abstract

A basic introduction to the theory of neutrino interactions with matter is presented. I review the relevant ingredients of the Standard Model of electroweak and strong interactions, highlighting the role of the flavor structure of electroweak currents and chiral symmetry. The general expression of the inclusive neutrino-interaction cross section is also derived and discussed. Charged-current quasielastic scattering on nucleons and the derivation of the nucleon weak current in terms of form factors are considered in detail.

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A brief history of neutrino is presented. Neutrino oscillations are discussed and the most economical mechanism of the generation of Majorana neutrino masses and mixing is considered.

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We present a review of the theory of active–sterile neutrino mixing and of the phenomenology of short-baseline neutrino oscillations induced by light sterile neutrinos. We discuss the results of the global fits of short-baseline neutrino oscillation data in \(3+1\) and \(3+2\) neutrino mixing schemes.

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The observation of flavor oscillations in the leptonic sector constitutes a solid evidence for physics beyond the Standard Model. We review here some of the ideas proposed to explain the origin of neutrino masses, and we briefly address the possible connection of the new physics with the origin of the cosmic matter–antimatter asymmetry and the nature of the dark matter.

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We summarize the progress in neutrino astrophysics and emphasize open issues in our understanding of neutrino flavor conversion in media. We discuss solar neutrinos, core-collapse supernova neutrinos and conclude with ultra-high energy neutrinos.

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In this work, we propose different models of extended theories of gravity, which are minimally coupled to the SM fields, to explain the possibility of a dark matter (DM) candidate, without ad hoc additions to the Standard Model (SM). We modify the gravity sector by allowing quantum corrections motivated from local \(f(R)\) gravity, and non-minimally coupled gravity with SM sector and dilaton field. Using an effective field theory (EFT) framework, we constrain the scale of the EFT and DM mass. We consider two cases — Light DM (LDM) and Heavy DM (HDM), and deduce upper bounds on the DM annihilation cross section to SM particles.

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The possibility to exploiting the first forbidden beta decays to measure the neutrino mass is discussed. It is found that the corresponding Kurie function close to the endpoint behaves like the Kurie function of beta decay of tritium.

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Uncertainty in the expected count rates of \(\nu /\overline {\nu }\) charge-current quasielastic interactions in the Far Detector of the NO\(\nu \)A experiment is studied.

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The possible existence of neutrinoless double beta decay (\(0\nu \beta \beta \)) gives us an opportunity to study unknown properties of neutrinos. Among other \(0\nu \beta \beta \) experiments, SuperNEMO is unique for its tracking technique and the measurement of all kinematic parameters. First demonstrator module has entered its latest stage of construction. In this paper, we briefly present current status of the construction works of the integral units of this experiment.

abstract

The discoveries of the ArgoNeuT Collaboration are confronted with the NuWro neutrino event generator simulations. The initial nucleon pair configuration reconstruction procedure is tested. It is shown that the procedure favours the antiparallel configuration. A kinematical argument, why this result is expected, is provided.

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The CSD(3) constrained sequential dominance model of neutrino mass gives a very good fit to neutrino oscillation data. Using predictions of the neutrino masses, mixing angles and phases from just three free parameters, current and future neutrino oscillation experiments can probe this model. Reactor and long-baseline accelerator experiments are found to be sensitive to the TM1 sum rules obeyed by CSD(\(n\)), with further sensitivity possible through an additional CSD(3) constraint beyond those of TM1 mixing.

abstract

Using the residual symmetry approach, we propose a complex extension of the scaling Ansatz on \(M_\nu \) which allows a nonzero mass for each of the three light neutrinos as well as a nonvanishing \(\theta _{13}\). Leptonic Dirac CP violation must be maximal, while atmospheric neutrino mixing need not be exactly maximal. Each of the two Majorana phases to be probed by the search for \(0\nu \beta \beta \) decay has to be zero or \(\pi \) and a normal neutrino mass hierarchy is allowed.

abstract

We present calculations for inclusive charged current quasielastic neutrino–argon cross sections. These have been performed using the Continuum Random Phase Approximation (CRPA).