7 research outputs found
First hint for CP violation in neutrino oscillations from upcoming superbeam and reactor experiments
We compare the physics potential of the upcoming neutrino oscillation
experiments Daya Bay, Double Chooz, NOvA, RENO, and T2K based on their
anticipated nominal luminosities and schedules. After discussing the
sensitivity to theta_{13} and the leading atmospheric parameters, we
demonstrate that leptonic CP violation will hardly be measurable without
upgrades of the T2K and NOvA proton drivers, even if theta_{13} is large. In
the presence of the proton drivers, the fast track to hints for CP violation
requires communication between the T2K and NOvA collaborations in terms of a
mutual synchronization of their neutrino-antineutrino run plans. Even in that
case, upgrades will only discover CP violation in a relatively small part of
the parameter space at the 3 sigma confidence level, while 90% confidence level
hints will most likely be obtained. Therefore, we conclude that a new facility
will be required if the goal is to obtain a significant result with high
probability.Comment: 27 pages, 12 figure
Common Origin of Soft mu-tau and CP Breaking in Neutrino Seesaw and the Origin of Matter
Neutrino oscillation data strongly support mu-tau symmetry as a good
approximate flavor symmetry of the neutrino sector, which has to appear in any
viable theory for neutrino mass-generation. The mu-tau breaking is not only
small, but also the source of Dirac CP-violation. We conjecture that both
discrete mu-tau and CP symmetries are fundamental symmetries of the seesaw
Lagrangian (respected by interaction terms), and they are only softly broken,
arising from a common origin via a unique dimension-3 Majorana mass-term of the
heavy right-handed neutrinos. From this conceptually attractive and simple
construction, we can predict the soft mu-tau breaking at low energies, leading
to quantitative correlations between the apparently two small deviations
\theta_{23} - 45^o and \theta_{13} - 0^o. This nontrivially connects the
on-going measurements of mixing angle \theta_{23} with the upcoming
experimental probes of \theta_{13}. We find that any deviation of \theta_{23} -
45^o must put a lower limit on \theta_{13}. Furthermore, we deduce the low
energy Dirac and Majorana CP violations from a common soft-breaking phase
associated with mu-tau breaking in the neutrino seesaw. Finally, from the soft
CP breaking in neutrino seesaw we derive the cosmological CP violation for the
baryon asymmetry via leptogenesis. We fully reconstruct the leptogenesis
CP-asymmetry from the low energy Dirac CP phase and establish a direct link
between the cosmological CP-violation and the low energy Jarlskog invariant. We
predict new lower and upper bounds on the \theta_{13} mixing angle, 1^o <
\theta_{13} < 6^o. In addition, we reveal a new hidden symmetry that dictates
the solar mixing angle \theta_12 by its group-parameter, and includes the
conventional tri-bimaximal mixing as a special case, allowing deviations from
it.Comment: 60pp, JCAP in Press, v2: only minor stylistic refinements (added Daya
Bay's future sensitivity in Figs.2+8, shortened some eqs, added new
Appendix-A and some references), comments are welcome
Optimized Two-Baseline Beta-Beam Experiment
We propose a realistic Beta-Beam experiment with four source ions and two
baselines for the best possible sensitivity to theta_{13}, CP violation and
mass hierarchy. Neutrinos from 18Ne and 6He with Lorentz boost gamma=350 are
detected in a 500 kton water Cerenkov detector at a distance L=650 km (first
oscillation peak) from the source. Neutrinos from 8B and 8Li are detected in a
50 kton magnetized iron detector at a distance L=7000 km (magic baseline) from
the source. Since the decay ring requires a tilt angle of 34.5 degrees to send
the beam to the magic baseline, the far end of the ring has a maximum depth of
d=2132 m for magnetic field strength of 8.3 T, if one demands that the fraction
of ions that decay along the straight sections of the racetrack geometry decay
ring (called livetime) is 0.3. We alleviate this problem by proposing to trade
reduction of the livetime of the decay ring with the increase in the boost
factor of the ions, such that the number of events at the detector remains
almost the same. This allows to substantially reduce the maximum depth of the
decay ring at the far end, without significantly compromising the sensitivity
of the experiment to the oscillation parameters. We take 8B and 8Li with
gamma=390 and 656 respectively, as these are the largest possible boost factors
possible with the envisaged upgrades of the SPS at CERN. This allows us to
reduce d of the decay ring by a factor of 1.7 for 8.3 T magnetic field.
Increase of magnetic field to 15 T would further reduce d to 738 m only. We
study the sensitivity reach of this two baseline two storage ring Beta-Beam
experiment, and compare it with the corresponding reach of the other proposed
facilities.Comment: 17 pages, 3 eps figures. Minor changes, matches version accepted in
JHE
Learning from tau appearance
The study of numu->nutau oscillation and the explicit observation of the
nutau through the identification of the final-state tau lepton ("direct
appearance search") represent the most straightforward test of the oscillation
phenomenon. It is, nonetheless, the most challenging from the experimental
point of view. In this paper we discuss the current empirical evidence for
direct appearance of tau neutrinos at the atmospheric scale and the
perspectives for the next few years, up to the completion of the CNGS physics
programme. We investigate the relevance of this specific oscillation channel to
gain insight into neutrino physics within the standard three-family framework.
Finally, we discuss the opportunities offered by precision studies of
numu->nutau transitions in the occurrence of more exotic scenarios emerging
from additional sterile neutrinos or non-standard interactions.Comment: 26 pages, 7 figures, to appear in NJ