Lavoura, L., Morisi, S., & Valle, J. W. F. (2013). Accidental stability of dark matter. J. High Energy Phys., 02(2), 118–17pp.
Abstract: We propose that dark matter is stable as a consequence of an accidental Z(2) that results from a flavour symmetry group which is the double-cover group of the symmetry group of one of the regular geometric solids. Although model-dependent, the phenomenology resembles that of a generic “inert Higgs” dark matter scheme.
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MiniBooNE Collaboration(Aguilar-Arevalo, A. A. et al), & Sorel, M. (2013). Test of Lorentz and CPT violation with short baseline neutrino oscillation excesses. Phys. Lett. B, 718(4-5), 1303–1308.
Abstract: The sidereal time dependence of MiniBooNE nu(e) and (nu) over bar (e) appearance data is analyzed to search for evidence of Lorentz and CPT violation. An unbinned Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) test shows both the nu(e) and (nu) over bar (e) appearance data are compatible with the null sidereal variation hypothesis to more than 5%. Using an unbinned likelihood fit with a Lorentz-violating oscillation model derived from the Standard Model Extension (SME) to describe any excess events over background, we find that the nu(e) appearance data prefer a sidereal time-independent solution, and the (nu) over bar (e) appearance data slightly prefer a sidereal time-dependent solution. Limits of order 10(-20) GeV are placed on combinations of SME coefficients. These limits give the best limits on certain SME coefficients for nu(mu) -> nu(e) and (nu) over bar (mu) -> (nu) over bar (e) oscillations. The fit values and limits of combinations of SME coefficients are provided.
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Tortola, M. (2013). Status of three-neutrino oscillation parameters. Fortschritte Phys.-Prog. Phys., 61(4-5), 427–440.
Abstract: Here we review the current status of global fits to neutrino oscillation data within the three-flavour framework. In our analysis we include the most recent data from solar and atmospheric neutrino experiments as well as the latest results from the long-baseline accelerator neutrino experiments and the recent measurements of reactor neutrino disappearance reported by Double Chooz, Daya Bay and RENO. We present updated determinations for the two neutrino mass splittings and the three mixing angles responsible for neutrino oscillations that, for the first time, have all been measured with 1 sigma accuracies ranging from 3 to 15%. A weak sensitivity for the CP violating phase is also reported from the global analysis.
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Morisi, S., & Valle, J. W. F. (2013). Neutrino masses and mixing: a flavour symmetry roadmap. Fortschritte Phys.-Prog. Phys., 61(4-5), 466–492.
Abstract: Over the last ten years tri-bimaximal mixing has played an important role in modeling the flavour problem. We give a short review of the status of flavour symmetry models of neutrino mixing. We concentrate on non-Abelian discrete symmetries, which provide a simple way to account for the TBM pattern. We discuss phenomenological implications such as neutrinoless double beta decay, lepton flavour violation as well as theoretical aspects such as the possibility to explain quarks and leptons within a common framework, such as grand unified models.
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Bonnet, F., Hirsch, M., Ota, T., & Winter, W. (2013). Systematic decomposition of the neutrinoless double beta decay operator. J. High Energy Phys., 03(3), 055–34pp.
Abstract: We discuss the systematic decomposition of the dimension nine neutrinoless double beta decay operator, focusing on mechanisms with potentially small contributions to neutrino mass, while being accessible at the LHC. We first provide a (d = 9 tree-level) complete list of diagrams for neutrinoless double beta decay. From this list one can easily recover all previously discussed contributions to the neutrinoless double beta decay process, such as the celebrated mass mechanism or “exotics”, such as contributions from left-right symmetric models, R-parity violating supersymmetry and leptoquarks. More interestingly, however, we identify a number of new possibilities which have not been discussed in the literature previously. Contact to earlier works based on a general Lorentz-invariant parametrisation of the neutrinoless double beta decay rate is made, which allows, in principle, to derive limits on all possible contributions. We furthermore discuss possible signals at the LHC for mediators leading to the short-range part of the amplitude with one specific example. The study of such contributions would gain particular importance if there were a tension between different measurements of neutrino mass such as coming from neutrinoless double beta decay and cosmology or single beta decay.
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ANTARES Collaboration(Adrian-Martinez, S. et al), Bigongiari, C., Emanuele, U., Gomez-Gonzalez, J. P., Hernandez-Rey, J. J., Lambard, G., et al. (2013). First search for neutrinos in correlation with gamma-ray bursts with the ANTARES neutrino telescope. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 03(3), 006–16pp.
Abstract: A search for neutrino-induced muons in correlation with a selection of 40 gamma-ray bursts that occurred in 2007 has been performed with the ANTARES neutrino telescope. During that period, the detector consisted of 5 detection lines. The ANTARES neutrino telescope is sensitive to TeV-PeV neutrinos that are predicted from gamma-ray bursts. No events were found in correlation with the prompt photon emission of the gamma-ray bursts and upper limits have been placed on the flux and fluence of neutrinos for different models.
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Gomez-Cadenas, J. J., Martin-Albo, J., Muñoz Vidal, J., & Pena-Garay, C. (2013). Discovery potential of xenon-based neutrinoless double beta decay experiments in light of small angular scale CMB observations. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 03(3), 043–17pp.
Abstract: The South Pole Telescope (SPT) has probed an expanded angular range of the CMB temperature power spectrum. Their recent analysis of the latest cosmological data prefers nonzero neutrino masses, with Sigma m(nu) = (0.32 +/- 0.11) eV. This result, if con firmed by the upcoming Planck data, has deep implications on the discovery of the nature of neutrinos. In particular, the values of the effective neutrino mass m(beta beta) involved in neutrinoless double beta decay (beta beta 0 nu) are severely constrained for both the direct and inverse hierarchy, making a discovery much more likely. In this paper, we focus in xenon-based beta beta 0 nu experiments, on the double grounds of their good performance and the suitability of the technology to large-mass scaling. We show that the current generation, with effective masses in the range of 100 kg and conceivable exposures in the range of 500 kg.year, could already have a sizeable opportunity to observe beta beta 0 nu events, and their combined discovery potential is quite large. The next generation, with an exposure in the range of 10 ton.year, would have a much more enhanced sensitivity, in particular due to the very low specific background that all the xenon technologies (liquid xenon, high-pressure xenon and xenon dissolved in liquid scintillator) can achieve. In addition, a high-pressure xenon gas TPC also features superb energy resolution. We show that such detector can fully explore the range of allowed effective Majorana masses, thus making a discovery very likely.
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Villaescusa-Navarro, F., Bird, S., Pena-Garay, C., & Viel, M. (2013). Non-linear evolution of the cosmic neutrino background. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 03(3), 019–30pp.
Abstract: We investigate the non-linear evolution of the relic cosmic neutrino background by running large box-size, high resolution N-body simulations which incorporate cold dark matter (CDM) and neutrinos as independent particle species. Our set of simulations explore the properties of neutrinos in a reference Lambda CDM model with total neutrino masses between 0.05-0.60 eV in cold dark matter haloes of mass 10(11) – 10(15) h(-1) M-circle dot, over a redshift range z = 0 – 2. We compute the halo mass function and show that it is reasonably well fitted by the Sheth-Tormen formula, once the neutrino contribution to the total matter is removed. More importantly, we focus on the CDM and neutrino properties of the density and peculiar velocity fields in the cosmological volume, inside and in the outskirts of virialized haloes. The dynamical state of the neutrino particles depends strongly on their momentum: whereas neutrinos in the low velocity tail behave similarly to CDM particles, neutrinos in the high velocity tail are not affected by the clustering of the underlying CDM component. We find that the neutrino (linear) unperturbed momentum distribution is modified and mass and redshift dependent deviations from the expected Fermi-Dirac distribution are in place both in the cosmological volume and inside haloes. The neutrino density profiles around virialized haloes have been carefully investigated and a simple fitting formula is provided. The neutrino profile, unlike the cold dark matter one, is found to be cored with core size and central density that depend on the neutrino mass, redshift and mass of the halo, for halos of masses larger than similar to 10(13.5) h(-1) M-circle dot. For lower masses the neutrino profile is best fitted by a simple power-law relation in the range probed by the simulations. The results we obtain are numerically converged in terms of neutrino profiles at the 10% level for scales above similar to 200 h(-1) kpc at z = 0, and are stable with respect to box-size and starting redshift of the simulation. Our findings are particularly important in view of upcoming large-scale structure surveys, like Euclid, that are expected to probe the non-linear regime at the percent level with lensing and clustering observations.
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Villaescusa-Navarro, F., Vogelsberger, M., Viel, M., & Loeb, A. (2013). Neutrino signatures on the high-transmission regions of the Lyman alpha forest. Mon. Not. Roy. Astron. Soc., 431(4), 3670–3677.
Abstract: We quantify the impact of massive neutrinos on the statistics of low-density regions in the intergalactic medium as probed by the Lyman alpha forest at redshifts z = 2.2-4. Based on mock but realistic quasar (QSO) spectra extracted from hydrodynamic simulations with cold dark matter, baryons and neutrinos, we find that the probability distribution of weak Lyman alpha absorption features, as sampled by Lyman alpha flux regions at high transmissivity, is strongly affected by the presence of massive neutrinos. We show that systematic errors affecting the Lyman alpha forest reduce but do not erase the neutrino signal. Using the Fisher matrix formalism, we conclude that the sum of the neutrino masses can be measured, using the method proposed in this paper, with a precision smaller than 0.4 eV using a catalogue of 200 high-resolution (signal-to-noise ratio similar to 100) QSO spectra. This number reduces to 0.27 eV by making use of reasonable priors in the other parameters that also affect the statistics of the high-transitivity regions of the Lyman alpha forest. The constraints obtained with this method can be combined with independent bounds from the cosmic microwave background, large-scale structures and measurements of the matter power spectrum from the Lyman alpha forest to produce tighter upper limits on the sum of the masses of the neutrinos.
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Marzocca, D., Petcov, S. T., Romanino, A., & Sevilla, M. C. (2013). Nonzero |U_e3| from charged lepton corrections and the atmospheric neutrino mixing angle. J. High Energy Phys., 05(5), 073–27pp.
Abstract: After the successful determination of the reactor neutrino mixing angle theta(13) not equal 0.16 not equal 0, a new feature suggested by the current neutrino oscillation data is a sizeable deviation of the atmospheric neutrino mixing angle theta(23) from pi/4. Using the fact that the neutrino mixing matrix U = (UeU nu)-U-dagger, where U-e and U-nu result from the diagonalisation of the charged lepton and neutrino mass matrices, and assuming that U-nu has a i) bimaximal (BM), H) tri-bimaximal (TBM) form, or else Hi) corresponds to the conservation of the lepton charge L' = L-e – L μ- L-tau (LC), we investigate quantitatively what are the minimal forms of U-e, in terms of angles and phases it contains, that can provide the requisite corrections to U-nu so that theta(13), theta(23) and the solar neutrino mixing angle theta(12) have values compatible with the current data. Two possible orderings of the 12 and the 23 rotations in U-e, “standard” and “inverse”, are considered. The results we obtain depend strongly on the type of ordering. In the case of “standard” ordering, in particular, the Dirac CP violation phase delta, present in U, is predicted to have a value in a narrow interval around i) delta similar or equal to pi in the BM (or LC) case, H) delta congruent to 3 pi/2 or pi/2 in the TBM case, the CP conserving values delta = 0, pi, 2 pi being excluded in the TBM case at more than 4 sigma.
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