arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to P. Ramond.
These reports present the results of the 2013 Community Summer Study of the APS Division of Particles and Fields ("Snowmass 2013") on the future program of particle physics in the U.S. Chapter 1 contains the Executive Summary and the summaries of the reports of the nine working groups.
During 2004, four divisions of the American Physical Society commissioned a study of neutrino physics to take stock of where the field is at the moment and where it is going in the near and far future. Several working groups looked at various aspects of this vast field. The summary was published as a main report entitled ``The Neutrino Matrix'' accompanied by short 50 page versions of the report of each working group. Theoretical research in this field has been quite extensive and touches many areas and the short 50 page report provided only a brief summary and overview of few of the important points. The theory discussion group felt that it may be of value to the community to publish the entire study as a white paper and the result is the current article. After a brief overview of the present knowledge of neutrino masses and mixing and some popular ways to probe the new physics implied by recent data, the white paper summarizes what can be learned about physics beyond the Standard Model from the various proposed neutrino experiments. It also comments on the impact of the experiments on our understanding of the origin of the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the Universe and the basic nature of neutrino interactions as well as the existence of possible additional neutrinos. Extensive references to original literature are provided.
After a brief overview of the present knowledge of neutrino masses and mixing, we summarize what can be learned about physics beyond the standard model from the various proposed neutrino experiments. We also comment on the impact of the experiments on our understanding of the origin of the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the Universe as well as what can be learned from some experiments outside the domain of neutrinos.
While most theorists are tied to the mast of four dimensions, some have found it irresistible to speculate about eleven dimensions, the domain of M-theory. We outline a program which starts from the light-cone description of supergravity, and tracks its divergences to suggest the existence of an infinite component theory which in the light-cone relies on the coset $F_4/SO(9)$, long known to be linked to the Exceptional Jordan Algebra.
The Seesaw mechanism predicted tiny neutrino masses by postulating a new large scale in particle physics, using new theoretical ideas prompted by the Standard Model. It adds credence to a theoretical vista that is a quarter century old, and fits with the most endearing speculations of ultimate unification. By relating the measurement of static neutrino properties to near-Planck physics, it may even prove key to solving the riddles of flavor.
The prediction of small neutrino masses through the Seesaw Mechanism and their subsequent measurement suggests that the natural cut-off of the Standard Model is very high indeed. The recent neutrino data must be interpreted as a reflection of physics at very high energy. We examine their implications in terms of ideas of Grand Unification and Supersymmetry, and as possible hints for a unified theory of flavor.
We relate the MNS and CKM mixing matrices using ideas from grand unification. We catalog models in terms of the family symmetries of the down quark mass matrices, and emphasize the role of the Cabibbo angle in the lepton mixing matrix. We find a large class of models with an observable CHOOZ angle \sim λ/\sqrt{2}
After recalling some elegant contributions of the late Freydoon Mansouri, we turn to neutrino physics and use a {\it modicum} of grand unification to relate quark and lepton mixing matrices. We advocate an expansion for the MNS matrix, {\it à la} Wolfenstein, and argue that in a wide class of models, $θ_{13}$ is a Cabibbo mixing effect. Also the large neutrino mixing angles reflect the mass patterns of the right-handed neutrinos near the Planck scale, and provide evidence for family structure at that scale.
One hundred years after its creator's birth, the Dirac equation stands as the cornerstone of XXth Century physics. But it is much more, as it carries the seeds of supersymmetry. Dirac also invented the light-cone, or "front form" dynamics, which plays a crucial role in string theory and in elucidating the finiteness of N=4 Yang-Mills theory. The light-cone structure of eleven-dimensional supergravity (N=8 supergravity in four dimensions) suggests a group-theoretical interpretation of its divergences. We speculate they could be compensated by an infinite number of triplets of massless higher spin fields, each obeying a Dirac-like equation associated with the coset $F_4/SO(9)$. The divergences are proportional to the trace over a non-compact structure containing the compact form of $F_4$. Its nature is still unknown, but it could show the way to $M$-theory.
Some massless supermultiplets appear as the trivial solution of Kostant's equation, a Dirac-like equation over special cosets. We study two examples; one over the coset SU(3)/SU(2) times U(1) contains the N=2 hypermultiplet in (3+1) dimensions with U(1) as helicity; the other over the coset F_4/SO(9) describes the N=1 supermultiplet in eleven dimensions, where SO(9) is the light-cone little group. We present the general solutions to Kostant's equation for both cases; they describe massless physical states of arbitrary spins which display the same relations as the fields in the supermultiplets. They come in sets of three representations called Euler triplets, but do not display supersymmetry although the number of bosons and fermions is the same when spin-statistics is satisfied. We build the free light-cone Lagrangian for both cases.
Fundamental questions in neutrino physics are likely to be resolved by upcoming experiments. Neutrino masses require either new Higgs particles or sterile neutrinos. Their masses, couplings, and habitat are yet to be determined. Neutrino physics is particularly sensitive to brane ideas as the extra particles are electroweak singlets and may free-range in the bulk. We outline some of the important theoretical ideas for generating neutrino masses, and how experiments will affect their longevity.
No abstract appeared in the Proceedings, but I am adding the following summary at the request of the X^3 people: The idea of neutrino masses is discussed in the context of grand unified theories., and various scenarios are presented, including the seesaw mechanism. At the end, preference is stated for maximal mixing between $ν_μ$ and $ν_τ$, and small mixing with $ν_e$.
The recent discovery by SuperKamiokande of evidence for neutrino masses requires the addition of at least seven new parameters to the Standard Model. We discuss the general theoretical schemes which require their inclusion, and point out how quark-lepton symmetries, either in the framework of Grand Unification, or of string theories, can be used to determine them
We discuss current theoretical and experimental issues associated with the recent SuperKamiokande discovery. We survey theoretical models for predictings the new Standard Model parameters needed to explain this discovery, and point out how quark-lepton symmetries, either in the framework of Grand Unification, or of string theories, can be used to determine them.
The central role of neutrinos in the determination of fundamental interactions is reviewed. The recent SuperKamiokande discovery of neutrino mass gives an {\it aper\c cu} of physics at short distances, and tests theories of flavor. Quark-lepton symmetries, derived from grand unification and/or string theories, can help determine the standard model parameters in the neutrino sector.
Current theoretical and experimental issues are reviewed in the light of the recent SuperKamiokande discovery. By using quark-lepton symmetries, derived from Grand Unification and/or string theories, we show how to determine the necessary neutrino parameters. In addition, the seesaw neutrino masses set the scale for the proton decay operators by ``measuring'' the standard model cut-off. The SuperKamiokande values suggest that proton decay is likely to be observed early in the XXIst Century.
After a brief historical survey that emphasizes the role of the algebra obeyed by the Dirac operator, we examine an algebraic Dirac operator associated with Lie algebras and Lie algebra cosets. For symmetric cosets, its ``massless'' solutions display non-relativistic supersymmetry, and can be identified with the massless degrees of freedom of some supersymmetric theories: N=1 supergravity in eleven dimensions (M-theory), type IIB string theory in ten and four dimensions, and in four dimensions, N=8 supergravity, N=4 super-Yang-Mills, and the N=1 Wess-Zumino multiplet. By generalizing this Dirac operator to the affine case, we generate superconformal algebras associated with cosets ${\bf g}/\bf h$, where $\bf h$ contains the {\it space} little group. Only for eleven dimensional supergravity is $\bf h$ simple. This suggests, albeit in a non-relativistic setting, that these may be the limit of theories with underlying two-dimensional superconformal structure.
We review the known ways of incorporating and breaking symmetries in a renormalizable way. We summarize the various grand unified theories based on $SU_5, SO_{10}$, and $E_6$ as family enlargement groups. An $SU_5$ model with an $SU_2$ gauged family group is presented as an illustration. In it, the e-family (i.e., e,u and d) is classically massless and acquires calculable mass corrections. The family group is broken by the same agent that does the superstrong breaking. Finally, we sketch a way of unifying the family group with $SU_5$ into $SU_8$.