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Wurm, M. et al, & Mena, O. (2012). The next-generation liquid-scintillator neutrino observatory LENA. Astropart Phys., 35(11), 685–732.
Abstract: As part of the European LAGUNA design study on a next-generation neutrino detector, we propose the liquid-scintillator detector LENA (Low Energy Neutrino Astronomy) as a multipurpose neutrino observatory. The outstanding successes of the Borexino and KamLAND experiments demonstrate the large potential of liquid-scintillator detectors in low-energy neutrino physics. Low energy threshold, good energy resolution and efficient background discrimination are inherent to the liquid-scintillator technique. A target mass of 50 kt will offer a substantial increase in detection sensitivity. At low energies, the variety of detection channels available in liquid scintillator will allow for an energy and flavor-resolved analysis of the neutrino burst emitted by a galactic Supernova. Due to target mass and background conditions, LENA will also be sensitive to the faint signal of the Diffuse Supernova Neutrino Background. Solar metallicity, time-variation in the solar neutrino flux and deviations from MSW-LMA survival probabilities can be investigated based on unprecedented statistics. Low background conditions allow to search for dark matter by observing rare annihilation neutrinos. The large number of events expected for geoneutrinos will give valuable information on the abundances of Uranium and Thorium and their relative ratio in the Earth's crust and mantle. Reactor neutrinos enable a high-precision measurement of solar mixing parameters. A strong radioactive or pion decay-at-rest neutrino source can be placed close to the detector to investigate neutrino oscillations for short distances and sub-MeV to MeV energies. At high energies, LENA will provide a new lifetime limit for the SUSY-favored proton decay mode into kaon and antineutrino, surpassing current experimental limits by about one order of magnitude. Recent studies have demonstrated that a reconstruction of momentum and energy of GeV particles is well feasible in liquid scintillator. Monte Carlo studies on the reconstruction of the complex event topologies found for neutrino interactions at multi-GeV energies have shown promising results. If this is confirmed. LENA might serve as far detector in a long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment currently investigated in LAGUNA-LBNO.
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Abdullahi, A. M. et al, & Lopez-Pavon, J. (2023). The present and future status of heavy neutral leptons. J. Phys. G, 50(2), 020501–100pp.
Abstract: The existence of nonzero neutrino masses points to the likely existence of multiple Standard Model neutral fermions. When such states are heavy enough that they cannot be produced in oscillations, they are referred to as heavy neutral leptons (HNLs). In this white paper, we discuss the present experimental status of HNLs including colliders, beta decay, accelerators, as well as astrophysical and cosmological impacts. We discuss the importance of continuing to search for HNLs, and its potential impact on our understanding of key fundamental questions, and additionally we outline the future prospects for next-generation future experiments or upcoming accelerator run scenarios.
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Beniwal, A., Herrero-Garcia, J., Leerdam, N., White, M., & Williams, A. G. (2021). The ScotoSinglet Model: a scalar singlet extension of the Scotogenic Model. J. High Energy Phys., 06(6), 136–34pp.
Abstract: The Scotogenic Model is one of the most minimal models to account for both neutrino masses and dark matter (DM). In this model, neutrino masses are generated at the one-loop level, and in principle, both the lightest fermion singlet and the lightest neutral component of the scalar doublet can be viable DM candidates. However, the correct DM relic abundance can only be obtained in somewhat small regions of the parameter space, as there are strong constraints stemming from lepton flavour violation, neutrino masses, electroweak precision tests and direct detection. For the case of scalar DM, a sufficiently large lepton-number-violating coupling is required, whereas for fermionic DM, coannihilations are typically necessary. In this work, we study how the new scalar singlet modifies the phenomenology of the Scotogenic Model, particularly in the case of scalar DM. We find that the new singlet modifies both the phenomenology of neutrino masses and scalar DM, and opens up a large portion of the parameter space of the original model.
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ANTARES Collaboration(Albert, A. et al), Barrios-Marti, J., Coleiro, A., Colomer, M., Hernandez-Rey, J. J., Illuminati, G., et al. (2019). The search for high-energy neutrinos coincident with fast radio bursts with the ANTARES neutrino telescope. Mon. Not. Roy. Astron. Soc., 482(1), 184–193.
Abstract: In the past decade, a new class of bright transient radio sources with millisecond duration has been discovered. The origin of these so-called fast radio bursts (FRBs) is still a mystery, despite the growing observational efforts made by various multiwavelength and multimessenger facilities. To date, many models have been proposed to explain FRBs, but neither the progenitors nor the radiative and the particle acceleration processes at work have been clearly identified. In this paper, we assess whether hadronic processes may occur in the vicinity of the FRB source. If they do, FRBs may contribute to the high-energy cosmic-ray and neutrino fluxes. A search for these hadronic signatures was carried out using the ANTARES neutrino telescope. The analysis consists in looking for high-energy neutrinos, in the TeV-PeV regime, that are spatially and temporally coincident with the detected FRBs. Most of the FRBs discovered in the period 2013-2017 were in the field of view of the ANTARES detector, which is sensitive mostly to events originating from the Southern hemisphere. From this period, 12 FRBs were selected and no coincident neutrino candidate was observed. Upper limits on the per-burst neutrino fluence were derived using a power-law spectrum, dN/DE nu proportional to E-nu(-gamma), for the incoming neutrino flux, assuming spectral indexes gamma = 1.0, 2.0, 2.5. Finally, the neutrino energy was constrained by computing the total energy radiated in neutrinos, assuming different distances for the FRBs. Constraints on the neutrino fluence and on the energy released were derived from the associated null results.
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Gomez-Cadenas, J. J., Martin-Albo, J., Menendez, J., Mezzetto, M., Monrabal, F., & Sorel, M. (2024). The search for neutrinoless double-beta decay. Riv. Nuovo Cimento, 46, 619–692.
Abstract: Neutrinos are the only particles in the Standard Model that could be Majorana fermions, that is, completely neutral fermions that are their own antiparticles. The most sensitive known experimental method to verify whether neutrinos are Majorana particles is the search for neutrinoless double-beta decay. The last 2 decades have witnessed the development of a vigorous program of neutrinoless double-beta decay experiments, spanning several isotopes and developing different strategies to handle the backgrounds masking a possible signal. In addition, remarkable progress has been made in the understanding of the nuclear matrix elements of neutrinoless double-beta decay, thus reducing a substantial part of the theoretical uncertainties affecting the particle-physics interpretation of the process. On the other hand, the negative results by several experiments, combined with the hints that the neutrino mass ordering could be normal, may imply very long lifetimes for the neutrinoless double-beta decay process. In this report, we review the main aspects of such process, the recent progress on theoretical ideas and the experimental state of the art. We then consider the experimental challenges to be addressed to increase the sensitivity to detect the process in the likely case that lifetimes are much longer than currently explored, and discuss a selection of the most promising experimental efforts.
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Barducci, D., Bertuzzo, E., Caputo, A., Hernandez, P., & Mele, B. (2021). The see-saw portal at future Higgs Factories. J. High Energy Phys., 03(3), 117–32pp.
Abstract: We consider an extension of the Standard Model with two right-handed singlet fermions with mass at the electroweak scale that induce neutrino masses, plus a generic new physics sector at a higher scale Lambda. We focus on the effective operators of lowest dimension d = 5, which induce new production and decay modes for the singlet fermions. We assess the sensitivity of future Higgs Factories, such as FCC-ee, CLIC-380, ILC and CEPC, to the coefficients of these operators for various center of mass energies. We show that future lepton colliders can test the cut-off of the theory up to Lambda similar or equal to 500-1000 TeV, surpassing the reach of future indirect measurements of the Higgs and Z boson widths. We also comment on the possibility of determining the underlying model flavor structure should a New Physics signal be observed, and on the impact of higher dimensional d = 6 operators on the experimental signatures.
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Caputo, A., Hernandez, P., Lopez-Pavon, J., & Salvado, J. (2017). The seesaw portal in testable models of neutrino masses. J. High Energy Phys., 06(6), 112–20pp.
Abstract: A Standard Model extension with two Majorana neutrinos can explain the measured neutrino masses and mixings, and also account for the matter-antimatter asymmetry in a region of parameter space that could be testable in future experiments. The testability of the model relies to some extent on its minimality. In this paper we address the possibility that the model might be extended by extra generic new physics which we parametrize in terms of a low-energy effective theory. We consider the effects of the operators of the lowest dimensionality, d = 5, and evaluate the upper bounds on the coefficients so that the predictions of the minimal model are robust. One of the operators gives a new production mechanism for the heavy neutrinos at LHC via higgs decays. The higgs can decay to a pair of such neutrinos that, being long-lived, leave a powerful signal of two displaced vertices. We estimate the LHC reach to this process.
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Felkl, T., Herrero-Garcia, J., & Schmidt, M. A. (2021). The singly-charged scalar singlet as the origin of neutrino masses. J. High Energy Phys., 05(5), 122–39pp.
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.
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Martinez-Mirave, P., Tamborra, I., & Tortola, M. (2024). The Sun and core-collapse supernovae are leading probes of the neutrino lifetime. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 05(5), 002–39pp.
Abstract: The large distances travelled by neutrinos emitted from the Sun and core -collapse supernovae together with the characteristic energy of such neutrinos provide ideal conditions to probe their lifetime, when the decay products evade detection. We investigate the prospects of probing invisible neutrino decay capitalising on the detection of solar and supernova neutrinos as well as the diffuse supernova neutrino background (DSNB) in the next -generation neutrino observatories Hyper-Kamiokande, DUNE, JUNO, DARWIN, and RES-NOVA. We find that future solar neutrino data will be sensitive to values of the lifetime -to -mass ratio tau 1 /m 1 and tau 2 /m 2 of O(10 – 1 -10 – 2 ) s/eV. From a core -collapse supernova explosion at 10 kpc, lifetime -to -mass ratios of the three mass eigenstates of O(10 5 ) s/eV could be tested. After 20 years of data taking, the DSNB would extend the sensitivity reach of tau 1 /m 1 to 10 8 s/eV. These results promise an improvement of about 6-15 orders of magnitude on the values of the decay parameters with respect to existing limits.
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T2K Collaboration(Abe, K. et al), Cervera-Villanueva, A., Escudero, L., Gomez-Cadenas, J. J., Hansen, C., Monfregola, L., et al. (2011). The T2K experiment. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A, 659(1), 106–135.
Abstract: The T2K experiment is a long baseline neutrino oscillation experiment. Its main goal is to measure the last unknown lepton sector mixing angle theta(13) by observing nu(e) appearance in a nu(mu) beam. It also aims to make a precision measurement of the known oscillation parameters, Delta m(23)(2) and sin(2)2 theta(23), via nu(mu) disappearance studies. Other goals of the experiment include various neutrino cross-section measurements and sterile neutrino searches. The experiment uses an intense proton beam generated by the J-PARC accelerator in Tokai, Japan, and is composed of a neutrino beamline, a near detector complex (ND280), and a far detector (Super-Kamiokande) located 295 km away from J-PARC. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the instrumentation aspect of the T2K experiment and a summary of the vital information for each subsystem.
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