arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to N. Sasao.
We propose a new method of producing neutrino pair beam that consists of a mixture of neutrinos and anti-neutrinos of all flavors. The idea is based on a coherent neutrino pair emission from excited ions in circular motion. High energy gamma ray much beyond the keV range may also be produced by a different choice of excited level.
A scheme of quantum electrodynamic (QED) background-free radiative emission of neutrino pair (RENP) is proposed in order to achieve precision determination of neutrino properties so far not accessible. The important point for the background rejection is the fact that the dispersion relation between wave vector along propagating direction in wave guide (and in a photonic-crystal type fiber) and frequency is modified by a discretized non-vanishing effective mass. This effective mass acts as a cutoff of allowed frequencies, and one may select the RENP photon energy region free of all macro-coherently amplified QED processes by choosing the cutoff larger than the mass of neutrinos.
We describe a novel photon detector which operates under an intense flux of neutrons. It is composed of lead-aerogel sandwich counter modules. Its salient features are high photon detection efficiency and blindness to neutrons. As a result of Monte Carlo (MC) simulations, the efficiency for photons with the energy larger than 1 GeV is expected to be higher than 99.5% and that for 2 GeV/$c$ neutrons less than 1%. The performance on the photon detection under such a large flux of neutrons was measured for a part of the detector. It was confirmed that the efficiency to photons with the energy $>$1 GeV was consistent with the MC expectation within 8.2% uncertainty.
The cosmic background neutrino of temperature 1.9 K affects rates of radiative emission of neutrino pair (RENP) from metastable excited atoms, since its presence blocks the pair emission by the Pauli exclusion principle. We quantitatively investigate how the Pauli blocking distorts the photon energy spectrum and calculate its sensitivity to cosmic parameters such as the neutrino temperature and its chemical potential. Important quantities for high sensitivities to these parameter measurement are found to be the level spacing of atomic de-excitation and the unknown mass value of lightest neutrino, in particular their mutual relation.
We derive for the first time fundamental equations that describe soliton spatial profiles consisting of two-photon mode fields and macroscopic polarization of medium. Numerical solutions of this basic equation are presented to give single and multiple soliton chains taking an example of para-H$_2$ $v=0 \leftrightarrow 1$ vibrational system. Although effects of dissipative relaxation are included in the general form for two-level system, the existence of static soliton-condensate is established. Stability analysis of soliton solutions is given. Arguments given here support that soliton-condensates thus derived are final remnants of time evolution of macro-coherent two-photon process. These soliton-condensates are expected to be important in the proposed neutrino mass spectroscopy using atoms.
Metastable excited states ${}^3P_2, {}^3P_0$ of heavy alkaline earth atoms of even isotopes are studied for parity violating (PV) effects in radiative emission of neutrino pair (RENP). PV terms arise from interference between two diagrams containing neutrino pair emission of valence spin current and nuclear electroweak charge density proportional to the number of neutrons in nucleus. This mechanism gives large PV effects, since it does not suffer from the suppression of 1/(electron mass) usually present for non-relativistic atomic electrons. A controllable magnetic field is crucial to identify RENP process by measuring PV observables. Results of PV asymmetries under the magnetic field reversal and the photon circular polarization reversal are presented for an example of Yb atom.
Macro-coherent atomic de-excitation involving a neutrino pair emission, radiative emission of neutrino pair (RENP) $|e\rangle \rightarrow |g\rangle + γ+ν_i ν_j$ (with $γ$ a photon and $ν_i$ a neutrino mass eigenstate), is a new experimental tool to determine undetermined neutrino parameters such as the smallest neutrino mass and distinction of Majorana and Dirac neutrinos. The best way to prove that the atomic RENP process accompanied by unseen neutrino pair involves weak interaction is to measure parity violating (PV) quantities. We quantitatively study how this is achieved. The basic mechanism of how a favorable situation for PV may arise from the fundamental electroweak theory (extended to incorporate finite neutrino masses) is emphasized and calculation of dependence of PV observables on applied magnetic field is worked out for heavy target atoms of alkaline earth like level structure such as Sr, Yb, Hg, Xe. Numerically calculated parity violating rates and asymmetry are presented for Yb $J=2 \rightarrow 0$ and $J=0 \rightarrow 0$ RENP.
It is proposed to use the isomer ionic ground state $^{229m}$Th$^{4+}$ embedded in transparent crystals for precision determination of unknown neutrino parameters. Isolation from solid environment of the proposed nuclear process, along with available experimental techniques of atomic physics, has a great potentiality for further study.
Radiative emission of neutrino pair (RENP) from atomic states is a new tool to experimentally investigate undetermined neutrino parameters such as the smallest neutrino mass, the nature of neutrino masses (Majorana vs Dirac), and their CP properties. We study effects of neutrino pair emission either from nucleus or from inner core electrons in which the zero-th component of quark or electron vector current gives rise to large coupling. Both the overall rate and the spectral shape of photon energy are given for a few cases of interesting target atoms. Calculated rates exceed those of previously considered target atoms by many orders of magnitudes.
The process of collective de-excitation of atoms in a metastable level into emission mode of a single photon plus a neutrino pair, called radiative emission of neutrino pair (RENP), is sensitive to the absolute neutrino mass scale, to the neutrino mass hierarchy and to the nature (Dirac or Majorana) of massive neutrinos. We investigate how the indicated neutrino mass and mixing observables can be determined from the measurement of the corresponding continuous photon spectrum taking the example of a transition between specific levels of the Yb atom. The possibility of determining the nature of massive neutrinos and, if neutrinos are Majorana fermions, of obtaining information about the Majorana phases in the neutrino mixing matrix, is analyzed in the cases of normal hierarchical, inverted hierarchical and quasi-degenerate types of neutrino mass spectrum. We find, in particular, that the sensitivity to the nature of massive neutrinos depends critically on the atomic level energy difference relevant in the RENP.
We develop for dipole-forbidden transition a dynamical theory of two-photon paired superradiance, or PSR for short. This is a cooperative process characterized by two photons back to back emitted with equal energies. By irradiation of trigger laser from two target ends, with its frequency tuned at the half energy between two levels, a macroscopically coherent state of medium and fields dynamically emerges as time evolves and large signal of amplified output occurs with a time delay. The basic semi-classical equations in 1+1 spacetime dimensions are derived for the field plus medium system to describe the spacetime evolution of the entire system, and numerically solved to demonstrate existence of both explosive and weak PSR phenomena in the presence of relaxation terms. The explosive PSR event terminates accompanying a sudden release of most energy stored in the target. Our numerical simulations are performed using a vibrational transition $X^1Σ_g^+ v=1 \rightarrow 0$ of para-H$_2$ molecule, and taking many different excited atom number densities and different initial coherences between the metastable and the ground states. In an example of number density close to $O[10^{21}]$cm$^{-3}$ and of high initial coherence, the explosive event terminates at several nano seconds after the trigger irradiation, when the phase relaxation time of $> O[10]$ ns is taken. After PSR events the system is expected to follow a steady state solution which is obtained by analytic means, and is made of many objects of field condensates endowed with a topological stability.
The rare decay K0(L) --> pi0 pi0 nu nu-bar was studied with the E391a detector at the KEK 12-GeV proton synchrotron. Based on 9.4 x 10^9 K0L decays, an upper limit of 8.1 x 10^{-7} was obtained for the branching fraction at 90% confidence level. We also set a limit on the K0(L) --> pi0 pi0 X (X --> invisible particles) process; the limit on the branching fraction varied from 7.0 x 10^{-7} to 4.0 x 10^{-5} for the mass of X ranging from 50 MeV/c^2 to 200 MeV/c^2.
We performed a search for the decay $K_L^0 \rightarrow 3γ$ with the E391a detector at KEK. In the data accumulated in 2005, no event was observed in the signal region. Based on the assumption of $K_L^0 \rightarrow 3γ$ proceeding via parity-violation, we obtained the single event sensitivity to be $(3.23\pm0.14)\times10^{-8}$, and set an upper limit on the branching ratio to be $7.4\times10^{-8}$ at the 90% confidence level. This is a factor of 3.2 improvement compared to the previous results. The results of $K_L^0 \rightarrow 3γ$ proceeding via parity-conservation were also presented in this paper.
We report on a possibility of measuring parity violating effects in radiative neutrino pair emission from metastable atoms; asymmetric angular distribution of emitted photons from oriented atoms and emergent circular polarization. Their observation, along with the continuous photon energy spectrum which has 6 thresholds, may be interpreted as events being a combined weak and QED process, emission of $γν_i ν_j$ in the final state. The method may greatly help to perform neutrino mass spectroscopy using atoms, a systematic determination of the neutrino mass matrix.
We performed a search for a light pseudoscalar particle $X$ in the decay $K_L^0->pi0pi0X$, $X->γγ$ with the E391a detector at KEK. Such a particle with a mass of 214.3 MeV/$c^2$ was suggested by the HyperCP experiment. We found no evidence for $X$ and set an upper limit on the product branching ratio for $K_L^0->pi0pi0X$, $X->γγ$ of $2.4 \times 10^{-7}$ at the 90% confidence level. Upper limits on the branching ratios in the mass region of $X$ from 194.3 to 219.3 MeV/$c^2$ are also presented.
We consider atomic system of $Λ-$type 3-level coupled to 2 mode fields, and derive an effective Maxwell-Bloch equation designed for two photon emission between two lower levels. We find axially symmetric, topologically stable soliton solutions made of condensed fields. Immediate implication of soliton formation to radiative neutrino pair emission is to enhance its rate, larger than the usual $\propto N^2$ factor of target number dependence, along with another merit of increasing the signal to the background photon emission.
The best method of measuring CP violating effect in neutrino oscillation experiments is to construct and use a neutrino beam made of an ideal mixture of $\barν_e$ and $ν_e$ of monochromatic lines. The conceptual design of such a beam is described, together with how to measure the CP-odd quantity. We propose to exploit an accelerated unstable hydrogen-like heavy ion in a storage ring, whose decay has both electron capture and bound beta decay with a comparable fraction.
We discuss a possibility of detecting a coherent photon pair emission and related radiative neutrino pair emission from excited atoms. It is shown that atoms of lambda- and ladder-type three level system placed in a pencil-like cylinder give a back to back emission of two photons of equal energy $Δ/2$, sharply peaked with a width $\propto $ 1/(target size) and well collimated along the cylinder axis. This process has a measurable rate $\propto$ (target number density) $^2 \times$ target volume, while a broader spectral feature of one-photon distribution separated by (mass sum of a neutrino pair)$^2/(2Δ)$ from the two photon peak may arise from radiative neutrino pair emission, with a much smaller rate.