Testing decay of astrophysical neutrinos with incomplete information

Mauricio Bustamante; John F. Beacom; Kohta Murase

doi:10.1103/physrevd.95.063013

Testing decay of astrophysical neutrinos with incomplete information

Mauricio Bustamante, John F. Beacom, Kohta Murase

46 Citationer (Scopus)

Abstract

Neutrinos mix and have mass differences, so decays from one to another must occur. But how fast? The best direct limits on nonradiative decays, based on solar and atmospheric neutrinos, are weak, τ 10-3 s (m/eV) or much worse. Greatly improved sensitivity, τ∼103 s (m/eV), will eventually be obtained using neutrinos from distant astrophysical sources, but large uncertainties - in neutrino properties, source properties, and detection aspects - do not allow this yet. However, there is a way forward now. We show that IceCube diffuse neutrino measurements, supplemented by improvements expected in the near term, can increase sensitivity to τ∼10 s (m/eV) for all neutrino mass eigenstates. We provide a road map for the necessary analyses and show how to manage the many uncertainties. If limits are set, this would definitively rule out the long-considered possibility that neutrino decay affects solar, atmospheric, or terrestrial neutrino experiments.

Originalsprog	Engelsk
Artikelnummer	063013
Tidsskrift	Physical Review D
Vol/bind	95
ISSN	2470-0010
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.95.063013
Status	Udgivet - 21 mar. 2017
Udgivet eksternt	Ja

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10.1103/physrevd.95.063013

Citationsformater

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title = "Testing decay of astrophysical neutrinos with incomplete information",

abstract = "Neutrinos mix and have mass differences, so decays from one to another must occur. But how fast? The best direct limits on nonradiative decays, based on solar and atmospheric neutrinos, are weak, τ 10-3 s (m/eV) or much worse. Greatly improved sensitivity, τ∼103 s (m/eV), will eventually be obtained using neutrinos from distant astrophysical sources, but large uncertainties - in neutrino properties, source properties, and detection aspects - do not allow this yet. However, there is a way forward now. We show that IceCube diffuse neutrino measurements, supplemented by improvements expected in the near term, can increase sensitivity to τ∼10 s (m/eV) for all neutrino mass eigenstates. We provide a road map for the necessary analyses and show how to manage the many uncertainties. If limits are set, this would definitively rule out the long-considered possibility that neutrino decay affects solar, atmospheric, or terrestrial neutrino experiments.",

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author = "Mauricio Bustamante and Beacom, {John F.} and Kohta Murase",

note = "11 pages main text, 10 figures, plus technical appendices; improved discussion, improved treatment of nu_tau-initiated showers",

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AU - Bustamante, Mauricio

AU - Beacom, John F.

AU - Murase, Kohta

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PY - 2017/3/21

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N2 - Neutrinos mix and have mass differences, so decays from one to another must occur. But how fast? The best direct limits on nonradiative decays, based on solar and atmospheric neutrinos, are weak, τ 10-3 s (m/eV) or much worse. Greatly improved sensitivity, τ∼103 s (m/eV), will eventually be obtained using neutrinos from distant astrophysical sources, but large uncertainties - in neutrino properties, source properties, and detection aspects - do not allow this yet. However, there is a way forward now. We show that IceCube diffuse neutrino measurements, supplemented by improvements expected in the near term, can increase sensitivity to τ∼10 s (m/eV) for all neutrino mass eigenstates. We provide a road map for the necessary analyses and show how to manage the many uncertainties. If limits are set, this would definitively rule out the long-considered possibility that neutrino decay affects solar, atmospheric, or terrestrial neutrino experiments.

AB - Neutrinos mix and have mass differences, so decays from one to another must occur. But how fast? The best direct limits on nonradiative decays, based on solar and atmospheric neutrinos, are weak, τ 10-3 s (m/eV) or much worse. Greatly improved sensitivity, τ∼103 s (m/eV), will eventually be obtained using neutrinos from distant astrophysical sources, but large uncertainties - in neutrino properties, source properties, and detection aspects - do not allow this yet. However, there is a way forward now. We show that IceCube diffuse neutrino measurements, supplemented by improvements expected in the near term, can increase sensitivity to τ∼10 s (m/eV) for all neutrino mass eigenstates. We provide a road map for the necessary analyses and show how to manage the many uncertainties. If limits are set, this would definitively rule out the long-considered possibility that neutrino decay affects solar, atmospheric, or terrestrial neutrino experiments.

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M3 - Journal article

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VL - 95

JO - Physical Review D

JF - Physical Review D

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ER -

Testing decay of astrophysical neutrinos with incomplete information

Abstract

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