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.
14810090
CPT-Odd resonances in neutrino oscillations
We consider the consequences for future neutrino factory experiments of small CPT-odd interactions in neutrino oscillations. The nu(&mgr;)-->nu(&mgr;) and nu;(&mgr;)-->nu;(&mgr;) survival probabilities at a baseline L = 732 km can test for CPT-odd contributions at orders of magnitude better sensitivity than present neutrino sector limits. Interference between the CPT-violating interaction and CPT-even mass terms in the Lagrangian can lead to a resonant enhancement of the oscillation amplitude. For oscillations in matter, a simultaneous enhancement of both neutrino and antineutrino oscillation amplitudes is possible.
28972121
Test of equivalence principle for neutrinos and antineutrinos.
Based on data from the supernova SN 1987A it is shown that the Einstein equivalence principle is confirmed for electron neutrinos and their antiparticles to one part per million provided at least one of the events is due to ..nu../sub e/e scattering. Bounds on the strengths of new galactic-range forces coupling to neutrinos (of nonzero mass) and to matter are also deduced.
33984423
Invisible axions and the QCD phase transition in the early Universe.
We examine, in detail, the conditions under which the quark-hadron phase transition in the early Universe can influence the previously determined upper bound on the axion decay constant f/sub a/< or approx. =5 x 10/sup 12/ GeV. By integrating the axion equation of motion (in general and in a specific model) through the phase transition we find that if the phase transition is sufficiently abrupt the limit on f/sub a/ may change by an order of magnitude in either direction (depending on initial conditions); the most probable result is a tightening of the bound by a factor approx.5. Sensitive axion detectors, as are now being contemplated, could conceivably provide information on the Universe at approx.10/sup -5/ sec after the big bang.
208070142
Particle physics implications of the WMAP neutrino mass bound
The recently published cosmological bound on the absolute neutrino masses obtained from the Wilkinson m anisotropy probe (WMAP) data has important consequences for neutrino experiments and models. Taken at face new bound excludes the determination of the absolute neutrino mass in the KATRIN experiment and disfavors a oscillation interpretation of the LSND experiment. Combined with the KamLAND and Super-K data, the WMAP defines an accessible range for the neutrinoless double beta decay amplitude. The bound also impacts the Z-burst a mechanism for resonant generation of extreme-energy cosmic rays on the cosmic neutrino background in two ways: it c the local over-density of neutrino dark matter which is not helpful, but it also limits the resonant energy to a favorable In R-parity violating SUSY models, neutrino masses are generated by trilinear and bilinear lepton number violating co The WMAP result improves the constraints on these couplings by an order of magnitude.  2003 Elsevier B.V. PACS: 12.60.Jv; 14.60.Pq; 14.80.Ly; 23.40.Bw; 96.40.Tv; 98.80.Es Open access under CC BY license.
12403490
Minimal electroweak model for monopole annihilation.
We construct the minimal (most economical in fields) extension of the standard model implementing the Langacker-Pi mechanism for reducing the grand unified theory (GUT) monopole cosmic density to an allowed level. The model contains just a single charged scalar field in addition to the standard Higgs doublet, and is easily embeddable in any GUT. We identify the region of parameter space where monopoles annihilate in the higher temperature early Universe. A particularly alluring possibility is that the demise of monopoles at the electroweak scale is in fact the origin of the Universe's net baryon number.
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.
55454565
THE FINAL COLLIMATION SYSTEM FOR THE LHC
The LHC collimation system has been re-designed over in order to address the unprecedented challenges that are faced with the 360 MJ beams at 7 TeV. The layout of the LHC has now been frozen and a final approach for collimation and cleaning has been adopted. In total 132 pure collimator locations have been reserved in the two LHC rings and can be installed in a phased approach. Up to 88 collimators of five different types will be available for initial beam operation. The system has been fully optimized for avoiding beam-induced quenches of superconducting magnets and for sufficient survival of beamline components against radioactive dose. The phased approach for LHC collimation is described, the various collimators and their functionalities are explained, and the expected system performance is summarized. Large Hadron Collider Project
53997166
Robustness test of a system of MSGC+GEM detectors at the cyclotron facility of the Paul Scherrer Institute
Abstract A system of detector modules consisting of a large size Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM), coupled to Micro Strip Gas Counters (MSGC), has been exposed to a pion beam at the Paul Scherrer Institute Cyclotron facility. As part of a CMS tracker milestone, the aim of this test was to investigate the robustness of such detectors when exposed to experimental conditions close to what is expected at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) of CERN. Eighteen detector modules have been operated at voltage settings corresponding to 98% detection efficiency for Minimum Ionizing Particles during a period of 5 weeks. Sparking rates and strip losses have been monitored throughout the exposure. An operation margin of at least a factor of three with respect to the required gas gain has been demonstrated.
2759886
Construction and Performance of a Micro-Pattern Stereo Detector with Two Gas Electron Multipliers
Abstract The construction of a micro-pattern gas detector of dimensions 40×10 cm 2 is described. Two gas electron multiplier foils (GEM) provide the internal amplification stages. A two-layer readout structure was used, manufactured using the same technology as the GEM foils. The strips of each layer cross at an effective crossing angle of 6.7° and have a 406 μm pitch. The performance of the detector has been evaluated in a muon beam at CERN using a silicon telescope as reference system. The position resolutions of two orthogonal coordinates are measured to be 50 μm and 1 mm , respectively. The muon detection efficiency for two-dimensional space points reaches 96%.
45080627
COLLIMATEUR INTEGRATION AND INSTALLATION EXAMPLE OF ONE OBJECT TO BE INSTALLED IN THE LHC
The collimation system is a vital part of the LHC project, protecting the accelerator against unavoidable regular and irregular beam loss. About 80 collimators will be installed in the machine before the first run. Two insertion regions are dedicated to collimation and these regions will be among the most radioactive in the LHC. The space available in the collimation regions is very restricted, it was therefore important to ensure that the 3-D integration of these areas of the LHC tunnel would allow straightforward installation of collimators and also exchange of collimators under the remote handling constraints imposed by high radiation levels. The paper describes the 3D integration studies and verifications of the collimation regions combining the restricted space available, the dimensions of the different types of collimators and the space needed for transport and handling. The paper explains how installation has been planned and carried out taking into account the handling