Abstract: At present, cosmological observations set the most stringent bound on the neutrino mass scale. Within the standard cosmological model (Lambda CDM), the Planck collaboration reports Sigma m(v)< 0.12 eV at 95 % CL. This bound, taken at face value, excludes many neutrino mass models. However, unstable neutrinos, with lifetimes shorter than the age of the universe <tau>(nu) less than or similar to t(U), represent a particle physics avenue to relax this constraint. Motivated by this fact, we present a taxonomy of neutrino decay modes, categorizing them in terms of particle content and final decay products. Taking into account the relevant phenomenological bounds, our analysis shows that 2-body decaying neutrinos into BSM particles are a promising option to relax cosmological neutrino mass bounds. We then build a simple extension of the type I seesaw scenario by adding one sterile state nu (4) and a Goldstone boson phi, in which nu (i)-> nu (4)phi decays can loosen the neutrino mass bounds up to Sigma m(v) similar to 1 eV, without spoiling the light neutrino mass generation mechanism. Remarkably, this is possible for a large range of the right-handed neutrino masses, from the electroweak up to the GUT scale. We successfully implement this idea in the context of minimal neutrino mass models based on a U(1)(mu-tau) flavor symmetry, which are otherwise in tension with the current bound on Sigma m(v).

Abstract: We perform the baseline and energy optimization of the Neutrino Factory including the latest simulation results on the magnetized iron detector (MIND). We also consider the impact of tau decays, generated by v(mu) -> v(tau) or v(e) -> v(tau) appearance, on the mass hierarchy, CP violation, and theta(13) discovery reaches, which we find to be negligible for the considered detector. For the baseline-energy optimization for small sin(2) 2 theta(13), we qualitatively recover the results with earlier simulations of the MIND detector. We find optimal baselines of about 2 500km to 5 000km for the CP violation measurement, where now values of E-mu as low as about 12 GeV may be possible. However, for large sin(2) 2 theta(13), we demonstrate that the lower threshold and the backgrounds reconstructed at lower energies allow in fact for muon energies as low as 5 GeV at considerably shorter baselines, such as FNAL-Homestake. This implies that with the latest MIND analysis, low-and high-energy versions of the Neutrino Factory are just two different versions of the same experiment optimized for different parts of the parameter space. Apart from a green-field study of the updated detector performance, we discuss specific implementations for the two-baseline Neutrino Factory, where the considered detector sites are taken to be currently discussed underground laboratories. We find that reasonable setups can be found for the Neutrino Factory source in Asia, Europe, and North America, and that a triangular-shaped storage ring is possible in all cases based on geometrical arguments only.

Abstract: We consider the generation of neutrino masses via a singly-charged scalar singlet. Under general assumptions we identify two distinct structures for the neutrino mass matrix. This yields a constraint for the antisymmetric Yukawa coupling of the singly-charged scalar singlet to two left-handed lepton doublets, irrespective of how the breaking of lepton-number conservation is achieved. The constraint disfavours large hierarchies among the Yukawa couplings. We study the implications for the phenomenology of lepton-flavour universality, measurements of the W-boson mass, flavour violation in the charged-lepton sector and decays of the singly-charged scalar singlet. We also discuss the parameter space that can address the Cabibbo Angle Anomaly.

Abstract: The AMADEUS (ANTARES Modules for the Acoustic Detection Under the Sea) system which is described in this article aims at the investigation of techniques for acoustic detection of neutrinos in the deep sea. It is integrated into the ANTARES neutrino telescope in the Mediterranean Sea. Its acoustic sensors, installed at water depths between 2050 and 2300 m, employ piezo-electric elements for the broad-band recording of signals with frequencies ranging up to 125 kHz. The typical sensitivity of the sensors is around – 145 dB re 1 V/mu Pa (including preamplifier). Completed in May 2008, AMADEUS consists of six “acoustic clusters”, each comprising six acoustic sensors that are arranged at distances of roughly 1 m from each other. Two vertical mechanical structures (so-called lines) of the ANTARES detector host three acoustic clusters each. Spacings between the clusters range from 14.5 to 340 m. Each cluster contains custom-designed electronics boards to amplify and digitise the acoustic signals from the sensors. An on-shore computer cluster is used to process and filter the data stream and store the selected events. The daily volume of recorded data is about 10 GB. The system is operating continuously and automatically, requiring only little human intervention. AMADEUS allows for extensive studies of both transient signals and ambient noise in the deep sea, as well as signal correlations on several length scales and localisation of acoustic point sources. Thus the system is excellently suited to assess the background conditions for the measurement of the bipolar pulses expected to originate from neutrino interactions.

Abstract: The CENNS-10 experiment of the COHERENT collaboration has recently reported the first detection of coherent-elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEvNS) in liquid Argon with more than 3 sigma significance. In this work, we exploit the new data in order to probe various interesting parameters which are of key importance to CEvNS within and beyond the Standard Model. A dedicated statistical analysis of these data shows that the current constraints are significantly improved in most cases. We derive a first measurement of the neutron rms charge radius of Argon, and also an improved determination of the weak mixing angle in the low energy regime. We also update the constraints on neutrino non-standard interactions, electromagnetic properties and light mediators with respect to those derived from the first COHERENT-CsI data.