Theoretical estimates for the half life of neutrinoless double beta decay in candidate nuclei are affected by both particle and nuclear physics uncertainties, which may complicate the interpretation of decay signals or limits. We study such uncertain
ties and their degeneracies in the following context: three nuclei of great interest for large-scale experiments (76-Ge, 130-Te, 136-Xe), two representative particle physics mechanisms (light and heavy Majorana neutrino exchange), and a large set of nuclear matrix elements (NME), computed within the quasiparticle random phase approximation (QRPA). It turns out that the main theoretical uncertainties, associated with the effective axial coupling g_A and with the nucleon-nucleon potential, can be parametrized in terms of NME rescaling factors, up to small residuals. From this parametrization, the following QRPA features emerge: (1) the NME dependence on g_A is milder than quadratic; (2) in each of the two mechanisms, the relevant lepton number violating parameter is largely degenerate with the NME rescaling factors; and (3) the light and heavy neutrino exchange mechanisms are basically degenerate in the above three nuclei. We comment on the challenging theoretical and experimental improvements required to reduce such particle and nuclear physics uncertainties and their degeneracies.
We consider a simplifed model for self-induced flavor
The proposed PINGU project (Precision IceCube Next Generation Upgrade) is expected to collect O(10^5) atmospheric muon and electron neutrino in a few years of exposure, and to probe the neutrino mass hierarchy through its imprint on the event spectra
in energy and direction. In the presence of nonnegligible and partly unknown shape systematics, the analysis of high-statistics spectral variations will face subtle challenges that are largely unprecedented in neutrino physics. We discuss these issues both on general grounds and in the currently envisaged PINGU configuration, where we find that possible shape uncertainties at the (few) percent level can noticeably affect the sensitivity to the hierarchy. We also discuss the interplay between the mixing angle theta_23 and the PINGU sensitivity to the hierarchy. Our results suggest that more refined estimates of spectral uncertainties are needed in next-generation, large-volume atmospheric neutrino experiments.
Proposed medium-baseline reactor neutrino experiments offer unprecedented opportunities to probe, at the same time, the mass-mixing parameters which govern $ u_e$ oscillations both at short wavelength (delta m^2 and theta_{12}) and at long wavelength
(Delta m^2 and theta_{13}), as well as their tiny interference effects related to the mass hierarchy (i.e., the relative sign of Delta m^2 and delta m^2). In order to take full advantage of these opportunities, precision calculations and refined statistical analyses of event spectra are required. In such a context, we revisit several input ingredients, including: nucleon recoil in inverse beta decay and its impact on energy reconstruction and resolution, hierarchy and matter effects in the oscillation probability, spread of reactor distances, irreducible backgrounds from geoneutrinos and from far reactors, and degeneracies between energy scale and spectrum shape uncertainties. We also introduce a continuous parameter alpha, which interpolates smoothly between normal hierarchy (alpha=+1) and inverted hierarchy (alpha=-1). The determination of the hierarchy is then transformed from a test of hypothesis to a parameter estimation, with a sensitivity given by the distance of the true case (either alpha=+1 or alpha=-1) from the undecidable case (alpha=0). Numerical experiments are performed for the specific set up envisaged for the JUNO project, assuming a realistic sample of O(10^5) reactor events. We find a typical sensitivity of ~2 sigma to the hierarchy in JUNO, which, however, can be challenged by energy scale and spectrum shape systematics, whose possible conspiracy effects are investigated. The prospective accuracy reachable for the other mass-mixing parameters is also discussed.
We analyze the quantum Zeno dynamics that takes place when a field stored in a cavity undergoes frequent interactions with atoms. We show that repeated measurements or unitary operations performed on the atoms probing the field state confine the evol
ution to tailored subspaces of the total Hilbert space. This confinement leads to non-trivial field evolutions and to the generation of interesting non-classical states, including mesoscopic field state superpositions. We elucidate the main features of the quantum Zeno mechanism in the context of a state-of-the-art cavity quantum electrodynamics experiment. A plethora of effects is investigated, from state manipulations by phase space tweezers to nearly arbitrary state synthesis. We analyze in details the practical implementation of this dynamics and assess its robustness by numerical simulations including realistic experimental imperfections. We comment on the various perspectives opened by this proposal.
At the previous Venice meeting NO-VE 2008, we discussed possible hints in favor of a nonzero value for the unknown neutrino mixing angle theta(13), emerging from the combination of solar and long-baseline reactor data, as well as from the combination
of atmospheric, CHOOZ and long-baseline accelerator nu_mu->nu_mu data. Recent MINOS 2009 results in the nu_mu->nu_e appearance channel also seem to support such hints. A combination of all current oscillation data provides, as preferred range, sin^2 theta(13) = 0.02 +- 0.01 (1sigma). We review several issues raised by such hints in the last year, and comment on their possible near-future improvements and tests.
Half-life estimates for neutrinoless double beta decay depend on particle physics models for lepton flavor violation, as well as on nuclear physics models for the structure and transitions of candidate nuclei. Different models considered in the liter
ature can be contrasted - via prospective data - with a standard scenario characterized by light Majorana neutrino exchange and by the quasiparticle random phase approximation, for which the theoretical covariance matrix has been recently estimated. We show that, assuming future half-life data in four promising nuclei (Ge-76, Se-82, Te-130, and Xe-136), the standard scenario can be distinguished from a few nonstandard physics models, while being compatible with alternative state-of-the-art nuclear calculations (at 95% C.L.). Future signals in different nuclei may thus help to discriminate at least some decay mechanisms, without being spoiled by current nuclear uncertainties. Prospects for possible improvements are also discussed.
The variances and covariances associated to the nuclear matrix elements (NME) of neutrinoless double beta decay are estimated within the quasiparticle random phase approximation (QRPA). It is shown that correlated NME uncertainties play an important
role in the comparison of neutrinoless double beta decay rates for different nuclei, and that they are degenerate with the uncertainty in the reconstructed Majorana neutrino mass.
Nailing down the unknown neutrino mixing angle theta_13 is one of the most important goals in current lepton physics. In this context, we perform a global analysis of neutrino oscillation data, focusing on theta_13, and including recent results [Neut
rino 2008, Proceedings of the XXIII International Conference on Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics, Christchurch, New Zealand, 2008 (unpublished)]. We discuss two converging hints of theta_13>0, each at the level of ~1sigma: an older one coming from atmospheric neutrino data, and a newer one coming from the combination of solar and long-baseline reactor neutrino data. Their combination provides the global estimate sin^2(theta_13) = 0.016 +- 0.010 (1sigma), implying a preference for theta_13>0 with non-negligible statistical significance (~90% C.L.). We discuss possible refinements of the experimental data analyses, which might sharpen such intriguing indication.
We consider a class of finite Markov moment problems with arbitrary number of positive and negative branches. We show criteria for the existence and uniqueness of solutions, and we characterize in detail the non-unique solution families. Moreover, we
present a constructive algorithm to solve the moment problems numerically and prove that the algorithm computes the right solution.
