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 Citations (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.

Original language	English
Article number	063013
Journal	Physical Review D
Volume	95
ISSN	2470-0010
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.95.063013
Publication status	Published - 21 Mar 2017
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

astro-ph.HE

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10.1103/physrevd.95.063013

Cite this

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

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T1 - Testing decay of astrophysical neutrinos with incomplete information

AU - Bustamante, Mauricio

AU - Beacom, John F.

AU - Murase, Kohta

N1 - 11 pages main text, 10 figures, plus technical appendices; improved discussion, improved treatment of nu_tau-initiated showers

PY - 2017/3/21

Y1 - 2017/3/21

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.

KW - astro-ph.HE

U2 - 10.1103/physrevd.95.063013

DO - 10.1103/physrevd.95.063013

M3 - Journal article

SN - 2470-0010

VL - 95

JO - Physical Review D

JF - Physical Review D

M1 - 063013

ER -

Testing decay of astrophysical neutrinos with incomplete information

Abstract

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