119170988
Flavor Sensitivity to $\theta_{13}$ and the Mass Hierarchy for neutrinos from Solar WIMP Annihilation
The effect of the higher-energy 2nd resonance and the associated adiabatic-to-nonadiabatic transition on neutrino propagation in solar matter is presented. For WIMP-annihilation neutrinos injected with energies in the "sweet region" between 300 MeV and 10 GeV at the Sun's center, a significant and revealing dependence on the neutrino mass hierarchy and the mixing angle theta_13 down to 0.5 degrees is found in the flavor ratios arriving at Earth. In addition, the amplification of flavor ratios in the sweet region allows a better discrimination among possible annihilation modes of the solar dark matter. Under mild assumptions on WIMP properties, it is estimated that 200 neutrino events in the sweet region would be required for inferences of theta_13, the mass hierarchy, and the dominant WIMP annihilation mode. Future large-volume, low-energy neutrino detectors are likely needed if the measurement is to be made.
119254616
Neutrino Oscillations from Cosmic Sources: A Nu Window to Cosmology
Neutrino astrophysics promises a wealth of information about neutrinos and the history of the universe through which they have traveled. In this letter, we extend the standard neutrino qoscillation discussion to neutrinos propagating through expanding curved space. This extension introduces a new cosmological parameter in the oscillation phase. The new parameter ℐ records cosmic history in much the same manner as the redshift variable z or the apparent luminosity distance DL. Measuring ℐ through neutrino oscillations may help to determine cosmological parameters and distinguish between different cosmologies.
117398144
Oscillation and Mixing Among the Three Neutrino Flavors
With the educated, interested non-specialist as the target audience, we overview what is known and not known about contemporary neutrino physics. Theory tells us that neutrinos are the second-most common particle in the Universe, behind only the quanta of radiation called photons. Almost a trillion neutrinos per second enter each human eyeball, and yet we do not see them; these neutrinos, in roughly equal numbers, are emanations from our Sun and relics of the hot "big bang" era of the early Universe. Much of what we know about neutrinos, and hope to learn in the future, is derived from a unique feature of neutrinos -- "oscillation" among neutrino "flavor" types. An initial neutrino flavor will in general oscillate into another flavor as the neutrino propagates in space and time. Oscillations are a quantum mechanical phenomenon. One of the wonders of neutrinos is that their quantum mechanics may be observed over large distances, even astronomically large. We begin this article with neutrino phenomenology in terms of masses and mixing angles, including the matter-antimatter asymmetric "phase" that appears with three neutrino types. Next we venture into neutrino oscillations. We conclude with a discussion of model-building for the neutrino masses and mixings. Throughout this article, attention is devoted to the 2012 result that the "small" neutrino mixing angle is not so small, after all.
118630505
Baseline-dependent neutrino oscillations with extra-dimensional shortcuts
In extra-dimensional scenarios oscillations between active and sterile neutrinos can be governed by a new resonance in the oscillation amplitude. This resonance results when cancellation occurs between two phase differences, the usual kinematic one coming from the neutrino mass-squared difference, and a geometric one coming from the difference in travel times of the sterile neutrino through the bulk relative to the active neutrino confined to the brane. In this work we introduce a specific metric for the brane-bulk system, from which we explicitly derive extra-dimensional geodesics for the sterile neutrino, and ultimately the oscillation probability of the active-sterile two-state system. We find that for an asymmetrically warped metric, the resonance condition involves both the neutrino energy E and the travel distance L on the brane. In other words, the resonant energy may be viewed as baseline dependent. We show that to a good approximation, the resonance condition is not on E or on L, but rather on the product LE. The model is rich in implications, including the possibility of multiple solutions to the resonance condition, with ramifications for existing data sets, e.g., LSND and MiniBooNE. Some phenomenology with these brane-bulk resonances is discussed.
121147596
Dimuon production by neutrinos: Test of weak-current models
We compare predictions of weak-current models for ..mu../sup +/..mu../sup -/ production initiated by ..nu.. and anti ..nu.. with experimental x, y, p, and v distributions of the muon associated with the incident neutrino. These distributions indicate that ..nu..N dimuon production occurs dominantly off valence quarks, with a y dependence that is somewhat suggestive of (1 - y)/sup 2/, while anti ..nu..N production occurs from sea quarks. Nevertheless, the original charm model provides a viable explanation within the uncertainties of present data. An improved description of the ..nu..N dimuon distributions is obtained with a V + A charm-changing current. The dimuon data do not exhibit the characteristics expected from the production of the b-type quark of vectorlike theories. A vector-meson-dominance interpretation does not predict satisfactory x dependences. (AIP)
17703221
Lower energy consequences of an anomalous high-energy neutrino cross section
A new strong interaction has been postulated for neutrinos above {approximately}10{sup 19}eV to explain the production of highest-energy cosmic-ray events. We derive a dispersion relation relating the hypothesized high-energy cross section to the lower-energy neutrino-nucleon elastic amplitude. Remarkably, we find that the real forward amplitude becomes anomalous seven orders of magnitude lower in energy than does the total cross section. We discuss possible measurable consequences of this early onset of new neutrino physics and conclude that a significantly enhanced elastic {nu}N scattering rate may occur for the neutrino beams available at Fermilab and CERN. {copyright} {ital 1999} {ital The American Physical Society}
119117884
Proceedings of the 2nd Workshop on Flavor Symmetries and Consequences in Accelerators and Cosmology (FLASY12)
Although existing theoretical models generally prefer extremely heavy right-handed neutrinos to generate light neutrino masses via the seesaw mechanism, there are several observed phenomena that point to the existence of both keVand eV-scale sterile neutrinos. We present two A4 flavor symmetry models that can accommodate light sterile neutrinos and remain compatible with neutrino data. Higher order seesaw terms and higher-dimensional operators are studied, and the phenomenological implications of light sterile neutrinos on neutrinoless double beta decay are discussed. 1.
55572949
CRITICAL HALO LOSS LOCATIONS IN THE LHC
Results of simulations with all movable elements of the LHC collimation system [1] are discussed for various operation modes. Compared to previous results, the placing of additional collimators reduced the beam losses by a factor 10 in the ideal machine case, i.e. nominal collimators settings for both 450 GeV and 7 TeV beam energies. First results for Beam 2 are also reviewed. The sensitivity of the system to free orbit oscillations is addressed. These results show that it is sufficient to use a limited number of beam loss monitors (BLMs) for the setup and optimization of the LHC Collimation System.
119551795
Experimental and simulation study of the behaviour and operation modes of MSGC + GEM detectors
Abstract A small series production of detector modules made of MicroStrip Gas Counters (MSGC) and a Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) foil has been exposed to a high-intensity hadron beam. We report about the reproductibility and stability of the detector responses and about the occurrence and consequences of discharges in the detector. The interdependence of the four voltage differences used in the detector has been studied by simulation and with X-ray measurements. Rate dependence of the signal amplitude is observed. The behaviour of the MSGC+GEM is compared to that of a state-of-the-art MSGC. Influence of various parameters on the detector response is investigated.
17929707
Evaluation of Beam Losses And Energy Deposition for a Possible Phase II Design for LHC Collimation
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) beams are designed to have high stability and to be stored for many hours. The nominal beam intensity lifetime is expected to be of the order of 20h. The Phase II collimation system has to be able to handle particle losses in stable physics conditions at 7 TeV in order to avoid beam aborts and to allow correction of parameters and restoration to nominal conditions. Monte Carlo simulations are needed in order to evaluate the behavior of metallic high-Z collimators during operation scenarios using a realistic distribution of losses, which is a mix of the three limiting halo cases. Moreover, the consequences in the IR7 insertion of the worst (case) abnormal beam loss are evaluated. The case refers to a spontaneous trigger of the horizontal extraction kicker at top energy, when Phase II collimators are used. These studies are an important input for engineering design of the collimation Phase II system and for the evaluation of their effect on adjacent components. The goal is to build collimators that can survive the expected conditions during LHC stable physics runs, in order to avoid quenches of the SC magnets and to protect other LHC equipments.
17145107
APERTURES IN THE LHC BEAM DUMP SYSTEM AND BEAM LOSSES DURING BEAM ABORT
The LHC beam dumping system (LBDS) is used to dispose accelerated protons and ions in a wide energy range from 450 GeV up to 7 TeV. An abort gap of 3 μs is foreseen to avoid sweeping particles through the LHC ring aperture. This paper gives a brief overview of the critical apertures in the extraction region and the two beam dump lines. MAD-X tracking studies have been made to investigate the impact of particles swept through the aperture due to extraction kicker failures or the presence of particles within the abort gap. The issue of failures during beam abort is a major concern for machine protection as well as a critical factor for safe operation of the experiments and their detectors.