find the parameter region of the model in which the observed quark masses
and mixings are well reproduced. The resulting parameter region is consistent
with the observation that only have a source of hierarchies and
indicates that the mixing between second and third generations tends to be
large in the lepton sector, which is consistent with the observed maximal
mixing of the atmospheric neutrino oscillation. We also show that the model can
accommodate MSW and vacuum oscillation solutions to the solar neutrino deficit
depending on the form of the Majorana mass matrix for the right-handed
neutrinos.Comment: 28 pages, Late
From weak-scale observables to leptogenesis
Thermal leptogenesis is an attractive mechanism for generating the baryon
asymmetry of the Universe. However, in supersymmetric models, the parameter
space is severely restricted by the gravitino bound on the reheat temperature
. For hierarchical light neutrino masses, it is shown that thermal
leptogenesis {\it can} work when GeV. The low-energy
observable consequences of this scenario are . For higher , thermal leptogenesis works in a
larger area of parameter space, whose observable consequences are more
ambiguous. A parametrisation of the seesaw in terms of weak-scale inputs is
used, so the results are independent of the texture chosen for the GUT-scale
Yukawa matrices.Comment: a few references adde
The Majorana neutrino masses, neutrinoless double beta decay and nuclear matrix elements
The effective Majorana neutrino mass is evaluated by using the latest results
of neutrino oscillation experiments. The problems of the neutrino mass
spectrum,absolute mass scale of neutrinos and the effect of CP phases are
addressed. A connection to the next generation of the neutrinoless double beta
decay (0nbb-decay) experiments is discussed. The calculations are performed for
76Ge, 100Mo, 136Xe and 130Te by using the advantage of recently evaluated
nuclear matrix elements with significantly reduced theoretical uncertainty. An
importance of observation of the 0nbb-decay of several nuclei is stressed.Comment: 29 pages, 5 figures, EXO (10 t) experiment considere