52 research outputs found
Flavor Ratios of Astrophysical Neutrinos: Implications for Precision Measurements
We discuss flavor-mixing probabilities and flavor ratios of high energy
astrophysical neutrinos. In the first part of this paper, we expand the
neutrino flavor-fluxes in terms of the small parameters U_{e3} and pi/4 -
theta_{23}, and show that there are universal first and second order
corrections. The second order term can exceed the first order term, and so
should be included in any analytic study. We also investigate the probabilities
and ratios after a further expansion around the tribimaximal value of sin^2
theta_{12} = 1/3. In the second part of the paper, we discuss implications of
deviations of initial flavor ratios from the usually assumed, idealized flavor
compositions for pion, muon-damped, and neutron beam sources, viz., (1 : 2 :
0), (0 : 1 : 0), and (1 : 0 : 0), respectively. We show that even small
deviations have significant consequences for the observed flavor ratios at
Earth. If initial flavor deviations are not taken into account in analyses,
then false inferences for the values in the PMNS matrix elements (angles and
phase) may result.Comment: 32 pages, 15 figures. Minor changes, matches version in JHE
Can lepton flavor violating interactions explain the LSND results?
If the atmospheric and the solar neutrino problem are both explained by
neutrino oscillations, and if there are only three light neutrinos, then all
mass-squared differences between the neutrinos are known. In such a case,
existing terrestrial neutrino oscillation experiments cannot be significantly
affected by neutrino oscillations, but, in principle there could be an anomaly
in the neutrino flux due to new neutrino interactions. We discuss how a
non-standard muon decay would modify the
neutrino production processes of these experiments. Since violation
is small for New Physics above the weak scale one can use related
flavor-violating charged lepton processes to constrain these decays in a model
independent way. We show that the upper bounds on ,
muonium-antimuonium conversion and rule out any observable
effect for the present experiments due to
for , respectively. Applying similar arguments to
flavor-changing semi-leptonic reactions we exclude the possibility that the
"oscillation signals" observed at LSND are due to flavor-changing interactions
that conserve total lepton number.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures, Latex; minor correction
Energy Independent Solution to the Solar Neutrino Anomaly including the SNO data
The global data on solar neutrino rates and spectrum, including the SNO
charged current rate, can be explained by LMA, LOW or the energy independent
solution -- corresponding to near-maximal mixing. All the three favour a mild
upward renormalisation of the Cl rate. A mild downward shift of the
neutrino flux is favoured by the energy independent and to a lesser extent the
LOW solution, but not by LMA. Comparison with the ratio of SK elastic and SNO
charged current scattering rates favours the LMA over the other two solutions,
but by no more than .Comment: 18 pages, latex, 3 figure
Sterile Neutrino as a Bulk Neutrino
If light sterile neutrinos are needed to understand the neutrino puzzles, as
is currently indicated, a major theoretical challenge is to understand why its
mass is so small. It is a more serious problem than understanding the small
mass of the familiar neutrinos. We discuss a new way to solve this problem by
identifying the sterile neutrino as gauge neutral fermion propagating in the
bulk of a higher dimensional theory, with bulk size of order of a millimeter.
The smallness of its mass is then a consequence of the size of the extra
dimension and does not need the introduction of new symmetries. We present a
realistic model for neutrino masses and mixings that implements this idea.Comment: 13 pages, no figures; minor typos correcte
L_e + L_\mu - L_\tau - L_s Symmetry and a Mixed 2+2 Scenario for Neutrino Oscillations
Recent results from SuperKamiokande and SNO experiments have set severe
constraints on possible mixings of a light sterile neutrino, \nu_s, with the
three active species required for a simultaneous explanation of the solar,
atmospheric and LSND neutrino oscillation data. A consistent scheme has emerged
from a global analysis of the data wherein two of the neutrinos are nearly
degenerate with a mass of order 1 eV, that mix significantly with the two
lighter states. We present realizations of such a mixed 2+2 oscillation
scenario based on L_e + L_\mu - L_\tau - L_s symmetry (L_i stands for the ith
lepton number). Breaking of of this lepton number symmetry by a small mass term
for \nu_s leads to the required large mixings for both the atmospheric and the
solar neutrino oscillations. Sum rules for the neutrino oscillation parameters
are derived within this scheme, and are shown to be consistent with present
data. These models predict U_{e3} = 0.02-0.03, which can serve as a test of
this idea. We also present gauge models based on mirror extensions of the
Standard Model that naturally lead to a light sterile neutrino with the
required mixing pattern.Comment: 13 pages, RevTe
Neutrino Masses and Lepton Flavour Violation in Thick Brane Scenarios
We address the issue of lepton flavour violation and neutrino masses in the
``fat-brane'' paradigm, where flavour changing processes are suppressed by
localising different fermion field wave-functions at different positions (in
the extra dimensions) in a thick brane. We study the consequences of
suppressing lepton number violating charged lepton decays within this scenario
for lepton masses and mixing angles. In particular, we find that charged lepton
mass matrices are constrained to be quasi-diagonal. We further consider whether
the same paradigm can be used to naturally explain small Dirac neutrino masses
by considering the existence of three right-handed neutrinos in the brane, and
discuss the requirements to obtain phenomenologically viable neutrino masses
and mixing angles. Finally, we examine models where neutrinos obtain a small
Majorana mass by breaking lepton number in a far away brane and show that, if
the fat-brane paradigm is the solution to the absence of lepton number
violating charged lepton decays, such models predict, in the absence of flavour
symmetries, that charged lepton flavour violation will be observed in the next
round of rare muon/tau decay experiments.Comment: 33 pages, 9 eps figure
MSLED, Neutrino Oscillations and the Cosmological Constant
We explore the implications for neutrino masses and mixings within the
minimal version of the supersymmetric large-extra-dimensions scenario (MSLED).
This model was proposed in {\tt hep-ph/0404135} to extract the phenomenological
implications of the promising recent attempt (in {\tt hep-th/0304256}) to
address the cosmological constant problem. Remarkably, we find that the
simplest couplings between brane and bulk fermions within this approach can
lead to a phenomenologically-viable pattern of neutrino masses and mixings that
is also consistent with the supernova bounds which are usually the bane of
extra-dimensional neutrino models. Under certain circumstances the MSLED
scenario can lead to a lepton mixing (PMNS) matrix close to the so-called
bi-maximal or the tri-bimaximal forms (which are known to provide a good
description of the neutrino oscillation data). We discuss the implications of
MSLED models for neutrino phenomenology.Comment: 38 pages, 1 figure; Reposted with a few additional reference
Status of four-neutrino mass schemes: a global and unified approach to current neutrino oscillation data
We present a unified global analysis of neutrino oscillation data within the
framework of the four-neutrino mass schemes (3+1) and (2+2). We include all
data from solar and atmospheric neutrino experiments, as well as information
from short-baseline experiments including LSND. If we combine only solar and
atmospheric neutrino data, (3+1) schemes are clearly preferred, whereas
short-baseline data in combination with atmospheric data prefers (2+2) models.
When combining all data in a global analysis the (3+1) mass scheme gives a
slightly better fit than the (2+2) case, though all four-neutrino schemes are
presently acceptable. The LSND result disfavors the three-active neutrino
scenario with only and at 99.9% CL with
respect to the four-neutrino best fit model. We perform a detailed analysis of
the goodness of fit to identify which sub-set of the data is in disagreement
with the best fit solution in a given mass scheme.Comment: 32 pages, 8 Figures included, REVTeX4.Improved discussion in sec. XI,
references added, version accepted by Phys. Rev.
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
Massive stars as thermonuclear reactors and their explosions following core collapse
Nuclear reactions transform atomic nuclei inside stars. This is the process
of stellar nucleosynthesis. The basic concepts of determining nuclear reaction
rates inside stars are reviewed. How stars manage to burn their fuel so slowly
most of the time are also considered. Stellar thermonuclear reactions involving
protons in hydrostatic burning are discussed first. Then I discuss triple alpha
reactions in the helium burning stage. Carbon and oxygen survive in red giant
stars because of the nuclear structure of oxygen and neon. Further nuclear
burning of carbon, neon, oxygen and silicon in quiescent conditions are
discussed next. In the subsequent core-collapse phase, neutronization due to
electron capture from the top of the Fermi sea in a degenerate core takes
place. The expected signal of neutrinos from a nearby supernova is calculated.
The supernova often explodes inside a dense circumstellar medium, which is
established due to the progenitor star losing its outermost envelope in a
stellar wind or mass transfer in a binary system. The nature of the
circumstellar medium and the ejecta of the supernova and their dynamics are
revealed by observations in the optical, IR, radio, and X-ray bands, and I
discuss some of these observations and their interpretations.Comment: To be published in " Principles and Perspectives in Cosmochemistry"
Lecture Notes on Kodai School on Synthesis of Elements in Stars; ed. by Aruna
Goswami & Eswar Reddy, Springer Verlag, 2009. Contains 21 figure
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