Solar Neutrino Precision Measurements using all 1496 Days of Super-Kamiokande-I Data

The results of the entire Super-Kamiokande-I solar neutrino data are presented. The measured interaction rate is 47+-2% of the rate expected by the standard solar model and 133+-5% of the rate implied by the SNO charged-current interaction rate. There is no evidence for spectral distortion or a time dependent neutrino flux. Together with the rates of other experiments, the Super-Kamiokande results imply active solar neutrino oscillations and restrict neutrino mixing and mass square difference to lie within the LMA solution area.Comment: to be published in the Proceedings of the XXth International Confernece on Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics 8 pages, 11 figure

Status of atmospheric neutrino(mu)<-->neutrino(tau) oscillations and decoherence after the first K2K spectral data

We review the status of nu_mu-->nu_tau flavor transitions of atmospheric neutrinos in the 92 kton-year data sample collected in the first phase of the Super-Kamiokande (SK) experiment, in combination with the recent spectral data from the KEK-to-Kamioka (K2K) accelerator experiment (including 29 single-ring muon events). We consider a theoretical framework which embeds flavor oscillations plus hypothetical decoherence effects, and where both standard oscillations and pure decoherence represent limiting cases. It is found that standard oscillations provide the best description of the SK+K2K data, and that the associated mass-mixing parameters are determined at 1 sigma (and d.o.f.=1) as: Delta m^2=(2.6 +- 0.4)x10^{-3} eV^2 and sin^2(2theta)=1.00+0.00-0.05. As compared with standard oscillations, the case of pure decoherence is disfavored, although it cannot be ruled out yet. In the general case, additional decoherence effects in the nu_mu-->nu_tau channel do not improve the fit to the SK and K2K data, and upper bounds can be placed on the associated decoherence parameter. Such indications, presently dominated by SK, could be strengthened by further K2K data, provided that the current spectral features are confirmed with higher statistics. A detailed description of the statistical analysis of SK and K2K data is also given, using the so-called ``pull'' approach to systematic uncertainties.Comment: 18 pages (RevTeX) + 12 figures (PostScript

Robust signatures of solar neutrino oscillation solutions

With the goal of identifying signatures that select specific neutrino oscillation parameters, we test the robustness of global oscillation solutions that fit all the available solar and reactor experimental data. We use three global analysis strategies previously applied by different authors and also determine the sensitivity of the oscillation solutions to the critical nuclear fusion cross section, S_{17}(0), for the production of 8B. The favored solutions are LMA, LOW, and VAC in order of g.o.f. The neutral current to charged current ratio for SNO is predicted to be 3.5 +- 0.6 (1 sigma), which is separated from the no-oscillation value of 1.0 by much more than the expected experimental error. The predicted range of the day-night difference in charged current rates is (8.2 +- 5.2)% and is strongly correlated with the day-night effect for neutrino-electron scattering. A measurement by SNO of either a NC to CC ratio > 3.3 or a day-night difference > 10%, would favor a small region of the currently allowed LMA neutrino parameter space. The global oscillation solutions predict a 7Be neutrino-electron scattering rate in BOREXINO and KamLAND in the range 0.66 +- 0.04 of the BP00 standard solar model rate, a prediction which can be used to test both the solar model and the neutrino oscillation theory. Only the LOW solution predicts a large day-night effect(< 42%) in BOREXINO and KamLAND. For the KamLAND reactor experiment, the LMA solution predicts 0.44 of the standard model rate; we evaluate 1 sigma and 3 sigma uncertainties and the first and second moments of the energy spectrum.Comment: Included predictions for KamLAND reactor experiment and updated to include 1496 days of Super-Kamiokande observation

Unified graphical summary of neutrino mixing parameters

The neutrino mixing parameters are presented in a number of different ways by the various experiments, e.g., SuperKamiokande, K2K, SNO, KamLAND, and CHOOZ, and also by the Particle Data Group. In this paper, we argue that presenting the data in terms of sin(2)theta, where theta is the mixing angle appropriate for a given experiment, has a direct physical interpretation. For current atmospheric, solar, and reactor neutrino experiments, the sin(2)theta's are effectively the probabilities of finding a given flavor in a particular neutrino mass eigenstate. The given flavor and particular mass eigenstate vary from experiment to experiment; however, the use of sin(2)theta provides a unified picture of all the data. Using this unified picture we present a graphical way to represent these neutrino mixing parameters which includes the uncertainties. All of this is performed in the context of the present experimental status of three neutrino oscillations

Resonant leptogenesis in a predictive SO(10) grand unified model

An SO(10) grand unified model considered previously by the authors featuring lopsided down quark and charged lepton mass matrices is successfully predictive and requires that the lightest two right-handed Majorana neutrinons be nearly degenerate in order to obtain the LMA solar neutrino solution. Here we use this model to test its predictions for baryogenesis through resonant-enhanced leptogenesis. With the conventional type I seesaw mechanism, the best predictions for baryogenesis appear to fall a factor of three short of the observed value. However, with a proposed type III seesaw mechanism leading to three pairs of massive pseudo-Dirac neutrinos, resonant leptogenesis is decoupled from the neutrino mass and mixing issues with successful baryogenesis easily obtained.Comment: 22 pages including 1 figure; published version with reference adde

Self-shielding effect of a single phase liquid xenon detector for direct dark matter search

Liquid xenon is a suitable material for a dark matter search. For future large scale experiments, single phase detectors are attractive due to their simple configuration and scalability. However, in order to reduce backgrounds, they need to fully rely on liquid xenon's self-shielding property. A prototype detector was developed at Kamioka Observatory to establish vertex and energy reconstruction methods and to demonstrate the self-shielding power against gamma rays from outside of the detector. Sufficient self-shielding power for future experiments was obtained.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure

Constraints on Large Extra Dimensions with Bulk Neutrinos

We consider right-handed neutrinos propagating in $\delta$ (large) extra dimensions, whose only coupling to Standard Model fields is the Yukawa coupling to the left-handed neutrino and the Higgs boson. These theories are attractive as they can explain the smallness of the neutrino mass, as has already been shown. We show that if $\delta$ is bigger than two, there are strong constraints on the radius of the extra dimensions, resulting from the experimental limit on the probability of an active state to mix into the large number of sterile Kaluza-Klein states of the bulk neutrino. We also calculate the bounds on the radius resulting from requiring that perturbative unitarity be valid in the theory, in an imagined Higgs-Higgs scattering channel.Comment: 24 pages, 4 figures, revtex4. v2: Minor typos corrected, references adde

Inflationary Cosmology with Five Dimensional SO(10)

We discuss inflationary cosmology in a five dimensional SO(10) model compactified on $S^1/(Z_2\times Z_2')$, which yields $SU(3)_c\times SU(2)_L\times U(1)_Y\times U(1)_X$ below the compactification scale. The gauge symmetry $SU(5)\times U(1)_X$ is preserved on one of the fixed points, while ``flipped'' $SU(5)'\times U(1)'_X$ is on the other fixed point. Inflation is associated with $U(1)_X$ breaking, and is implemented through $F$-term scalar potentials on the two fixed points. A brane-localized Einstein-Hilbert term allows both branes to have positive tensions during inflation. The scale of $U(1)_X$ breaking is fixed from $\delta T/T$ measurements to be around $10^{16}$ GeV, and the scalar spectral index $n=0.98-0.99$. The inflaton field decays into right-handed neutrinos whose subsequent out of equilibrium decay yield the observed baryon asymmetry via leptogenesis.Comment: 1+19 pages, improved discussion of 5D cosmology, Version to appear in PR

A search for periodic modulations of the solar neutrino flux in Super-Kamiokande-I

A search for periodic modulations of the solar neutrino flux was performed using the Super-Kamiokande-I data taken from May 31st, 1996 to July 15th, 2001. The detector's capability of measuring the exact time of events, combined with a relatively high yield of solar neutrino events, allows a search for short-time variations in the observed flux. We employed the Lomb test to look for periodic modulations of the observed solar neutrino flux. The obtained periodogram is consistent with statistical fluctuation and no significant periodicity was found

Search for Neutral Q-balls in Super-Kamiokande II

A search for Q-balls induced groups of successive contained events has been carried out in Super-Kamiokande II with 541.7 days of live time. Neutral Q-balls would emit pions when colliding with nuclei, generating a signal of successive contained pion events along a track. No candidate for successive contained event groups has been found in Super-Kamiokande II, so upper limits on the possible flux of such Q-balls have been obtained.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, Submitted to Phys. Lett.