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.

"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"--

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.

Following the discovery of the Higgs boson, Frank Close has produced this major revision to his classic and compelling introduction to the fundamental particles that make up the universe.

The physics of neutrinos--uncharged elementary particles that are key to helping us better understand the nature of our universe--is one of the most exciting frontiers of modern science. This book provides a comprehensive overview of neutrino physics today and explores promising new avenues of inquiry that could lead to future breakthroughs. The Physics of Neutrinos begins with a concise history of the field and a tutorial on the fundamental properties of neutrinos, and goes on to discuss how the three neutrino types interchange identities as they propagate from their sources to detectors. The book shows how studies of neutrinos produced by such phenomena as cosmic rays in the atmosphere and nuclear reactions in the solar interior provide striking evidence that neutrinos have mass, and it traces our astounding progress in deciphering the baffling experimental findings involving neutrinos. The discovery of neutrino mass offers the first indication of a new kind of physics that goes beyond the Standard Model of elementary particles, and this book considers the unanticipated patterns in the masses and mixings of neutrinos in the framework of proposed new theoretical models. The Physics of Neutrinos maps out the ambitious future facilities and experiments that will advance our knowledge of neutrinos, and explains why the way forward in solving the outstanding questions in neutrino science will require the collective efforts of particle physics, nuclear physics, astrophysics, and cosmology.

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.

The book provides a comprehensive account of particle physics linking various aspects of particle physics in a coherent manner. This self-contained book not only cover basic concepts and recent developments but also overlaps between Astrophysics, Cosmology and Particle Physics, known as astroparticle physics. Several appendices are included to make the book self-contained.

A clear and concise introduction to nuclear physics suitable for a core undergraduate physics course.

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.