Monochromatic neutrinos from the annihilation of fourth-generation massive stable neutrinos in the Sun and in the Earth

The accumulation of relic fourth-generation heavy neutrinos (of mass 50 GeV) in the Earth and the Sun, which is followed by their annihilation, is considered. The most conservative estimates of the fluxes of monochromatic electron, muon, and tau neutrinos and antineutrinos of energy 50 GeV from the annihilation of heavy neutrinos are 4.1×10^?6 cm^?2 s^?1 from Earth’s core and 1.1×10^?7 cm^?2 s^?1 from Sun’s core, whence it follows that an analysis of data from underground neutrino observatories may furnish additional information about the existence of fourth-generation neutrinos. It is shown that, because of kinetic equilibrium between the arrival of cosmic neutrinos and their annihilation, the existence of new U(1) gauge interaction of fourth-generation neutrinos has virtually no effect on the estimates of the annihilation fluxes of electron, muon, and tau neutrinos.     

Constraints on light particles from stellar evolution

We examine the constraints imposed on the numbers and interactions of light particles by our understanding of the late stages of stellar evolution, including red giants, carbon-burning stars and cooling neutron stars. We show that these astrophysical considerations restrict the number of neutrino types to be less than 10^+2±1. This result complements the standard constraints from cosmological nucleosynthesis, which was unable to exclude numbers of neutrinos between a few thousand and the best particle physics limit of order 10⁵. We also investigate the constraints on supersymmetric theories with a light photino and gravitino, finding that the supersymmetry breaking scale parameter f>O(100GeV) and the selectron masses are >20 to 40 GeV. Finally, we study energy-loss rates by majoron and invisible axion emission.     

Constraining neutrino superluminality from searches for sterile neutrino decays

Superluminal neutrinos are expected to lose energy due to bremsstrahlung. It is dominated by e⁺e⁻$e^{+}{e}^{-}$-pair production if kinematically allowed. The same signature was used in searches for 3-body decays of hypothetical heavy sterile neutrinos. From the published analyses of these searches performed by CERN PS191 and CHARM experiments we set upper limits on the neutrino velocity in the energy range from 0.2 GeV to 280 GeV. Our limits are well below the neutrino velocity favored by the recent OPERA results. For energy-independent neutrino velocity the limits obtained in this Letter are stronger than those coming from ICARUS experiment and observations of Supernova SN1987a.     

Search for heavy isosinglet neutrinos in e+e− annihilation at 130

《Physics letters. [Part B]》1999,461(4):397-404

A search for excited fermions in e + p collisions at HERA

Using the ZEUS detector at HERA, we have searched for heavy excited states of electrons, neutrinos, and quarks in e ⁺ p collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 300 GeV. With an integrated luminosity of 9.4 pb^-1, no evidence was found for electroweak production and decay of such states. Limits on the production cross section times branching ratio and on the characteristic couplings, ?/Λ, are derived for masses up to 250 GeV. For the particular choice ?/Λ = 1/M ?*, we exclude at the 95% confidence level excited electrons with mass between 30 and 200 GeV, excited electron neutrinos with mass between 40 and 96 GeV, and quarks excited electroweakly with mass between 40 and 169 GeV.     

Heavy fourth-generation neutrino and flavour-changing neutral currents

We study the flavour-changing neutral currents in the case that the fourth-generation neutrino exists and the known three left-handed neutrino masses are at the experimental limits of the direct measurements. The fourth-generation neutrino has the mass of order a few ten GeV and the flavour-changing processes of the heavy neutrinos are expected to be observed onZ ⁰ ine ⁺ e ^? collisions. The heavy fourth-generation neutrino is significant to reveal the nature of the neutrino; Dirac or Majorana, the see-saw mechanism and the right-handed scale.     

Neutrino Oscillations With Two Sterile Neutrinos

This work estimates the probability of μ to e neutrino oscillation with two sterile neutrinos using a 5×5 U-matrix, an extension of the previous estimate with one sterile neutrino and a 4×4 U-matrix. The sterile neutrino-active neutrino mass differences and the mixing angles of the two sterile neutrinos with the three active neutrinos are taken from recent publications, and the oscillation probability for one sterile neutrino is compared to the previous estimate.     

Prompt neutrino production in a proton beam-dump experiment

In the interactions of 400 GeV/c protons with copper nuclei, a flux of prompt neutrinos is observed. The reactions produced by these neutrinos in our apparatus appear consistent with those of electron- and muon-neutrinos. The prompt neutrino fluxes are interpreted as being due to associated production and subsequent semileptonic decay of charmed hadrons. The prompt flux ratio \(\bar v_\mu /v_\mu = 0.46_{ - 0.16}^{ + 0.21} \) suggests a sizeable production of charmed baryons near the forward direction. The ratio of prompte ^?+e ⁺ toµ ^?+µ ⁺ event rates is 0.64 _?0.15 ^+0.22 , where unity is expected frome-μ universality.     

Photonic events with missing energy in \mathrme^+\mathrme^- collisions at \sqrt{s} = 189 GeV

Photonic events with large missing energy have been observed in collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 189 GeV using the OPAL detector at LEP. Results are presented for event topologies consistent with a single photon or with an acoplanar photon pair. Cross-section measurements are performed within the kinematic acceptance of each selection, and the number of light neutrino species is measured. Cross-section results are compared with the expectations from the Standard Model process + photon(s). No evidence is observed for new physics contributions to these final states. Upper limits on and are derived for the case of stable and invisible . These limits apply to single and pair production of excited neutrinos (), to neutralino production () and to supersymmetric models in which and is a light gravitino. The case of macroscopic decay lengths of particle X is considered for , , when . The single-photon results are also used to place upper limits on superlight gravitino pair production as well as graviton-photon production in the context of theories with additional space dimensions. Received: 4 April 2000 / Published online: 27 November 2000     

Search for narrow resonances in the reaction γ + Be → e+e− + X at 1.8 ⩽ Me+e− ⩽ 2.6 GeV

The reaction γ + Be → e⁺e^? + X was studied with a bremsstrahlung beam of 7.2 GeV maximum energy. For invariant pair masses 1.8 ? M_e⁺e^? 2.6 GeV, no evidence for narrow resonance of width smaller than 40 MeV was found. For the mass interval 2.1 ? M_e⁺e^? ? 2.6 GeV, we obtained an upper limit of σ · B_e⁺e^? < 2 × 10^?35 cm²/nucleon (90% confidence level), assuming a production mechanism similar to the θ (1019) meson.     

Observation of possible production and decay of short-living heavy neutral particles in the SKAT neutrino experiment

In the SKAT bubble chamber neutrino experiment production of a short-living neutral particle with mass (1.4?m?2.5) GeV/c² and lifetime τ≈6×10^?12 s has been detected. The event may be interpreted as production and decay of the heavy lepton M⁰→μ^?+e⁺+ν_e with mass (1.4?m_M⁰?2.1) GeV/c². It might also be the production of a charmed particle D⁰→e⁺+τ^?+ν_e (D⁰→e⁺+π^?+ν_e) with mass 1.4?m_D⁰?2.5) GeV/c² in a non-diagonal neutral current. The probability to interpret the event as other possible processes is very low.     

Neutral currents and stellar cooling

If weak neutral currents couple with the strengths suggested by recent experiments, then stellar cooling via neutrino pair emission from thermally excited nuclear states may be significant in white dwarfs with central temperature ?10^8° K. At higher temperatures, other neutrino cooling processes are more important. In the sun, the decay of thermally excited ⁵⁷Fe nuclei may produce a moderately large, but probably unobservable, low-energy flux of ν_μ, $\text{g}\text{?}\text{n}{}_{\mathrm{\mu }}$, ν_e, and $\text{g}\text{?}\text{n}{}_{\mathrm{e}}$ neutrinos.     

Lepton mixing under the lepton charge nonconservation, neutrino masses and oscillations and the “forbidden” decay µ− → e − + γ

The lepton-charge (L _e , L _μ , L _τ ) nonconserving interaction leads to the mixing of the electron, muon, and tau neutrinos, which manifests itself in spatial oscillations of a neutrino beam, and also to the mixing of the electron, negative muon, and tau lepton, which, in particular, may be the cause of the “forbidden” radiative decay of the negative muon into the electron and γ quantum. Under the assumption that the nondiagonal elements of the mass matrices for neutrinos and ordinary leptons, connected with the lepton charge nonconservation, are the same, and by performing the joint analysis of the experimental data on neutrino oscillations and experimental restriction for the probability of the decay µ^? → e ^? + γ per unit time, the following estimate for the lower bound of neutrino mass has been obtained: m ^(ν) > 1.5 eV/c ².     

Are there sterile neutrinos in the flux of solar neutrinos on the earth?

It is shown that the future SNO and Super-Kamiokande experiments, in which high energy⁸B neutrinos will be detected through the observation of CC, NC and –e elastic scattering processes, could allow to reveal in a model independent way the presence of sterile neutrinos in the flux of solar neutrinos on the earth. Lower bounds for different averaged values of the probability of transition of solar v^e'S into sterile states and for the total flux of⁸B neutrinos are derived in terms of measurable quantities. The possibilities to reveal the presence of v and/or v in the solar neutrino flux on the earth are also considered and the case of transitions of solar v^e'S only into sterile states is discussed. Some numerical results for a simple model with v–v^s mixing are given.     

Anomalouse + e − pairs in heavy ion collisions and solar neutrinos

The production of anomalouse ⁺ e ^–pairs in heavy ion collisions and the solar neutrino puzzle are two seemingly unrelated problems of the standard model of electroweak interactions. According to the observations made at Homestake and Kamiokande, the flux of solar neutrinos is too small. Furthermore, the observations made at Homestake (neutrino-nucleon scattering) show anticorrelation of the solar neutrino flux with sunspots, unlike the observations made in Kamiokande (neutrino-electron scattering). According to the previously proposed model inspired by T(opological) G(eometro) D(ynamics), anomalouse ⁺ e ^–pairs result from the decay of the leptopion, which can be regarded as a bound state of color excited electrons. In this paper we show that the generalization of PCAC ideas leads to a prediction for the lifetime and production cross section of the leptopion in agreement with data. The model is also consistent with constraints coming from Babbha scattering and supernova physics. Leptopion exchange implies a new weak interaction between leptons at low cm energies (of the order of a few MeVs), which explains the Kamiokande-Homestake puzzle. Part of the solar neutrinos are transformed in the convective zone of the Sun to right-handed neutrinos inert with respect to ordinary electroweak interactions, but interacting with electrons via leptopion exchange so that they are observed in Kamiokande. A correct average value for the neutrino flux at Kamiokande is predicted using as input the Homestake flux, and the anticorrelation with sunspots in Kamiokande is predicted to be considerably weaker than in Homestake.     

Search for heavy sterile neutrinos in trileptons at the LHC

We present a search strategy for both Dirac and Majorana sterile neutrinos from the purely leptonic decays of W~±→e~±e~±μ~?ν and μ~±μ~± e~?ν at the 14 TeV LHC. The discovery and exclusion limits for sterile neutrinos are shown using both the Cut-and-Count(CC) and Multi-Variate Analysis(MVA) methods. We also discriminate between Dirac and Majorana sterile neutrinos by exploiting a set of kinematic observables which differ between the Dirac and Majorana cases. We find that the MVA method, compared to the more common CC method, can greatly enhance the discovery and discrimination limits. Two benchmark points with sterile neutrino mass m N =20 GeV and 50 GeV are tested. For an integrated luminosity of 3000 fb~(-1), sterile neutrinos can be found with 5σ significance if heavy-to-light neutrino mixings |U_(Ne)|~2~|U_(Nμ)|~2~10~(-6), while Majorana vs. Dirac discrimination can be reached if at least one of the mixings is of order 10~(-5).     

Double beta decay

Double beta decay is a rare nuclear process changing the nuclear charge by two units leaving atomic number unchanged. The detection of the neutrino accompanied mode (A,Z)→(A,Z + 2) + 2e^? + &;2v^? ₂ with half-lives around 10²⁰ years is among the rarest decays ever observed. Of outmost importance for particle physics and especially neutrino physics, is the neutrinoless mode (A,Z)→(A,Z + 2) + 2e^?. This process is violating lepton number by two units and requires massive Majorana neutrinos, i.e. neutrino and antineutrino are identical. The current experimental status is reviewed and an outlook towards future activities is given.     

Sterile Plus Active Neutrinos and Neutrino Oscillations

Using a 3 + 1 neutrino model with one sterile and the three standard active neutrinos with a 4 × 4 unitary transformation matrix, U, relating flavor to mass neutrino states, the probability of ν _μ to ν _e transition is estimated using sterile-active neutrino masses determined by MiniBooNE and other experiments and sterile-active neutrino angles in the 4 × 4 U matrix.     

Search for anomalous production of single photons at and 136 GeV

This letter reports the results of the measurement of single photon production in the reaction e⁺e⁻ → γ+ invisible particles at centre-of-mass energies and 136 GeV and an integrated luminosity of 5.83 pb⁻¹, collected with the DELPHI detector at LEP. The signal is compatible with the prediction of the Standard Model for the process , and the number of neutrino families has been determined to be N_ν = 3.1 ± 0.6. Limits have been derived on anomalous neutral gauge boson couplings and on compositeness in the framework of a specific model.     

Seasonal and energy dependence of solar neutrino vacuum oscillations

We make a global vacuum neutrino oscillation analysis of solar neutrino data, including the seasonal and energy dependence of the recent Super-Kamiokande 708-day results. The best fit parameters for ν_e oscillations to an active neutrino are δm²=4.42×10⁻¹⁰ eV², sin²2θ=0.93. The allowed mixing angle region is consistent with bi-maximal mixing of three neutrinos. Oscillations to a sterile neutrino are disfavored. Allowing an enhanced hep neutrino flux does not significantly alter the oscillation parameters.