Renormalization Group Analysis of Neutrino Mass Parameters

Tools for calculating the Renormalization Group Equations for renormalizable and non-renormalizable operators in various theories are reviewed, which are essential for comparing experimental results with predictions from models beyond the Standard Model. Numerical examples for the running of the lepton mixing angles in models with non-degenerate see-saw scales are shown, in which the best-fit values of the experimentally favored LMA solution are produced from maximal or from vanishing solar neutrino mixing at the GUT scale.Comment: 6 pages, 17 figures; to appear in the proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Supersymmetry and Unification of Fundamental Interactions (SUSY02), June 17 - 23, DESY Hambur

Right unitarity triangles and tri-bimaximal mixing from discrete symmetries and unification

We propose new classes of models which predict both tri-bimaximal lepton mixing and a right-angled Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) unitarity triangle, alpha approximately 90 degrees. The ingredients of the models include a supersymmetric (SUSY) unified gauge group such as SU(5), a discrete family symmetry such as A4 or S4, a shaping symmetry including products of Z2 and Z4 groups as well as spontaneous CP violation. We show how the vacuum alignment in such models allows a simple explanation of alpha approximately 90 degrees by a combination of purely real or purely imaginary vacuum expectation values (vevs) of the flavons responsible for family symmetry breaking. This leads to quark mass matrices with 1-3 texture zeros that satisfy the phase sum rule and lepton mass matrices that satisfy the lepton mixing sum rule together with a new prediction that the leptonic CP violating oscillation phase is close to either 0, 90, 180, or 270 degrees depending on the model, with neutrino masses being purely real (no complex Majorana phases). This leads to the possibility of having right-angled unitarity triangles in both the quark and lepton sectors.Comment: 29 pages, 4 figures, version to be published in NP

Neutrino Mass Matrix Running for Non-Degenerate See-Saw Scales

We consider the running of the neutrino mass matrix in the Standard Model and the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, extended by heavy singlet Majorana neutrinos. Unlike previous studies, we do not assume that all of the heavy mass eigenvalues are degenerate. This leads to various effective theories when the heavy degrees of freedom are integrated out successively. We calculate the Renormalization Group Equations that govern the evolution of the neutrino mass matrix in these effective theories. We show that an appropriate treatment of the singlet mass scales can yield a substantially different result compared to integrating out the singlets at a common intermediate scale.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figure

Sneutrino Hybrid Inflation

We review the scenario of sneutrino hybrid inflation, where one of the singlet sneutrinos, the superpartners of the right-handed neutrinos, plays the role of the inflaton. In a minimal model of sneutrino hybrid inflation, the spectral index is given by $n_s \approx 1 + 2 \gamma$. With $\gamma = 0.025 \pm 0.01$ constrained by WMAP, a running spectral index $|d n_s/d \ln k| \ll |\gamma|$ and a tensor-to-scalar ratio $r \ll \gamma^2$ are predicted. Small neutrino masses arise from the seesaw mechanism, with heavy masses for the singlet (s)neutrinos generated by the vacuum expectation value of the waterfall field after inflation. The baryon asymmetry of the universe can be explained by non-thermal leptogenesis via sneutrino inflaton decay, with low reheat temperature $T_RH \approx 10^6$ GeV.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures; talk presented at the International Workshop on The Dark Side of the Universe (DSU2006), Madrid, Spain, June 20-24, 200

Implications of Running Neutrino Parameters for Leptogenesis and for Testing Model Predictions

The running of neutrino parameters in see-saw models and its implications for leptogenesis and for testing predictions of mass models with future precision experiments are discussed using analytical approximations as well as numerical results.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures; talk presented at 10th International Symposium on Particles, Strings and Cosmology (Pascos04), Northeastern University, Boston, August 16-22, 2004; references adde

Searches for Sterile Neutrinos at Future Electron-Proton Colliders

Sterile neutrinos are an attractive extension of the Standard Model of elementary particles towards including a mechanism for generating the observed light neutrino masses. We discuss that when an approximate protective "lepton number"-like symmetry is present, the sterile neutrinos can have masses around the electroweak scale and potentially large neutrino Yukawa couplings, which makes them well testable at planned future particle colliders. We systematically discuss the production and decay channels for sterile neutrinos at electron-proton colliders and give a complete list of the leading order signatures for sterile neutrino searches. We highlight several novel search channels and present a first look at the possible sensitivities for the active-sterile mixing parameters and the heavy neutrino masses. We also compare the performance of electron-proton colliders with the ones of proton-proton and electron-positron colliders, and discuss the complementarity of the different collider types.Comment: Conference proceedings for the DIS 2017 in Birmingham, 13 pages, 8 figures, 2 table

K\"ahler-driven Tribrid Inflation

We discuss a new class of tribrid inflation models in supergravity, where the shape of the inflaton potential is dominated by effects from the K\"ahler potential. Tribrid inflation is a variant of hybrid inflation which is particularly suited for connecting inflation with particle physics, since the inflaton can be a D-flat combination of charged fields from the matter sector. In models of tribrid inflation studied so far, the inflaton potential was dominated by either loop corrections or by mixing effects with the waterfall field (as in "pseudosmooth" tribrid inflation). Here we investigate the third possibility, namely that tribrid inflation is dominantly driven by effects from higher-dimensional operators of the K\"ahler potential. We specify for which superpotential parameters the new regime is realized and show how it can be experimentally distinguished from the other two (loop-driven and "pseudosmooth") regimes.Comment: 28 pages, v2: added some references, this version matches the publication in JCA