A Modern Introduction To Neutrino Physics

A deeper understanding of neutrinos, with the goal to reveal their nature and exact role within particle physics, is at the frontier of current research. This book reviews the field in a concise fashion and highlights the most pressing issues and areas of strongest topical interest. It provides a clear, self-contained, and logical treatment of the fundamental physics aspects, appropriate for graduate students. Starting with the relevant basics of the SM, neutrinos are introduced, and the quantum mechanical effect of oscillations is explained in detail. A strong focus is then set on the phenomenon of lepton number violation, especially in 0nbb decay, as the crucial probe to understand the nature of neutrinos. The role of neutrinos in astrophysics, expected to be of increasing importance for future research, is then described. Finally, models to explain the neutrino properties are outlined. The central theme of the book is the nature of neutrino masses and the above topics will revolve around this issue.

Most of the progress made in particle physics during the last two decades has to led to the formulation of the so called ?Standard Model? of elementary particles and its quantitative experimental test. The book deals with this progress but includes chapters which provide the necessary background material to modern particle physics.Particle physics forms an essential part of physics curriculum. This is a textbook but will also be useful for people working in this field and for nuclear physicists, particularly those who work on topics concerning interface between nuclear and particle physics. The book is designed for a semester course for senior undergraduates and a semester course for graduate students. Formal quantum field theory is not used; a knowledge of non-relativistic quantum mechanics is required for some parts of the book; but for the remaining parts the familiarity with the Dirac equation is essential. However, some of these topics are included in the appendix.

The progress made in particle physics during the last two decades has led to the formulation of the so-called Standard Model of elementary particles and its quantitative experimental test. This book presents that progress, and also includes chapters which provide background on modern particle physics.Particle physics forms an essential part of the physics curriculum. This is a comprehensive book incorporating all the topics for a unified treatment of particle physics. It provides good reference material for researchers in both theoretical and experimental particle physics. It is designed as a semester course for senior undergraduates and for graduate students. Formal quantum field theory is not used. A knowledge of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics is required for some parts of the book, but for the remaining parts familiarity with the Dirac equation and Feynman rules is essential. However, some of these topics are included in an appendix.In this second edition, many chapters (e.g. on electroweak unification) have been revised to bring them up to date. In particular, the chapters on neutrino physics, particle mixing and CP violation, and weak decays of heavy flavors have been rewritten incorporating new material and new data. The heavy quark effective theory has been included.

For many years neutrino was considered a massless particle. The theory of a two-componentneutrino,whichplayedacrucialroleinthecreationofthetheoryof theweakinteraction,isbasedontheassumptionthattheneutrinomassisequalto zero. We now know that neutrinos have nonzero, small masses. In numerous exp- iments with solar, atmospheric, reactor and accelerator neutrinos a new p- nomenon, neutrino oscillations, was observed. Neutrino oscillations (periodic transitionsbetweendifferent?avorneutrinos? ,? ,? )arepossibleonlyifneutrino e ? ? mass-squareddifferencesaredifferentfromzeroandsmalland?avorneutrinosare “mixed”. The discovery of neutrino oscillations opened a new era in neutrino physics: an era of investigation of neutrino masses, mixing, magnetic moments and other neutrino properties. After the establishment of the Standard Model of the el- troweak interaction at the end of the seventies, the discovery of neutrino masses was the most important discovery in particle physics. Small neutrino masses cannot be explained by the standard Higgs mechanism of mass generation. For their explanation a new mechanism is needed. Thus, small neutrino masses is the ?rst signature in particle physics of a new beyond the Standard Model physics. It took many years of heroic efforts by many physicists to discover n- trino oscillations. After the ?rst period of investigation of neutrino oscillations, manychallengingproblemsremainedunsolved.Oneofthemostimportantisthe problem of the nature of neutrinos with de?nite masses. Are they Dirac n- trinos possessing a conserved lepton number which distinguish neutrinos and antineutrinos or Majorana neutrinos with identical neutrinos and antineutrinos? Many experiments of the next generation and new neutrino facilities are now under preparation and investigation. There is no doubt that exciting results are ahead.

"Unique in its coverage of all aspects of modern particle physics, this textbook provides a clear connection between the theory and recent experimental results, including the discovery of the Higgs boson at CERN. It provides a comprehensive and self-contained description of the Standard Model of particle physics suitable for upper-level undergraduate students and graduate students studying experimental particle physics. Physical theory is introduced in a straightforward manner with full mathematical derivations throughout. Fully-worked examples enable students to link the mathematical theory to results from modern particle physics experiments. End-of-chapter exercises, graded by difficulty, provide students with a deeper understanding of the subject. Online resources available at www.cambridge.org/MPP feature password-protected fully-worked solutions to problems for instructors, numerical solutions and hints to the problems for students and PowerPoint slides and JPEGs of figures from the book"--

A revised overview of modern neutrino physics, covering all major areas of interest.

Small neutrino masses are the first signs of new physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. Since the first edition of this textbook appeared in 2010, the Nobel Prize has been awarded "for the discovery of neutrino oscillations, which shows that neutrinos have mass". The measurement of the small neutrino mixing angle $\theta_{13}$ in 2012, launched the precision stage of the investigation of neutrino oscillations. This measurement now allows such fundamental problems as the three-neutrino mass spectrum - is it normal or inverted? – and the $CP$ violation in the lepton sector to be tackled. In order to understand the origin of small neutrino masses, it remains crucial to reveal the nature of neutrinos with definite masses: are they Dirac neutrinos possessing a conserved lepton number, which distinguishes neutrinos and antineutrinos, or are they Majorana neutrinos with identical neutrinos and antineutrinos? Experiments searching for the neutrinoless double beta decay are presently under way to answer this fundamental question. The second edition of this book comprehensively discusses all these important recent developments. Based on numerous lectures given by the author, a pioneer of modern neutrino physics (recipient of the Bruno Pontecorvo Prize 2002), at different institutions and schools, it offers a gentle yet detailed introduction to the physics of massive and mixed neutrinos that prepares graduate students and young researchers entering the field for the exciting years ahead in neutrino physics.

In this second edition, many chapters (e.g. on electroweak unification) have been revised to bring them up to date. In particular, the chapters neutrino physics, particle mixing and CP violation and weak decays of heavy flavors have beer rewritten incorporating new material and new data. The heavy quark effective theory has been included.