Reviews the current state of knowledge of neutrino masses and the related question of neutrino oscillations. After an overview of the theory of neutrino masses and mixings, detailed accounts are given of the laboratory limits on neutrino masses, astrophysical and cosmological constraints on those masses, experimental results on neutrino oscillations, the theoretical interpretation of those results, and theoretical models of neutrino masses and mixings. The book concludes with an examination of the potential of long-baseline experiments. This is an essential reference text for workers in elementary-particle physics, nuclear physics, and astrophysics.
"This volume offers a valuable insight into various aspects of the ongoing work directed at measuring neutrino mass. It took twenty years to refute the assertions of Bethe and Peierls that neutrinos were not observable, but it has since been realised that much can be learnt from these particles. The moral is, as Fiorini argues here, that the study of neutrinos was and remains demanding but rewarding. Subjects addressed in this volume include: clarifying the meaning of the Klapdor-Kleingrothaus results, probing the Majorana nature of neutrinos, observing lepton number violating effects for the first time, studying the end point of the spectrum in the search for neutrino masses and speculating whether it is possible to measure neutrino masses in cosmology. Lectures are enriched with rich historical overviews and valuable introductory material. Attention is also given to theoretical topics such as the evolution of the concept of mass in particle physics, a status report on neutrino oscillations and current discussion on neutrino masses. The reader is further reminded that neutrino masses may also have some bearing on the very origin of the matter among us, and have many deep links with other important lines of current physics research." --Book Jacket.
Neutrinos play a decisive part in nuclear and elementary particle physics, as well as in astrophysics and cosmology. Some of their most basic properties, such as their mass and charge conjugation symmetry, are largely unknown. This book focuses on what we know and may hope to know about the mass of the neutrino and its particle-antiparticle symmetry. Topics include neutrino mixing, neutrino decay, neutrino oscillations, double beta decay, solar neutrinos, supernova neutrinos and related issues. The authors stress the physical concepts, and discuss both theoretical and experimental techniques. This updated second edition differs from the first in that it contains an expanded coverage of experimental results and theoretical advances. Since publication of the first edition, many issues that were at that time unresolved, such as tritium beta decay and reactor neutrino oscillations, have been clarified and are discussed here. Also included is an expanded coverage of solar and supernova neutrinos. This book deals with one of the most intriguing issues in modern physics, and will be of value to researchers, graduate students and advanced undergraduates specializing in experimental and theoretical particle physics and nuclear physics.
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Nuclear double beta decay is one of the most promising tools for probing beyond-the-standard-model physics on beyond-accelerator energy scales. It is already now probing the TeV scale, on which new physics should manifest itself according to theoretical expectations. Only in the early 1980s was it known that double beta decay yields information on the Majorana mass of the exchanged neutrino. At present, the sharpest bound for the electron neutrino mass arises from this process. It is only in the last 10 years that the much more far-reaching potential of double beta decay has been discovered. Today, the potential of double beta decay includes a broad range of topics that are equally relevant to particle physics and astrophysics, such as masses of heavy neutrinos, of sneutrinos, as SUSY models, compositeness, leptoquarks, left-right symmetric models, and tests of Lorentz symmetry and equivalence principle in the neutrino sector. Double beta decay has become indispensable nowadays for solving the problem of the neutrino mass spectrum and the structure of the neutrino mass matrix OCo together with present and future solar and atmospheric neutrino oscillation experiments. Some future double beta experiments (like GENIUS) will be capable to be simultaneously neutrino observatories for double beta decay and low-energy solar neutrinos, and observatories for cold dark matter of ultimate sensitivity. This invaluable book outlines the development of double beta research from its beginnings until its most recent achievements, and also presents the outlook for its highly exciting future. Contents: Double Beta Decay OCo Historical Retrospective and Perspectives; Original Articles: From the Early Days until the Gauge Theory Era; The Nuclear Physics Side OCo Nuclear Matrix Elements; The Nuclear Physics Side OCo Nuclear Matrix Elements; Effective Neutrino Masses from Double Beta Decay, Neutrino Mass Models and Cosmological Parameters OCo Present Status and Prospects; Other Beyond Standard Model Physics: From SUSY and Leptoquarks to Compositeness and Quantum Foam; The Experimental Race: From the Late Eighties to the Future; The Future of Double Beta Decay; Appendices: Ten Years of HeidelbergOCoMoscow Experiment; The Potential Future OCo GENIUS. Readership: Particle physicists, nuclear physicists and astrophysicists."
Nobel Symposium 129 on Neutrino Physics was held at Haga Slott in Enköping, Sweden during August 19-24, 2004. Invited to the symposium were around 40 globally leading researchers in the field of neutrino physics, both experimental and theoretical.The dominant theme of the lectures was neutrino oscillations, which after several years were recently verified by results from the Super-Kamiokande detector in Kamioka, Japan and the SNO detector in Sudbury, Canada. Discussion focused especially on effects of neutrino oscillations derived from the presence of matter and the fact that three different neutrinos exist. Since neutrino oscillations imply that neutrinos have mass, this is the first experimental observation that fundamentally deviates from the standard model of particle physics. This is a challenge to both theoretical and experimental physics. The various oscillation parameters will be determined with increased precision in new, specially designed experiments. Theoretical physics is working intensively to insert the knowledge that neutrinos have mass into the theoretical models that describe particle physics. The lectures provided a very good description of the intensive situation in the field right now. The topics discussed also included mass models for neutrinos, neutrinos in extra dimensions as well as the “seesaw mechanism,” which provides a good description of why neutrino masses are so small.This book is A4 size and in full color.
Our Universe is made of a dozen fundamental building blocks. Among these, neutrinos are the most mysterious - but they are the second most abundant particles in the Universe. This book provides detailed discussions of how to describe neutrinos, their basic properties, and the roles they play in nature.
This book contains the proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Physics Beyond the Standard Models of Particle Physics, Cosmology and Astrophysics. It presents a brilliant overview of the status and future potential and trends in experimental and theoretical particle physics, cosmology and astrophysics, in the complimentary sectors of accelerator, non-accelerator and space physics.
Nuclear double beta decay is one of the most promising tools for probing beyond-the-standard-model physics on beyond-accelerator energy scales. It is already now probing the TeV scale, on which new physics should manifest itself according to theoretical expectations. Only in the early 1980s was it known that double beta decay yields information on the Majorana mass of the exchanged neutrino. At present, the sharpest bound for the electron neutrino mass arises from this process. It is only in the last 10 years that the much more far-reaching potential of double beta decay has been discovered. Today, the potential of double beta decay includes a broad range of topics that are equally relevant to particle physics and astrophysics, such as masses of heavy neutrinos, of sneutrinos, as SUSY models, compositeness, leptoquarks, left-right symmetric models, and tests of Lorentz symmetry and equivalence principle in the neutrino sector. Double beta decay has become indispensable nowadays for solving the problem of the neutrino mass spectrum and the structure of the neutrino mass matrix — together with present and future solar and atmospheric neutrino oscillation experiments. Some future double beta experiments (like GENIUS) will be capable to be simultaneously neutrino observatories for double beta decay and low-energy solar neutrinos, and observatories for cold dark matter of ultimate sensitivity.This invaluable book outlines the development of double beta research from its beginnings until its most recent achievements, and also presents the outlook for its highly exciting future.
