If a Z' gauge boson of a gauged L_mu - L_tau symmetry is very light, it is associated with a long-range leptonic force. In this case the particles in the Sun create via mixing of Z' with the Standard Model Z a flavor-dependent potential for muon neutrinos in terrestrial long-baseline experiments. The potential changes sign for anti-neutrinos and hence can lead to apparent differences in neutrino and anti-neutrino oscillations without introducing CP or CPT violation. This could for instance explain the recently found discrepancy in the survival probabilities of muon neutrinos and anti-neutrinos in the MINOS experiment. We obtain the associated parameters of gauged L_mu - L_tau required to explain this anomaly. The consequences for future long-baseline experiments and for the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon are discussed. The main feature of our explanation is that atmospheric neutrino mixing has to be non-maximal. Neutrino masses tend to be quasi-degenerate.
If the minimal standard model of quarks and leptons is extended to include just a righthanded partner to nu_tau, then the quantum number B-3L_tau can be added as a gauge symmetry without the appearance of anomalies. A suitable extension of the scalar sector allows one neutrino to have a seesaw mass, and the other two to have radiative masses, with acceptable phenomenological values for neutrino oscillations. The B-3L_tau gauge boson may be light and be observable through its decay into tau^+ tau^-.
We consider extensions of the Standard Model with an extra U(1) gauge boson which couples to B-(alpha L_e + beta L_mu + gamma L_tau) with alpha + beta + gamma = 3. We show that the extra gauge boson necessarily mixes with the Z leading to potentially significant corrections to the Z-f-fbar vertex. The constraints on the size of this correction imposed by the Z-pole data from LEP and SLD are derived.
If a Z' gauge boson from a gauged L_mu - L_tau symmetry is very light, it is associated with a long-range leptonic force. In this case the particles in the Sun create via mixing of the Z' with the Standard Model Z a flavor-dependent potential for muon neutrinos in terrestrial long-baseline experiments. The potential changes sign for anti-neutrinos and hence can lead to apparent differences in neutrino and anti-neutrino oscillations without introducing CP or CPT violation. This could for instance explain the recently found discrepancy in the MINOS experiment. We obtain the associated parameters…
The extension of the Standard Model by a spontaneously broken abelian gauge group based on the L(mu)-L(tau) lepton number can resolve the longstanding discrepancy between experimental and theoretical values for the magnetic moment of the muon. It furthermore naturally generates mu-tau symmetric lepton mixing, introduces neutrino non-standard interactions, and the associated gauge boson Z' serves as a mediator to the right-handed neutrino sector. A detailed fit to electroweak data is performed to identify the allowed values for the mass of Z' and its mixing with the Standard Model Z. An economi…
Event rates for nu_e and anti-nu_e appearance oscillations reported by the MINOS and T2K long baseline experiments are used to set constraints on the strength of the non-standard interaction epsilon_{e tau}V_e matter potential. The ranges allowed for the magnitude and phase of epsilon_{e tau} are delineated for scenarios wherein i) other non-standard interactions for neutrinos propagating through the terrestrial crust are negligible, and ii) the real-valued, flavor-diagonal couplings epsilon_{e e} and epsilon_{tau tau} are also operative. Our analysis makes use of accurate analytic forms for t…
The recent data describing the evidence for neutrino oscillations by Super Kamiokande implies that two neutrinos are very strongly mixed. We ask the question: can approximate maximal neutrino mixing be natural in unified (GUT or string) models? We attempt to answer this question in as much generality as possible. Without specifying a particular model, we are able to show that a gauged family symmetry can naturally provide the required maximal mixing between mu and tau neutrinos. The second and third family neutrino mass eigenstates are almost degenerate with masses of order 0.2 eV.
It is well known that the differences between the lepton numbers can be gauged with the Standard Model matter content. Such extended gauge theories, dubbed as the gauged U(1)$_{L_α- L_β}$ models, have been widely discussed so far as potential candidates for physics beyond the Standard Model. In this work, we study the minimal versions of these gauge theories, where three right-handed neutrinos as well as a single U(1)$_{L_α- L_β}$ symmetry breaking Higgs field---an SU(2)$_L$ singlet or doublet---are introduced. In these minimal models, the neutrino mass terms are constrained by the gauge symme…
We construct a novel flavor-dependent gauged lepton number $U(1)_\ell$ model for the hierarchical charged lepton masses and the observed $(g-2)_{e,μ}$. Only tau participates in the tree-level Standard Model ( SM ) Yukawa interaction. At the same time, the masses of electron and muon are light due to radiative generation and(or) the heavy-mediator-suppressed Yukawa coupling to the SM Higgs. Not only can the measured anomalous magnetic dipole moment of the muon, $\triangle a_μ$, be explained, but the positive (or negative) $\triangle a_e$ can also be accommodated in this model. Without additiona…
The MINOS experiment at Fermilab has recently reported a tension between the oscillation results for neutrinos and anti-neutrinos. We show that this tension, if it persists, can be understood in the framework of non-standard neutrino interactions (NSI). While neutral current NSI (non-standard matter effects) are disfavored by atmospheric neutrinos, a new charged current coupling between tau neutrinos and nucleons can fit the MINOS data without violating other constraints. In particular, we show that loop-level contributions to flavor-violating tau decays are sufficiently suppressed. However, c…
Institute for Fundamental Theory, Physics Department, University of Florida（佛罗里达大学基础物理研究所）；Theory Division, Fermilab（费米实验室理论部）；Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Iowa（爱荷华大学物理与天文学系）；Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Alabama（阿拉巴马大学物理与天文学系）；School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota（明尼苏达大学物理与天文学院）；William I. Fine Theoretical Physics Institute, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota（明尼苏达大学威廉·I·法因理论物理研究所）；The Arthur B. McDonald Canadian Astroparticle Physics Research Institute, Department of Physics, Engineering Physics, and Astronomy, Queen’s University（女王大学亚瑟·B·麦克唐纳加拿大天体粒子物理研究所）；Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics（基础物理佩雷尔曼研究所）；Department of Physics, University of Cincinnati（辛辛那提大学物理系）
We perform a quantitative analysis of the capability of K2K, MINOS, OPERA and a neutrino factory in a muon collider to discriminate the standard mass induced vacuum oscillation from the pure decoherence solution to the atmospheric neutrino problem and thereby contribute to unravel the dynamics that governs the observed $ν_mu$ disappearence.
We consider the phenomenology of the gauged abelian symmetry B + 3 (L_e - L_mu - L_tau). Right-handed neutrinos necessary to cancel triangle anomalies are used in a type-I seesaw scheme to create active neutrino masses. Breaking the B + 3 (L_e - L_mu - L_tau) symmetry spontaneously below the seesaw scale generates low energy neutrino mass matrices with the approximate symmetries L_e (leading to normal hierarchy) or L_e - L_mu - L_tau (inverted hierarchy). For the latter we need to introduce a Z_2 symmetry which decouples one of the right-handed neutrinos. If exact, this Z_2 leads to a Majorana…
A MINOS result seemed to hint a different anti-neutrino mass splitting and mixing angle with respect to the neutrino ones, offering a hint for a CPT violation in lepton sector. However more recent MINOS data reduced the neutrino-antineutrino differences leading to a narrow discrepancy almost compatible with no CPT violation, hard to be disentangled. Moreover last a few years of OPERA activity on tau appearance is still un-probed (one unique event). Both flavor muon-tau mixing, tau appearance and eventual CPT violation disentanglement need more tools to be enhanced. Atmospheric muon neutrino sp…
The presence of a tau component in the flux of atmospheric neutrinos inside the Earth, due to flavor oscillations, makes these neutrinos a valuable probe of interactions of the tau neutrino with matter. We study -- analytically and numerically -- the effects of nonstandard interactions in the nu_e-nu_tau sector on atmospheric neutrino oscillations, and calculate the bounds on the exotic couplings that follow from combining the atmospheric neutrino and K2K data. We find very good agreement between numerical results and analytical predictions derived from the underlying oscillation physics. Whil…
In the framework of a complete vector-like and universal gauged SU(3)_F family symmetry, we report a global region in the parameter space where this approach can account for a realistic spectrum of quark masses and mixing in a 4 x 4 non-unitary V_{CKM}, as well as for the known charged lepton masses and the squared neutrino mass differences reported from neutrino oscillation experiments. The $SU(3)_F$ family symmetry is broken spontaneously in two stages by heavy SM singlet scalars, whose hierarchy of scales yield and approximate SU(2)_F global symmetry associated to the almost degenerate boso…
The SuperKamiokande atmospheric neutrino measurements leave substantial room for nonstandard interactions (NSI) of neutrinos with matter in the nu_e- nu_tau sector. Large values of the NSI couplings are accommodated if the vacuum oscillation parameters are changed from their standard values. Short and medium baseline neutrino beams can break this degeneracy by measuring the true vacuum oscillation parameters with the muon neutrino disappearance mode, for which the matter effects are negligible or subdominant. These experiments can also search for the nu_e-nu_tau flavor changing effects directl…
Recent results from the MINOS accelerator neutrino experiment suggest a possible difference between nu_mu and anti-nu_mu disappearance oscillation parameters, which one may ascribe to a new long-distance potential acting on neutrinos. As a specific example, we consider a model with gauged B - L_e - 2 L_tau number that contains an extremely light new vector boson m_Z' < 10^-18 eV and extraordinarily weak coupling alpha' < 10^-52. In that case, differences between nu_mu to nu_tau and anti-nu_mu to anti-nu_tau oscillations can result from a long-range potential due to neutrons in the Earth and th…
Lorentz violation is a predicted phenomenon from the Planck scale physics. Although the three active massive neutrino framework with the Standard Model (SM), so-called the neutrino Standard Model (nuSM), is successful, series of signals not understood within the nuSM suggest neutrino physics may be the first place to see the physics beyond the SM, such as Lorentz violation. Especially, neutrino oscillations are the natural interferometer and they are sensitive to the Lorentz violation. The LSND oscillation signal was analyzed under the Standard Model Extension (SME) framework, and it was found…
On 2010 MINOS experiment was showing an hint of possible different mass splitting and mixing angles for neutrinos and anti-neutrinos, suggesting a charge-parity-time (CPT) violation in the lepton sector; last year 2012 a second result from MINOS showed a reduced discrepancy between the two set of parameters, nearly compatible with no CPT violation. We proposed an experiment for more precise estimation of neutrino oscillation parameters being useful not only for a complete discrimination for CPT scenarios, but also for mass hierarchy and theta 13 determination, and mostly for the first oscillat…
We study the structure of the neutrino mass matrix in the minimal gauged U(1)$_{L_μ-L_τ}$ model, where three right-handed neutrinos are added to the Standard Model in order to obtain non-zero masses for active neutrinos. Because of the U(1)$_{L_μ-L_τ}$ gauge symmetry, the structure of both Dirac and Majorana mass terms of neutrinos is tightly restricted. In particular, the inverse of the neutrino mass matrix has zeros in the $(μ,μ)$ and $(τ,τ)$ components, namely, this model offers a symmetric realization of the so-called two-zero-minor structure in the neutrino mass matrix. Due to these const…
Neutrino oscillation experiments provide a unique tool for probing neutrino-matter interactions, especially those involving the tau neutrino. We describe the sensitivity of the present atmospheric neutrino data to these interactions in the framework of a three-flavor analysis. Compared to the two-flavor nu_mu-nu_tau analyses, we find qualitatively new features, in particular, that large non-standard interactions, comparable in strength to those in the Standard Model, can be consistent with the data. The existence of such interactions could imply a smaller value of the neutrino mixing angle and…
If, as suggested by the SuperKamiokande results, the mu neutrino and tau neutrino are maximally and ``rapidly'' mixed, this alone determines the mapping from current to mass eigenstates up to one rotation angle (theta) mixing the electron neutrino ``more slowly'', with an equal combination of the mu neutrino and tau neutrino. For sin 2 theta = 1, the resulting minimal number of free parameters, yet maximal mixing, shows agreement between extant observations of solar neutrinos and predictions by the standard solar model with minor modifications.
Updating our previous measurements with new data and analysis modifications, we report preliminary results on the energy-dependent deficit of muon neutrinos from the Fermilab NuMI beam as observed with the MINOS Far Detector located 735 km away in the Soudan Underground Laboratory. From an exposure of 2.50x10^20 protons on target, we observe 563 charged-current nu_mu interaction candidates in the Far Detector, where 738+/-30 events are expected in the absence of neutrino oscillations. We have analyzed these data assuming two-flavor nu_mu to nu_tau oscillations. From a simultaneous fit to the r…
A comprehensive formalism for the description of neutrino oscillations in the Earth in a general scheme with three massive neutrinos and the mass hierarchy m_1<<m_2<<m_3 is presented. Using this formalism, which is valid both in vacuum and in a medium, the matter effect on the oscillations of low-energy neutrinos is discussed, pointing out the existence of very long oscillations which are independent of the neutrino masses and the neutrino energy, and are very sensitive to the matter density along the neutrino trajectory. As an example of application of the formulation, a fit of the Kamiokande…
Neutrinos are allowed to mix and to oscillate among their flavor. Muon and tau in particular oscillate at largest values.Last Minos experiment claimed possible difference among their matter and anti-matter masses, leading to a first violation of the most believed CPT symmetry.Isotropically born atmospheric muon neutrino at 20-80 GeV, while up-going, they might be partially suppressed by mixing in analogy to historical SuperKamiokande muon neutrino disappearance into tau, leading to large scale anisotropy signals. Here we show an independent muon rate foreseen in Deep Core based on observed SK …
We study the interplay of neutrino oscillation and invisible decay in atmospheric and long-baseline neutrinos experiments. We perform a global analysis of the full atmospheric data from Super-Kamiokande together with long-baseline K2K and MINOS in these scenarios. We find that the admixture of nu_mu -> nu_tau oscillations with parameters Delta_m32^2 = 2.6e-3 eV^2 and theta_23 ~ 34 degrees plus decay of the heavy neutrino, nu_3, with lifetime of the order tau_3/m_3 ~ 2.6e-12 s/eV provides a reasonable fit to atmospheric neutrinos, although this solution becomes more disfavored (dropping to the …
Constraining Ultra-Light Vector Bosons via Solar Neutrino Oscillations: The Gauged $L_μ- L_τ$ Model and Prospects for JUNO and XLZD
Centro de Astrofísica e Gravitação - CENTRA, Departamento de Física, Instituto Superior Técnico - IST, Universidade de Lisboa - UL（里斯本大学技术研究所物理系天体物理学与引力中心）
The OPERA experiment at the CNGS beam has observed muon to tau neutrino oscillations in the atmospheric sector. Based on this result new limits on the mixing parameters of a massive sterile neutrino may be set. Preliminary results of the analysis done in the 3+1 neutrino framework are here presented. An update of the search for sterile neutrinos in the $ν_μ \rightarrow ν_e$ channel is also given. The status of the searches for sterile neutrinos performed at other Long--Baseline experiments (MINOS at NuMI beam and SuperK with the atmospheric flux) is also briefly recalled. Finally, some persona…
We consider long-baseline neutrino oscillations in the framework of two schemes with mixing of four massive neutrinos which can accommodate all the existing indications in favour of neutrino mixing. Within these schemes, we derive bounds on the oscillation probabilities and the CP-odd neutrino-antineutrino asymmetries in long-baseline experiments. Using the results of short-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments, we obtain rather strong upper bounds on the long-baseline probabilities 1-P(nu_e->nu_e) and P(nu_mu->nu_e). Nevertheless, the projected sensitivities of the MINOS and ICARUS experi…
Among the combinations $L_e-L_μ$, $L_e-L_τ$ and $L_μ-L_τ$ any one can be gauged in anomaly free way with the standard model gauge group. The masses of these gauge bosons can be so light that it can induce long-range forces on the Earth due to the electrons in the Sun. This type of forces can be constrained significantly from neutrino oscillation. As the sign of the potential is opposite for neutrinos and antineutrinos, a magnetized iron calorimeter detector (ICAL) would be able to produce strong constraint on it. We have made conservative studies of these long-range forces with atmospheric neu…
We derive predictions for the Nadir angle (theta_n) dependence of the ratio Nmu-/Nmu+ of the rates of the mu- and mu+ multi-GeV events, and for the mu- - mu+ event rate asymmetry, A_{mu-mu+}=[Nmu- - Nmu+]/[Nmu- + Nmu+], in iron-magnetized calorimeter detectors (MINOS, INO) in the case of 3-neutrino oscillations of the atmospheric nu_mu and antinu_mu, driven by one neutrino mass squared difference, |Delta m^2_{31}| >> Delta m^2_{21}. The asymmetry A_{mu- mu+} (the ratio Nmu-/Nmu+) is shown to be particularly sensitive to the Earth matter effects in the atmospheric neutrino oscillations, and thu…
The extension of the minimal standard model by three right-handed sterile neutrinos with masses smaller than the electroweak scale (nuMSM) is discussed in a Q_6 flavor symmetry framework. The lightness of the keV sterile neutrino and the near mass degeneracy of two heavier sterile neutrinos are naturally explained by exploiting group properties of Q_6. A normal hierarchical mass spectrum and an approximately mu-tau symmetric mass matrix are predicted for three active neutrinos. Nonzero theta_{13} can be obtained together with a deviation of theta_{23} from the maximality, where both mixing ang…
We quantify our current knowledge of the size and flavor structure of the matter effects in the evolution of atmospheric and long-baseline neutrinos based solely on the analysis of the corresponding neutrino data. To this aim we generalize the matter potential of the Standard Model by rescaling its strength, rotating it away from the e-e sector, and rephasing it with respect to the vacuum term. This phenomenological parametrization can be easily translated in terms of non-standard neutrino interactions in matter. We show that in the most general case, the strength of the potential cannot be de…
In this paper we examine the constraints dedicated LHC multi lepton searches can place on $Z'$ bosons coming from gauged muon number minus tau number, $L_μ-L_τ$. As the $L_μ-L_τ$ gauge boson does not couple to proton constituents or electrons at tree level, the current bounds are fairly loose, especially for $M_{Z'} \gtrsim 1\, \rm GeV$. For $2m_μ < M_{Z'} < M_Z/2$ we develop search strategies using the $pp \rightarrow Z \to 4\, μ$ channel. The cleanliness of the final state, combined with the fact that $pp \to Z \to 4 e$, $Z \to 2e\,2μ$ can be used as background control samples, allow us to s…
The recent measurement of the muon anomalous magnetic moment by the Fermilab E989 experiment, when combined with the previous result at BNL, has confirmed the tension with the SM prediction at $4.2\,σ$ CL, strengthening the motivation for new physics in the leptonic sector. Among the different particle physics models that could account for such an excess, a gauged $U(1)_{L_μ-L_τ}$ stands out for its simplicity. In this article, we explore how the combination of data from different future probes can help identify the nature of the new physics behind the muon anomalous magnetic moment. In partic…
We present the results of an updated fit of short-baseline neutrino oscillation data in the framework of 3+1 active-sterile neutrino mixing. We first consider $ν_e$ and $\barν_e$ disappearance in the light of the Gallium and reactor anomalies. We discuss the implications of the recent measurement of the reactor $\barν_e$ spectrum in the NEOS experiment, which shifts the allowed regions of the parameter space towards smaller values of $|U_{e4}|^2$. The beta-decay constraints allow us to limit the oscillation length between about 2 cm and 7 m at $3σ$ for neutrinos with an energy of 1 MeV. We the…
Rome University（罗马大学）；INFN Rome（意大利国家核物理研究所罗马分部）；MIFP（马利诺国际前沿物理中心）；APC laboratory（粒子与宇宙学实验室）；National Research Nuclear University ”MEPHI” (Moscow State Engineering Physics Institute)（国立研究核子大学莫斯科工程物理学院）；Niccolò Cusano University（尼古拉·库萨诺大学）；University Roma Tre（罗马三大）；Gubkin Russian State University (National Research University)（古比雪夫俄罗斯国立大学）；Institute of Physics, Southern Federal University（南联邦大学物理研究所）
Muon neutrino astronomy is drown within a polluted atmospheric neutrino noise. However at 24 GeV energy atmospheric muon neutrinos, while rising vertically along the terrestrial diameter, should disappear (or be severely depleted) while converting into tau flavor: any rarest vertical 12 GeV muon track at South Pole Deep Core volume, pointing back to North Pole, might be tracing mostly a noise-free astrophysical signal. The corresponding Deep Core 6-7-8-9 channels trigger maybe point in those directions and inside that energy range without much background. Deep Core detector at South Pole, may …
