Neutrinos and probes of high scale physics

In light of the theoretical and experimental developments in the neutrino sector and their importance, we study its connection with the new physics above the electroweak scale. In particular, by considering the neutrino oscillations with the possible effective mass, we investigate, according to the experimental data, the scale as well as the signature of the underlying new physics beyond the SM.     

Working group report: Astroparticle and neutrino physics

The working group on astroparticle and neutrino physics at WHEPP-9 covered a wide range of topics. The main topics were neutrino physics at INO, neutrino astronomy and recent constraints on dark energy coming from cosmological observations of large scale structure and CMB anisotropy.     

Gravitino dark matter in split supersymmetry with bilinear R-parity violation

In Split-SUSY with BRpV we show that the Gravitino DM solution is consistent with experimental evidence as regards its relic density and life time. We arrive at this conclusion by performing a complete numerical and algebraic study of the parameter space, including constraints from the recently determined Higgs mass, updated neutrino physics, and BBN constraints on NLSP decays. The Higgs mass requires a relatively low Split-SUSY mass scale, which is naturally smaller than usual values for reheating temperature, allowing the use of the standard expression for the relic density. We include restrictions from neutrino physics with three generations, and we notice that the gravitino decay width depends on the atmospheric neutrino mass scale. We calculate the neutralino decay rate and find it consistent with BBN. We mention some implications on indirect DM searches.     

Three Flavor Neutrino Mixing and Dark Energy Above GUT Scale

Neutrino mixing lead to a non zero contribution to the dark energy of the universe. We assume that the neutrino masses and mixing arise through physics at a scale intermediate between Planck Scale and the electroweak scale. The mechanism of neutrino mixing is a possible candidate to contribute the cosmological dark energy. Quantum gravitational (Planck scale) effects lead to an effective SU(2) _L ×U(1) invariant dimension-5 Lagrangian involving neutrino and Higgs fields, which gives rise to additional terms in neutrino mass matrix. There additional term can be considered to be perturbation of the GUT scale bi-maximal neutrino mass matrix. We assume that the gravitational interaction is flavor. In this paper, we discuss the three flavor neutrino mixing and cosmological dark energy contributes due to Planck scale effects.     

Neutrino mass from laboratory: contribution of double beta decay to the neutrino mass matrix

Double beta decay is indispensable to solve the question of the neutrino mass matrix together with ν oscillation experiments. The most sensitive experiment - since eight years the HEIDELBERG-MOSCOW experiment in Gran-Sasso - already now, with the experimental limit of m_ν < 0.26 eV practically excludes degenerate ν mass scenarios allowing neutrinos as hot dark matter in the universe for the smallangle MSW solution of the solar neutrino problem. It probes cosmological models including hot dark matter already now on the level of future satellite experiments MAP and PLANCK. It further probes many topics of beyond SM physics at the TeV scale. Future experiments should give access to the multi-TeV range and complement on many ways the search for new physics at future colliders like LHC and NLC. For neutrino physics some of them (GENIUS) will allow to test almost all neutrino mass scenarios allowed by the present neutrino oscillation experiments.     

Neutrino masses and particle physics beyond the standard model

The evidence for non‐vanishing neutrino masses from solar and atmospheric neutrinos provides the first solid hint towards physics beyond the standard model. A full reconstruction of the neutrino spectrum may well provide a key to the theoretical structures underlying the standard model such as supersymmetry, grand unification or extra space dimensions. In this article we discuss the impact of absolute neutrinos masses on physics beyond the standard model. We review the information obtained from neutrino oscillation data and discuss the prospects of the crucial determination of the absolute neutrino mass scale, as well as the intriguing connection with the Z‐burst model for extreme‐energy cosmic rays.     

Neutrino Mixing Matrix and Leptogenesis from Quantum Gravity

We consider non renormalization 1/M _x interaction term as a perturbation of the neutrino mass matrix. We find that for the degenerate neutrino mass spectrum. We assume that the neutrino masses and mixing arise through physics at a scale intermediate between Planck Scale and the electroweak scale. We also assume, above the electroweak breaking scale, neutrino masses are nearly degenerate and their mixing is bimaximal. The perturbation generates a non zero value of θ ₁₃, which is within reach of the high performance neutrino factory. In this paper, we find that the non zero value of θ ₁₃ due to Planck scale effects indicates the possibility of CP violation.     

CP Violation in Neutrino Oscillation Due to Planck Scale Effects

We consider non renormalization 1/M _x interaction term as a perturbation of the neutrino mass matrix. We find that for the degenerate neutrino mass spectrum. We assume that the neutrino masses and mixing arise through physics at a scale intermediate between Planck Scale and the electroweak scale. We also assume, above the electroweak breaking scale, neutrino masses are nearly degenerate and their mixing is bimaximal. The perturbation generates a non zero value of θ ₁₃, which is within reach of the high performance neutrino factory. In this paper, we find that the non zero value of θ ₁₃ due to Planck scale effects indicates the possibility of CP violation.     

θ_(13) and the Higgs Mass from High Scale Supersymmetry

In the framework in which supersymmetry is used for understanding fermion masses rather than stabilizing the electroweak scale, we elaborate on the phenomenological analysis for the neutrino physics. A relatively large sinθ13 0.13 is naturally obtained. The model further predicts vanishingly small CP violation in neutrino oscillations. While the high scale supersymmetry generically results in a Higgs mass of about 141 GeV, our model reduces this mass to 126 GeV via introducing SU(2)L triplet fields which make the electroweak vacuum metastable (with a safe lifetime) and also contribute to neutrino masses.     

IceHEP high energy physics at the South Pole

With the solar and SN87 neutrino observations as proofs of concepts, the kilometer-scale neutrino experiment IceCube will scrutinize its data for new particle physics. In this paper, we review the prospects for the realization of such a program. We begin with a short overview of the detector response and discuss the reach of “beam” luminosity. After that we discuss the potential of IceCube to probe deviations of neutrino-nucleon cross-sections from the Standard Model predictions at center-of-mass energies well beyond those accessible in man-made accelerators. Then we review the prospects for extremely long-baseline analyses and discuss the sensitivity to measure tiny deviations of the flavor mixing angle, expected to be induced by quantum gravity effects. Finally, we discuss the potential to uncover annihilation of dark matter particles gravitationally trapped at the center of the Sun, as well as processes occurring in the early Universe at energies close to the Grand Unification scale.     

Dark matter and LHC phenomenology of a scale-invariant scotogenic model

We study the phenomenology of a model that addresses the neutrino mass, dark matter, and generation of the electroweak scale in a single framework. Electroweak symmetry breaking is realized via the Coleman-Weinberg mechanism in a classically scale invariant theory, while the neutrino mass is generated radiatively through interactions with dark matter in a typically scotogenic manner. The model introduces a scalar triplet and singlet and a vectorlike fermion doublet that carry an odd parity of Z_2, and an even parity scalar singlet that helps preserve classical scale invariance. We sample over the parameter space by taking into account various experimental constraints from the dark matter relic density and direct detection, direct scalar searches, neutrino mass, and charged lepton flavor violating decays. We then examine by detailed simulations possible signatures at the LHC to find some benchmark points of the free parameters. We find that the future high-luminosity LHC will have a significant potential in detecting new physics signals in the dilepton channel.     

R-parity breaking via type II seesaw,decaying gravitino dark matter and PAMELA positron excess

We propose a new class of R-parity violating extension of MSSM with type II seesaw mechanism for neutrino masses where an unstable gravitino is the dark matter of the Universe. It decays predominantly into three leptons final states, thereby providing a natural explanation of the positron excess but no antiproton excess in the PAMELA experiment. The model can explain neutrino masses without invoking any high scale physics while keeping the pre-existing baryon asymmetry of the universe in tact.     

MiniBooNE overview and status

Recent discoveries in the neutrino sector have opened a new frontier in highenergy physics and cosmology. Evidence from neutrino oscillation experiments from around the world indicate that neutrinos oscillate between their different flavours and therefore may have mass. In addition, results from solar and atmospheric neutrino experiments as well as the accelerator neutrino experiment, LSND, cannot all be explained with the three standard model neutrinos. Is this new physics or is there some other explanation? The MiniBooNE experiment presently taking data at Fermilab is designed to address the LSND signal and answer this question. Progress on the MiniBooNE experiment will be presented and prospects for the future will be discussed.     

恒星演化和超生爆发理论中某些重要问题的核物理问题

首先,在第1节中我们依次介绍了各种不同质量的恒星演化进程中各个主要热核燃烧的点火条件,致密物质中自由电子系统的简并性对星体热核燃烧的主导作用以及爆炸性核燃烧条件。其次,在第2节中我们讨论了导致恒星核心不稳定坍缩的物理因素和条件。此后,在本第3节中我们评述了Ia型超新星爆发理论尚在急论中的核物理和固体物理的问题。在第4节中我们评述了Ⅱ型（以及Ib型）超新星爆发理论中的严重困难,并且介绍了我们（南京大学研究小组）就超新星中微子延缓爆发机制的关键问题（强大的中微子暴如何产生？）的物理机制提出的具体过程：这中微子暴的强大中微子流量是从刚刚坍缩的高温高密核心通过核物质－－（u,d）夸克系统－－（u,d,s)系统的相变过程在不到1微秒的时间内很快地产生出来的。而且,这个过程导致核心区域的负熵梯度,引起核心区域大规模对流,它将这强大的中微子流量很快地向外输送到中微子球的表面。在第5节中本还介绍了我们就超新星核心高密条件下电荷屏蔽对电子俘获过程的影响所作的探讨研究以及讨论了它对超新星坍缩核心质量（它对超新星瞬时爆发机制成功与否起着关键作用）的可能影响。     

How Magnetic is the Dirac Neutrino?

We derive model-independent, "naturalness" upper bounds on the magnetic moments munu of Dirac neutrinos generated by physics above the scale of electroweak symmetry breaking. In the absence of fine-tuning of effective operator coefficients, we find that current information on neutrino mass implies that[EQUATION: SEE TEXT] bohr magnetons. This bound is several orders of magnitude stronger than those obtained from analyses of solar and reactor neutrino data and astrophysical observations.     

Particle physics on ice: constraints on neutrino interactions far above the weak scale

Ultrahigh energy cosmic rays and neutrinos probe energies far above the weak scale. Their usefulness might appear to be limited by astrophysical uncertainties; however, by simultaneously considering up- and down-going events, one may disentangle particle physics from astrophysics. We show that present data from the AMANDA experiment in the South Pole ice already imply an upper bound on neutrino cross sections at energy scales that will likely never be probed at man-made accelerators. The existing data also place an upper limit on the neutrino flux valid for any neutrino cross section. In the future, similar analyses of IceCube data will constrain neutrino properties and fluxes at the theta(10%) level.     

太阳中微子问题研究进展

系统评述了国际上对太阳中微子研究的进展 ,说明了核物理实验对研究太阳中微子问题作出的贡献 ,对未来的中微子实验作了展望.The comparison between experimental results and theoretical predictions has yielded the solar neutrino problem. Over the years, the large communities of astrophysics and of nuclear physics took enormous efforts in solving this problem. The current progress on the study of solar neutrino problem is reviewed. Nuclear physics can make a significant contribution to this problem. The importance of the nuclear physics experiment is introduced. To minimize the uncertainties of neutrino detection has led to new...     

Status of neutrinoless double beta decay searches

Neutrinoless double beta decay is one of the most sensitive tools in non-accelerator particle physics to probe the regime of physics beyond the standard model. It can provide in fact fundamental informations on the character of neutrinos and their absolute mass scale. The present status of experiments searching for neutrinoless double-beta decay (ββ(0ν)) is reviewed and the most relevant results discussed. Phenomenological aspects of ββ(0ν) are introduced. Given the observation of neutrino oscillations and the present knowledge of neutrino masses and mixing parameters, a possibility to observe ββ(0ν) at a neutrino mass scale m _ν in the range 10–50 meV could actually exist. The achievement of the required experimental sensitivity is a real challenge faced by a number of new proposed projects. A review of the various proposed experiments in the context of their figure-of-merit parameters is given. The most important parameters contributing to the experimental sensitivity are finally outlined. A short discussion on nuclear matrix element calculations is also given.     

Neutrino Phenomenology of a High Scale Supersymmetry Model

CP violation in the lepton sector, and other aspects of neutrino physics, are studied within a high scale supersymmetry model. In addition to the sneutrino vacuum expectation values(VEVs), the heavy vector-like triplet also contributes to neutrino masses. Phases of the VEVs of relevant fields, complex couplings, and Zino mass are considered.The approximate degeneracy of neutrino masses m_(ν1) and m_(ν2) can be naturally understood. The neutrino masses are then normal ordered, ～ 0.020 eV, 0.022 eV, and 0.054 eV. Large CP violation in neutrino oscillations is favored. The effective Majorana mass of the electron neutrino is about 0.02 eV.     

Testing non-standard CP violation in neutrino propagation

Non-standard physics which can be described by effective four fermion interactions may be an additional source of CP violation in the neutrino propagation. We discuss the detectability of such a CP violation at a neutrino factory. We assume the current baseline setup of the international design study of a neutrino factory (IDS-NF) for the simulation. We find that the CP violation from certain non-standard interactions is, in principle, detectable significantly below their current bounds – even if there is no CP violation in the standard oscillation framework. Therefore, a new physics effect might be mis-interpreted as the canonical Dirac CP violation, and a possibly even more exciting effect might be missed.