Accelerator and Reactor Neutrino Experiments

Present results from neutrino experiments at accelerators and nuclear reactors are reviewed with emphasis on neutrino oscillation searches. Future prospects in this field are also discussed.Comment: Review presented at LP9

Quiet Sun X-rays as Signature for New Particles

We have studied published data from the Yohkoh solar X-ray mission, with the purpose of searching for signals from radiative decays of new, as yet undiscovered massive neutral particles. This search is based on the prediction that solar axions of the Kaluza-Klein type should result in the emission of X-rays from the Sun direction beyond the limb with a characteristic radial distribution. These X-rays should be observed more easily during periods of quiet Sun. An additional signature is the observed emission of hard X-rays by SMM, NEAR and RHESSI. The recent observation made by RHESSI of a continuous emission from the non-flaring Sun of X-rays in the 3 to ~15 keV range fits the generic axion scenario. This work also suggests new analyses of existing data, in order to exclude instrumental effects; it provides the rationale for targeted observations with present and upcoming (solar) X-ray telescopes, which can provide the final answer on the nature of the signals considered here. Such measurements become more promising during the forthcoming solar cycle minimum with an increased number of quiet Sun periods.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures; to be published in ApJ. May 20 200

Is CP Violation Observable in Long Baseline Neutrino Oscillation Experiments ?

We have studied CP violation originated by the phase of the neutrino mixing matrix in the long baseline neutrino oscillation experiments. The direct measurements of CP violation is the difference of the transition probabilities between CP-conjugate channels. In those experiments, the CP violating effect is not suppressed if the highest neutrino mass scale is taken to be 1\sim 5 \eV, which is appropriate for the cosmological hot dark matter. Assuming the hierarchy for the neutrino masses, the upper bounds of CP violation have been caluculated for three cases, in which mixings are constrained by the recent short baseline ones. The calculated upper bounds are larger than $10^{-2}$, which will be observable in the long baseline accelerator experiments. The matter effect, which is not CP invariant, has been also estimated in those experiments.Comment: 28 pages, LaTex file, 6 figures included using epsfig Matter effect is estimated(Figs.3(a) (b)). Physical parameters are change

Probing possible decoherence effects in atmospheric neutrino oscillations

It is shown that the results of the Super-Kamiokande atmospheric neutrino experiment, interpreted in terms of nu_munu_tau flavor transitions, can probe possible decoherence effects induced by new physics (e.g., by quantum gravity) with high sensitivity, supplementing current laboratory tests based on kaon oscillations and on neutron interferometry. By varying the (unknown) energy dependence of such effects, one can either obtain strong limits on their amplitude, or use them to find an unconventional solution to the atmospheric nu anomaly based solely on decoherence.Comment: Title changed; major changes in the text; includes the discussion of a new solution to the atmosheric neutrino anomaly, based on decoherence; a second figure and a note have been adde

Natural Neutrino Mass Matrix

Naturalness of the neutrino mass hierarchy and mixing is studied. First we select among 12 neutrino mixing patterns a few patterns, which could form the natural neutrino mass matrix. Further we show that if the Dirac neutrino mass matrix is taken as the natural one in the quark sector, then only two mixing patterns without the large mixing lead to the natural right-handed Majorana mass matrix. The rest of the chosen patterns with three degenerate mass solution lead to the unnatural right-handed Majorana mass matrix in the see-saw mechanism. Notice however, that for the chosen two natural patterns there could be a huge mass hierarchy such as ${\cal O}(10^{4\sim 6})$ in order to reproduce the inverse mass hierarchy of the light neutrinos.Comment: 31 pages, LaTex file, no figures, arguments made more clear, main conclusions unchanged, version accepted for publication in PRD Reort-no: Lund-Mph-97/14 Revise

Neutrino Masses and Mixings in a Universal Seesaw Mass Matrix Model

Neutrino masses and mixings are investigated on the basis of a universal seesaw mass matrix model, in which quark (except for top) and charged lepton mass matrices M_f and neutrino mass matrix M_\nu are given by M_f \simeq m_L M_F^{-1} m_R and M_\nu \simeq m_L M_F^{-1} m_L^T (F=N), respectively. For a simple model which can successfully describe quark masses and mixings, we find that the observed neutrino data (except for the solar neutrino data) are favor to the intermediate mass scales O(m_R) = 10^{11} GeV and O(M_F)= 10^{13} GeV together with O(m_L)= 10^2 GeV. In spite of the largesse of O(m_R), the observed top quark mass can be consistently understood from the would-be seesaw mass matrix with these mass scales.Comment: 19 pages (Latex file

First Observation and Measurement of the Decay K+- -> pi+- e+ e- gamma

Using the full data set of the NA48/2 experiment, the decay K+- -> pi+- e+ e- gamma is observed for the first time, selecting 120 candidates with 7.3 +- 1.7 estimated background events. With K+- -> pi+- pi0D as normalisation channel, the branching ratio is determined in a model-independent way to be Br(K+- -> pi+- e+ e- gamma, m_eegamma > 260 MeV/c^2) = (1.19 +- 0.12_stat +- 0.04_syst) x 10^-8. This measured value and the spectrum of the e+ e- gamma invariant mass allow a comparison with predictions of Chiral Perturbation Theory.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in Phys.Lett.

Empirical parameterization of the K+- -> pi+- pi0 pi0 decay Dalitz plot

As first observed by the NA48/2 experiment at the CERN SPS, the \p0p0 invariant mass (M00) distribution from \kcnn decay shows a cusp-like anomaly at M00=2m+, where m+ is the charged pion mass. An analysis to extract the pi pi scattering lengths in the isospin I=0 and I=2 states, a0 and a2, respectively, has been recently reported. In the present work the Dalitz plot of this decay is fitted to a new empirical parameterization suitable for practical purposes, such as Monte Carlo simulations of K+- -> pi+- pi0 pi0 decays.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures

Recent NA48/2 and NA62 results

The NA48/2 Collaboration at CERN has accumulated and analysed unprecedented statistics of rare kaon decays in the $K_{e4}$ modes: $K_{e4}(+-)$ ($K^\pm \to \pi^+ \pi^- e^\pm \nu$) and $K_{e4}(00)$ ($K^\pm \to \pi^0 \pi^0 e^\pm \nu$) with nearly one percent background contamination. It leads to the improved measurement of branching fractions and detailed form factor studies. New final results from the analysis of 381 $K^\pm \to \pi^\pm \gamma \gamma$ rare decay candidates collected by the NA48/2 and NA62 experiments at CERN are presented. The results include a decay rate measurement and fits to Chiral Perturbation Theory (ChPT) description.Comment: Prepared for the Proceedings of "Moriond QCD and High Energy Interactions. March 22-29 2014." conferenc

Search for direct CP-violation in K+- --> pi+-pi0pi0 decays

A search for direct CP-violation in K+- --> pi+-pi0pi0 decays based on 47.14 million events has been performed by the NA48/2 experiment at the CERN SPS. The asymmetry in the Dalitz plot linear slopes A_g=(g^+ - g^-)/(g^+ + g^-) is measured to be A_g=(1.8 +- 2.6).10^{-4}. The design of the experiment and the method of analysis provide good control of instrumental charge asymmetries in this measurement. The precision of the result is limited by statistics and is almost one order of magnitude better than that of previous measurements by other experiments.Comment: 14 page