2002/06/30 by H. Nunokawa, W. J. C. Teves, R. Zukanovich Funchal · 23 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #Context (archaeology) #Double beta decay #MAJORANA #Neutrino #Neutrino Physics Research #Neutrino oscillation #Nuclear physics #Order (exchange) #Oscillation (cell signaling) #Particle physics #Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies #Physics #hep-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevd.66.093010
published in Physical review. D. Particles, fields, gravitation, and cosmology/Physical review. D. Particles and fields 66(9) (American Physical Society) · 26 pages, 11 encapsulated postscript figures. A new figure and minor changes are included. To be published in Phys. Rev. D
arxiv created 2002/10/10 · openalex publication_date 2002/11/27 · arxiv updated 2014/11/17 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Assuming that neutrinos are Majorana particles, in a three-generation framework, current and future neutrino oscillation experiments can determine six out of the nine parameters which fully describe the structure of the neutrino mass matrix. We try to clarify the interplay among the remaining parameters, the absolute neutrino mass scale and two CP violating Majorana phases, and how they can be accessed by future neutrinoless double beta (0\ensuremathν\ensuremathβ\ensuremathβ) decay experiments, for the normal as well as for the inverted order of the neutrino mass spectrum. Assuming the oscillation parameters to be in the range presently allowed by atmospheric, solar, reactor, and accelerator neutrino experiments, we quantitatively estimate the bounds on m0, the lightest neutrino mass, that can be inferred if the next generation 0\ensuremathν\ensuremathβ\ensuremathβ decay experiments can probe the effective Majorana mass (mee) down to \ensuremath∼1meV. In this context we conclude that in the case that neutrinos are Majorana particles, (a) if m0\ensuremath\gtrsim300meV, i.e., within the range directly attainable by future laboratory experiments as well as astrophysical observations, then mee\ensuremath\gtrsim30meV must be observed, (b) if m0<300meV, results from future 0\ensuremathν\ensuremathβ\ensuremathβ decay experiments combined with stringent bounds on the neutrino oscillation parameters, especially the solar ones, will place much stronger limits on the allowed values of m0 than these direct experiments. For instance, if a positive signal is observed around mee=10meV, we estimate 3\ensuremath\lesssimm0/meV\ensuremath\lesssim65 at 95% C.L.; on the other hand, if no signal is observed down to mee=10meV, then m0\ensuremath\lesssim55meV at 95% C.L.