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arXiv · hep-ph/0211305

Decay of High-Energy Astrophysical Neutrinos

John F. Beacom·Nicole F. Bell·Dan Hooper·Sandip Pakvasa·Thomas J. Weiler
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Abstract

Existing limits on the non-radiative decay of one neutrino to another plus a massless particle (e.g., a singlet Majoron) are very weak. The best limits on the lifetime to mass ratio come from solar neutrino observations, and are $τ/m \agt 10^{-4}$ s/eV for the relevant mass eigenstate(s). For lifetimes even several orders of magnitude longer, high-energy neutrinos from distant astrophysical sources would decay. This would strongly alter the flavor ratios from the $ϕ_{ν_e}:ϕ_{ν_μ}:ϕ_{ν_τ} = 1:1:1$ expected from oscillations alone, and should be readily visible in the near future in detectors such as IceCube.

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John F. Beacom, Nicole F. Bell, Dan Hooper, Sandip Pakvasa, Thomas J. Weiler. 2003-04-09. Decay of High-Energy Astrophysical Neutrinos. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.90.181301

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