Lectures on neutrino phenomenology

Abstract

The fundamental properties of the lepton sector include the neutrino masses and flavor mixings. Both are difficult to observe because of the extremely small neutrino masses and neutrino-matter cross sections. In these lectures, we focus on the basic concepts for the determination of neutrino properties. We introduce neutrino oscillations as standard mechanism for neutrino flavor changes, and we discuss methods to measure the neutrino mass. Furthermore, we illustrate how precision measurements in neutrino oscillations will be performed in the future, and may even open a window to new physics properties, such as motivated by LHC physics. Finally, we discuss some applications of neutrinos in astrophysics, such as neutrino oscillations in the Sun. We also illustrate how neutrinos from extragalactic cosmic accelerators may be used for the determination of neutrino properties.Comment: 37 pages, 13 figures, 1 table. Lectures given at the Schladming Winter School 2010 "Masses and Constants"