No Arabic abstract
We derive upper limits on the sum of neutrino masses from an updated combination of data from Cosmic Microwave Background experiments and Galaxy Redshifts Surveys. The results are discussed in the context of three-flavor neutrino mixing and compared with neutrino oscillation data, with upper limits on the effective neutrino mass in Tritium beta decay from the Mainz and Troitsk experiments and with the claimed lower bound on the effective Majorana neutrino mass in neutrinoless double beta decay from the Heidelberg-Moscow experiment.
In the context of three-flavor neutrino mixing, we present a thorough study of the phenomenological constraints applicable to three observables sensitive to absolute neutrino masses: The effective neutrino mass in Tritium beta decay (m_beta); the effective Majorana neutrino mass in neutrinoless double beta decay (m_2beta); and the sum of neutrino masses in cosmology (Sigma). We discuss the correlations among these variables which arise from the combination of all the available neutrino oscillation data, in both normal and inverse neutrino mass hierarchy. We set upper limits on m_beta by combining updated results from the Mainz and Troitsk experiments. We also consider the latest results on m_2beta from the Heidelberg-Moscow experiment, both with and without the lower bound claimed by such experiment. We derive upper limits on Sigma from an updated combination of data from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) satellite and the 2 degrees Fields (2dF) Galaxy Redshifts Survey, with and without Lyman-alpha forest data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), in models with a non-zero running of the spectral index of primordial inflationary perturbations. The results are discussed in terms of two-dimensional projections of the globally allowed region in the (m_beta,m_2beta,Sigma) parameter space, which neatly show the relative impact of each data set. In particular, the (in)compatibility between Sigma and m_2beta constraints is highlighted for various combinations of data. We also briefly discuss how future neutrino data (both oscillatory and non-oscillatory) can further probe the currently allowed regions.
Within the standard three-neutrino framework, the absolute neutrino masses and their ordering (either normal, NO, or inverted, IO) are currently unknown. However, the combination of current data coming from oscillation experiments, neutrinoless double beta decay searches, and cosmological surveys, can provide interesting constraints for such unknowns in the sub-eV mass range, down to O(0.1) eV in some cases. We discuss current limits on absolute neutrino mass observables by performing a global data analysis, that includes the latest results from oscillation experiments, neutrinoless double beta decay bounds from the KamLAND-Zen experiment, and constraints from representative combinations of Planck measurements and other cosmological data sets. In general, NO appears to be somewhat favored with respect to IO at the level of ~2 sigma, mainly by neutrino oscillation data (especially atmospheric), corroborated by cosmological data in some cases. Detailed constraints are obtained via the chi^2 method, by expanding the parameter space either around separate minima in NO and IO, or around the absolute minimum in any ordering. Implications for upcoming oscillation and non-oscillation neutrino experiments, including beta-decay searches, are also discussed.
Upper limits on neutrino masses from cosmology have been reported recently to reach the impressive sub-eV level, which is competitive with future terrestrial neutrino experiments. In this brief overview of the latest limits from cosmology I point out some of the caveats that should be borne in mind when interpreting the significance of these limits.
The weak lensing (WL) distortions of distant galaxy images are sensitive to neutrino masses by probing the suppression effect on clustering strengths of total matter in large-scale structure. We use the latest measurement of WL correlations, the CFHTLS data, to explore constraints on neutrino masses. We find that, while the WL data alone cannot place a stringent limit on neutrino masses due to parameter degeneracies, the constraint can be significantly improved when combined with other cosmological probes, the WMAP 5-year (WMAP5) data and the distance measurements of type-Ia supernovae (SNe) and baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO). The upper bounds on the sum of neutrino masses are m_tot = 1.1, 0.76 and 0.54 eV (95% CL) for WL+WMAP5, WMAP5+SNe+BAO, and WL+WMAP5+SNe+BAO, respectively, assuming a flat LCDM model with finite-mass neutrinos. In deriving these constraints, our analysis includes the non-Gaussian covariances of the WL correlation functions to properly take into account significant correlations between different angles.
We revisit our previous work [Phys. Rev. D 95, 096014 (2017)] where neutrino oscillation and nonoscillation data were analyzed in the standard framework with three neutrino families, in order to constrain their absolute masses and to probe their ordering (either normal, NO, or inverted, IO). We include updated oscillation results to discuss best fits and allowed ranges for the two squared mass differences $delta m^2$ and $Delta m^2$, the three mixing angles $theta_{12}$, $theta_{23}$ and $theta_{13}$, as well as constraints on the CP-violating phase $delta$, plus significant indications in favor of NO vs IO at the level of $Deltachi^2=10.0$. We then consider nonoscillation data from beta decay, from neutrinoless double beta decay (if neutrinos are Majorana), and from various cosmological input variants (in the data or the model) leading to results dubbed as default, aggressive, and conservative. In the default option, we obtain from nonoscillation data an extra contribution $Deltachi^2 = 2.2$ in favor of NO, and an upper bound on the sum of neutrino masses $Sigma < 0.15$ eV at $2sigma$; both results - dominated by cosmology - can be strengthened or weakened by using more aggressive or conservative options, respectively. Taking into account such variations, we find that the combination of all (oscillation and nonoscillation) neutrino data favors NO at the level of $3.2-3.7sigma$, and that $Sigma$ is constrained at the $2sigma$ level within $Sigma < 0.12-0.69$ eV. The upper edge of this allowed range corresponds to an effective $beta$-decay neutrino mass $m_beta = Sigma/3 = 0.23$ eV, at the sensitivity frontier of the KATRIN experiment.