Neutrino PDF
Neutrino PDF
Neutrino PDF
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(a) According to the Higgs mechanism in the Standard Model, particles in the
vacuum acquire mass as they collide with the Higgs boson. Photons () are
massless because they do not interact with the Higgs boson. All particles,
including electrons (e), muons () and top quarks (t), change handedness
when they collide with the Higgs boson; left-handed particles become
right-handed and vice versa. Experiments have shown that neutrinos () are
always left-handed. Since right-handed neutrinos do not exist in the Standard
Model, the theory predicts that neutrinos can never acquire mass. (b) In one
extension to the Standard Model, left- and right-handed neutrinos exist.
These Dirac neutrinos acquire mass via the Higgs mechanism but
right-handed neutrinos interact much more weakly than any other particles.
(c) According to another extension of the Standard Model, extremely heavy
right-handed neutrinos are created for a brief moment before they collide with
the Higgs boson to produce light left-handed Majorana neutrinos.
quantified by a mixing angle, . We can only detect interference between two eigenstates with small mass differences if
the mixing angle is large enough. Although current experiments have been unable to pin down the mass difference and
mixing angle, they have narrowed down the range of possibilities (figure 4).
Implications of neutrino mass
Now that neutrinos do appear to have mass, we have to solve
two problems. The first is to overcome the contradiction between left-handedness and mass. The second is to understand
why the neutrino mass is so small compared with other particle masses indeed, direct measurements indicate that electrons are at least 500 000 times more massive than neutrinos.
When we thought that neutrinos did not have mass, these
problems were not an issue. But the tiny mass is a puzzle, and
there must be some deep reason why this is the case.
Basically, there are two ways to extend the Standard Model
in order to make neutrinos massive. One approach involves
new particles called Dirac neutrinos, while the other approach involves a completely different type of particle called
the Majorana neutrino.
The Dirac neutrino is a simple idea with a serious flaw. According to this approach, the reason that right-handed neutrinos have escaped detection so far is that their interactions are
at least 26 orders of magnitude weaker than ordinary neut-
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3 Fermions weigh in
fermion masses
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rinos. The idea of the Dirac neutrino works in the sense that
we can generate neutrino masses via the Higgs mechanism
(figure 2b). However, it also suggests that neutrinos should have
similar masses to the other particles in the Standard Model. To
avoid this problem, we have to make the strength of neutrino
interactions with the Higgs boson at least 1012 times weaker
than that of the top quark. Few physicists accept such a tiny
number as a fundamental constant of nature.
An alternative way to make right-handed neutrinos extremely weakly interacting was proposed in 1998 by Nima
Arkani-Hamed at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center,
Savas Dimopoulous of Stanford University, Gia Dvali of the
International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste and
John March-Russell of CERN. They exploited an idea from
superstring theory in which the three dimensions of space
with which we are familiar are embedded in 10- or 11-dimensional spacetime. Like us, all the particles of the Standard
Model electrons, quarks, left-handed neutrinos, the Higgs
boson and so on are stuck on a three-dimensional sheet
called a three-brane.
One special property of right-handed neutrinos is that they
do not feel the electromagnetic force, or the strong and weak
forces. Arkani-Hamed and collaborators argued that righthanded neutrinos are not trapped on the three-brane in the
same way that we are, rather they can move in the extra
dimensions. This mechanism explains why we have never
observed a right-handed neutrino and why their interactions
with other particles in the Standard Model are extremely
weak. The upshot of this approach is that neutrino masses
can be very small.
The second way to extend the Standard Model involves
particles that are called Majorana neutrinos. One advantage
of this approach is that we no longer have to invoke righthanded neutrinos with extremely weak interactions. However, we do have to give up the fundamental distinction
between matter and antimatter. Although this sounds bizarre,
neutrinos and antineutrinos can be identical because they
have no electric charge.
Massive neutrinos sit naturally within this framework.
Recall the observer travelling at the speed of light who overtakes a left-handed neutrino and sees a right-handed neutrino. Earlier we argued that the absence of right-handed
neutrinos means that neutrinos are massless. But if neutrinos
and antineutrinos are the same particle, then we can argue
that the observer really sees a right-handed antineutrino and
that the massive-neutrino hypothesis is therefore sound.
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Outlook
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It is an exciting time for neutrino physe
ics. Many experiments are currently
under way or are being constructed
or planned to put the evidence for
neutrino mass on a more solid footing.
Conclusion
1012
Physicists prefer to use man-made
We are at an amazing moment in the
4
2
0
2
10
10
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neutrinos produced by accelerators or
history of particle physics. The Higgs
tan2
in nuclear reactors because these neut- Previous experiments have failed to detect neutrino
boson, the mysterious object that fills
due to a lack of sensitivity. The lack of a
rinos can be controlled, unlike atmo- oscillations
our universe and disturbs particles, will
signal, however, can be interpreted as a limit on the
spheric or solar neutrinos.
be found sometime this decade, and
mass difference m2 between types of neutrinos and
The difficulty is that neutrinos only the mixing angle, . This plot of m2 as a function of
evidence for neutrino mass appears
2
appear to oscillate over long distances, tan shows the regions inside the lines that are
very strong. The Standard Model,
The grey region is excluded by
thereby motivating a series of so-called excluded.
which was established in late 1970s and
SuperKamiokande. The solid lines are from searches
long-baseline experiments. The K2K for electron neutrinos (e) transforming into any other has withstood all experimental tests,
experiment in Japan has already been type of neutrino. The limits on oscillations specically has finally been found to be incomrunning for a few years. It involves between muon neutrinos () and tau neutrinos ()
plete. To incorporate neutrino mass
are indicated by the dotted line, while the dashed line
firing a beam of muon neutrinos pro- shows the results for e to oscillations. The
into the theory and to explain why it
duced in an accelerator at the KEK dot-dashed line highlights the limits on e to
is so small requires major changes
laboratory towards the SuperKamio- oscillations. For experiments that are able to detect
to the Standard Model. We may need
oscillations, the blue and yellow areas
kande detector, some 250 km away. So neutrino
to invoke extra dimensions or we may
highlight the preferred values of m2 and tan2 with
far the experiment has detected the 90% and 99% condence. The LSND experiment at
need to abandon the sacred distinction
disappearance of muon neutrinos due the Los Alamos National Lab also reported evidence between matter and antimatter. If the
to neutrino oscillations, which is com- for neutrino oscillations, but this is unconrmed.
latter is the case, neutrino mass may
pletely consistent with what we have
reveal the very origins of our existence.
learned from atmospheric neutrinos. An even better ex- One thing is certain, we are sure to learn a lot more about
periment called MINOS will extend the search for neutrino neutrinos in the coming years.
oscillations. Currently under construction, the neutrinos produced at Fermilab will be sent a distance of 750 km to the Further reading
Soudan mine in Minnesota, and there are similar plans to fire S Abel and J March-Russell 2000 The search for extra dimensions Physics World
muon neutrinos produced at CERN towards detectors at the November pp3944
Gran Sasso Laboratory in Italy. Particle physicists there are Q R Ahmad et al. 2001 Measurement of the rate of e + d p + p + e
also hoping to detect tau leptons produced by the oscillation interactions produced by 8B solar neutrinos at the Sudbury Neutrino
Observatory Phys. Rev. Lett. 87 071301
of muon neutrinos into tau neutrinos.
Last year the SNO collaboration upgraded its detector in an Y Fukuda et al. 1998 Evidence for oscillation of atmospheric neutrinos Phys. Rev.
effort to detect muon neutrinos or tau neutrinos directly. On Lett. 81 15621567
the rare occasions when these neutrinos interact in the detec- H Quinn and J Hewett 1999 CP and T violation: new results leave open questions
tor, they break up the deuterium nuclei in the heavy water to Physics World May pp3742
release neutrons. In order to count the muon neutrinos and The ultimate neutrino page cupp.oulu./neutrino
tau neutrinos, the SNO team added purified sodium chloride, The history of the neutrino wwwlapp.in2p3.fr/neutrinos/aneut.html
which captures the neutrons. And another experiment called
KamLAND in Japan is studying antineutrinos from commer- Hitoshi Murayama is in the Department of Physics, University of California,
cial nuclear-power plants some 175 km away. Researchers Berkeley, CA 94720, USA, e-mail murayama@hitoshi.berkeley.edu
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