arXiv subjects

Davide Meloni

Publications and source records attributed to Davide Meloni.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2015

On Bimaximal Neutrino Mixing and GUT's

We briefly discuss the present status of models of neutrino mixing. Among the existing viable options we review the virtues of Bimaximal Mixing (that could be implemented by an $S_4$ discrete symmetry), corrected by terms arising from the charged lepton mass diagonalization. In particular in a GUT formulation the property of quark lepton "weak" complementarity can be naturally realized. We discuss in some detail two new versions of particular GUT models, one based on $SU(5)$ and one on $SO(10)$ and the associated phenomenology. We compare these approaches based on symmetry to models based on chance, like Anarchy or $U(1)_{FN}$.

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arXiv2015

Leptogenesis in SO(10)

We consider $SO(10)$ Grand Unified Theories (GUTs) with vacuum expectation values (vevs) for fermion masses in the $\mathbf{10} + \mathbf{\overline{126}}$ representation. We show that the baryon asymmetry generated via leptogenesis is completely determined in terms of measured low energy observables and of one single high energy parameter related to the ratio of the $\mathbf{10}$ and $\mathbf{\overline{126}}$ $SU(2)$ doublet vevs. We identify new decay channels for the heavy Majorana neutrinos into $SU(2)$ singlet leptons $e^c$ which can sizeably affect the size of the resulting baryon asymmetry. We describe how to equip $SO(10)$ fits to low energy data with the additional constraint of successful leptogenesis, and we apply this procedure to the fits carried out in ref.~\cite{Dueck:2013gca}. We show that a baryon asymmetry in perfect agreement with observations is obtained.

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arXiv2014

A new physics interpretation of the IceCube data

IceCube has recently observed 37 events of TeV-PeV energies. The angular distribution, with a strong preference for downgoing directions, the spectrum, and the small muon to shower ratio in the data can not be accommodated assuming standard interactions of atmospheric neutrinos. We obtain an excellent fit, however, if a diffuse flux of ultrahigh energy (cosmogenic) neutrinos experiences collisions where only a small fraction of the energy is transferred to the target nucleon. We show that consistent models of TeV gravity or other non-Wilsonian completions of the standard model provide cross sections with these precise features. An increased statistics could clearly distinguish our scenario from the one assumed by IceCube (a diffuse flux of astrophysical neutrinos with a E^{-2} spectrum) and establish the need for new physics in the interpretation of the data.

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arXiv2014

Constraining Sterile Neutrinos Using Reactor Neutrino Experiments

Models of neutrino mixing involving one or more sterile neutrinos have resurrected their importance in the light of recent cosmological data. In this case, reactor antineutrino experiments offer an ideal place to look for signatures of sterile neutrinos due to their impact on neutrino flavor transitions. In this work, we show that the high-precision data of the Daya Bay experi\-ment constrain the 3+1 neutrino scenario imposing upper bounds on the relevant active-sterile mixing angle $\sin^2 2 θ_{14} \lesssim 0.06$ at 3$σ$ confidence level for the mass-squared difference $Δm^2_{41}$ in the range $(10^{-3},10^{-1}) \, {\rm eV^2}$. The latter bound can be improved by six years of running of the JUNO experiment, $\sin^22θ_{14} \lesssim 0.016$, although in the smaller mass range $ Δm^2_{41} \in (10^{-4} ,10^{-3}) \, {\rm eV}^2$. We have also investigated the impact of sterile neutrinos on precision measurements of the standard neutrino oscillation parameters $θ_{13}$ and $Δm^2_{31}$ (at Daya Bay and JUNO), $θ_{12}$ and $Δm^2_{21}$ (at JUNO), and most importantly, the neutrino mass hierarchy (at JUNO). We find that, except for the obvious situation where $Δm^2_{41}\sim Δm^2_{31}$, sterile states do not affect these measurements substantially.

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arXiv2014

A Bayesian comparison of U(1) lepton flavour models

Whether the anarchical ansatz or more symmetric structures best describe the neutrino parameters is a long standing question that underwent a revival of interest after the discovery of a non- vanishing reactor angle and the indication of a non-maximal atmospheric angle. In this letter, a Bayesian statistical approach is adopted in order to analyse and compare the two hypotheses within the context of U(1) flavour models. We study the constraints on individual model parameters and perform model comparison: the results elect constructions with built-in hierarchies among the matrix elements as preferred over the anarchical ones, with values of the evidence that depends slightly on whether the U(1) charges are also considered as free parameters or not, and on the priors used.

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arXiv2014

Heavy neutrino decays at MiniBooNE

It has been proposed that a sterile neutrino ν_h with m_h \approx 50 MeV and a dominant decay mode (ν_h -> νγ) may be the origin of the experimental anomaly observed at LSND. We define a particular model that could also explain the MiniBooNE excess consistently with the data at other neutrino experiments (radiative muon capture at TRIUMF, T2K, or single photon at NOMAD). The key ingredients are (i) its long lifetime (τ_h\approx 3-7x10^{-9} s), which introduces a 1/E dependence with the event energy, and (ii) its Dirac nature, which implies a photon preferably emitted opposite to the beam direction and further reduces the event energy at MiniBooNE. We show that these neutrinos are mostly produced through electromagnetic interactions with nuclei, and that T2K observations force BR(ν_h -> ν_τγ) \le 0.01 \approx BR(ν_h -> ν_μγ). The scenario implies then the presence of a second sterile neutrino ν_{h'} which is lighter, longer lived and less mixed with the standard flavors than ν_h. Since such particle would be copiously produced in air showers through (ν_h -> ν_{h'}γ) decays, we comment on the possible contamination that its photon-mediated elastic interactions with matter could introduce in dark matter experiments.

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arXiv2013

Checking Flavour Models at Neutrino Facilities

In the recent years, the industry of model building has been the subject of the intense activity, especially after the measurement of a relatively large values of the reactor angle. Special attention has been devoted to the use of non-abelian discrete symmetries, thanks to their ability of reproducing some of the relevant features of the neutrino mixing matrix. In this paper, we consider two special relations between the leptonic mixing angles, arising from models based on S4 and A4, and study whether, and to which extent, they can be distinguished at superbeam facilities, namely T2K, NOvA and T2HK.

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arXiv2013

Neutrino Mass from a d=7 Effective Operator in a SUSY-GUT Framework

Models, where neutrino mass originates from physics at the TeV scale and which are potentially testable at the LHC, need additional suppression mechanisms to describe the smallness of neutrino masses. We consider models in which neutrino mass is generated from the d=7 operator $L L H_u H_u H_d H_u$ in the context of SUSY-GUTs containing an SU(5) subgroup, here the d=5 Weinberg operator can be forbidden by a discrete symmetry. That is, we identify the embeddings in GUT multiplets and their consequences for phenomenology and renormalization group evolution. We use a specific example to exemplify the challenges. In this case, additional heavy d-quarks are predicted, which are constrained by cosmology, in particular, by big bang nucleosynthesis and direct searches for heavy nuclei. We show that in the NMSSM extension of the model, the discrete symmetry needs to be broken, which can be the origin of deviations from tri-bimaximal mixings. Finally we demonstrate that our example is the only tree level decomposition which is consistent with perturbativity up to the GUT scale and neutrino mass generation by a leading d=7 contribution.

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arXiv2013

A non Supersymmetric SO(10) Grand Unified Model for All the Physics below $M_{GUT}$

We present a renormalizable non supersymmetric Grand Unified SO(10) model which, at the price of a large fine tuning, is compatible with all compelling phenomenological requirements below the unification scale and thus realizes a minimal extension of the SM, unified in SO(10) and describing all known physics below $M_{GUT}$. These requirements include coupling unification at a large enough scale to be compatible with the bounds on proton decay; a Yukawa sector in agreement with all the data on quark and lepton masses and mixings and with leptogenesis as the origin of the baryon asymmetry of the Universe; an axion arising from the Higgs sector of the model, suitable to solve the strong CP problem and to account for the observed amount of Dark Matter. The above constraints imposed by the data are very stringent and single out a particular breaking chain with the Pati-Salam group at an intermediate scale $M_I\sim10^{11}$ GeV.

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arXiv2012

Leptonic CP violation at neutrino telescopes

With the advent of the recent measurements in neutrino physics, we investigate the role of high-energy neutrino flux ratios at neutrino telescopes for the possibility of determining the leptonic CP-violating phase δand the underlying pattern of the leptonic mixing matrix. We find that the flux ratios show a dependence of O(10 %) on the CP-violating phase, and for optimistic uncertainties on the flux ratios less than 10 %, they can be used to distinguish between CP-conserving and CP-violating values of the phase at 2σin a non-vanishing interval around the maximal value |δ|=π/2.

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arXiv2012

Non-standard interactions versus non-unitary lepton flavor mixing at a neutrino factory

The impact of heavy mediators on neutrino oscillations is typically described by non-standard four-fermion interactions (NSIs) or non-unitarity (NU). We focus on leptonic dimension-six effective operators which do not produce charged lepton flavor violation. These operators lead to particular correlations among neutrino production, propagation, and detection non-standard effects. We point out that these NSIs and NU phenomenologically lead, in fact, to very similar effects for a neutrino factory, for completely different fundamental reasons. We discuss how the parameters and probabilities are related in this case, and compare the sensitivities. We demonstrate that the NSIs and NU can, in principle, be distinguished for large enough effects at the example of non-standard effects in the $μ$-$τ$-sector, which basically corresponds to differentiating between scalars and fermions as heavy mediators as leading order effect. However, we find that a near detector at superbeams could provide very synergistic information, since the correlation between source and matter NSIs is broken for hadronic neutrino production, while NU is a fundamental effect present at any experiment.

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arXiv2012

S3 as a flavour symmetry for quarks and leptons after the Daya Bay result on θ13

We present a model based on the flavour group S3 X Z3 X Z6 to explain the main features of fermion masses and mixing. In particular, in the neutrino sector the breaking of the S3 symmetry is responsible for a naturally small r=Δm^2_sol/Δm^2_atm and suitable next-to-leading order corrections bring θ13 at the level of ~ 0.13, fully compatible with the recent Daya Bay result. In the quark sector, the model accommodates the different mass hierarchies in the up and down quark sectors as well as the Cabibbo angle and Vcb (or Vub, depending on the charge assignment of the right-handed b-quark) in the correct range.

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arXiv2012

Large theta_13 from a model with broken L_e-L_mu-L_tau symmetry

Recent data in the neutrino sector point towards a relatively large value of the reactor angle, incompatible with a vanishing theta_ 13 at about 3 sigma. In order to explain such a result, we propose a SUSY model based on the broken L_e-L_mu-L_tau symmetry, where large deviations from the symmetric limit theta_12 = pi/4, tan(theta_23) \sim O(1) and theta_13 = 0 mainly come from the charged lepton sector. We show that a description of all neutrino data is possible if the charged lepton mass matrix has a special pattern of complex matrix elements.

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arXiv2011

A Model for Tri-bimaximal Mixing from a Completely Broken $A_4$

We propose a new $A_4$ model in which both the right-handed neutrinos and right-handed charged leptons transform as $A_4$ singlets. We reproduce tri-bimaximal mixing pattern exactly although the $A_4$ symmetry is broken completely at leading order in both the neutrino and charged lepton sectors. The charged lepton mass hierarchies are controlled by the spontaneous breaking of the flavor symmetry. The light neutrino spectrum is predicted to be of normal type and the lightest neutrino is massless at leading order. Although the reactor angle $θ_{13}$ is expected to be of order $λ^2_c$ from the next to leading order corrections, this model cannot be ruled out by current experimental data including the latest T2K results. Leptogenesis is realized via the resonant leptogenesis of the second and the third heavy right-handed neutrinos which are degenerate at leading order. The phenomenological consequences for lepton flavor violation are discussed in detail.

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arXiv2011

Bimaximal mixing and large theta13 in a SUSY SU(5) model based on S4

The recent analyses of the world neutrino data, including the T2K and MINOS results, point toward a statistically significant deviation of theta13 from zero. In this paper we present a SUSY SU(5) model based on the discrete S4 group which predicts a large theta13 of order lambdaC, lambdaC being the Cabibbo angle. The other mixing angles in the neutrino sector are all compatible with current experimental data. In the quark sector, the entries of the CKM mixing matrix as well as the mass hierarchies in both up and down quark sectors are well reproduced and only a small enhancement is needed to reproduce lambdaC.

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arXiv2011

Impact of nuclear effects in the measurement of neutrino oscillation parameters

In recent years the experimental study of neutrino oscillations has much contributed to our knowledge of particle physics by establishing non vanishing neutrino masses and by measuring or constraining the corresponding mixing angles. Within the domain of neutrino oscillations, the main goal of the next generation of facilities is the measurement of the mixing angle theta13 and the observation of leptonic CP violation, for which we have no hints at the moment. We discuss more in detail how various models of neutrino-nucleus cross section affect the forecasted precision measurement of theta13 and the CP violating phase delta.

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arXiv2011

Perturbing exactly tri-bimaximal neutrino mixings with charged lepton mass matrices

We study perturbations of exactly tri-bimaximal neutrino mixings under the assumption that they are coming solely from the charged lepton mass matrix. This may be plausible in scenarios where the mass generation mechanisms of neutrinos and charged leptons/quarks have a different origin. As a working hypothesis, we assume mass textures which may be generated by the Froggatt-Nielsen mechanism for the charged lepton and quark sectors, which generically leads to strong hierarchies, whereas the neutrino sector is exactly tri-bimaximal with a mild (normal) hierarchy. We find that in this approach, deviations from maximal atmospheric mixing can be introduced without affecting theta_13 and theta_12, whereas a deviation of theta_13 or theta_12 from its tri-bimaximal value will inevitably lead to a similar-sized deviation of the other parameter. Therefore, the already very precise knowledge of theta_12 points towards small sin^2(2 theta_13) <= 0.01. The magnitude of this deviation can be controlled by the specific form of the charged lepton texture.

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arXiv2011

Importance of nuclear effects in the measurement of neutrino oscillation parameters

We investigate how models for neutrino-nucleus cross sections based on different assumptions for the nuclear dynamics affect the forecasted sensitivities to neutrino oscillation parameters at future neutrino facilities. We limit ourselves to the quasi-elastic regime, where the neutrino cross sections can be evaluated with less uncertainties, and discuss the sensitivity reach to theta_{13} and the CP violation phase at a prototype low-gamma beta-beam, mostly sensitive to the quasi-elastic regime.

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