S. M. Lakshmi | Searcharxiv

arXiv2021

Neutrino propagation when mass eigenstates and decay eigenstates mismatch

We point out that the Hermitian and anti-Hermitian components of the effective Hamiltonian for decaying neutrinos cannot be simultaneously diagonalized by unitary transformations for all matter densities. We develop a formalism for the two-flavor neutrino propagation through matter of uniform density, for neutrino decay to invisible states. Employing a resummation of the Zassenhaus expansion, we obtain compact analytic expressions for neutrino survival and conversion probabilities, to first and second order in the "mismatch parameter" $\barγ$.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2017

Sensitivity to neutrino decay with atmospheric neutrinos at INO

Sensitivity of the magnetised Iron CALorimeter (ICAL) detector at the proposed India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) to invisible decay of the mass eigenstate $ν_3$ using atmospheric neutrinos is explored. A full three-generation analysis including earth matter effects is performed in a framework with both decay and oscillations. The wide energy range and baselines offered by atmospheric neutrinos are shown to be excellent for constraining the $ν_3$ lifetime. We find that with an exposure of 500 kton-yr the ICAL atmospheric experiment could constrain the $ν_3$ lifetime to $τ_3/m_3>1.51\times10^{-10}$ s/eV at the 90\% C.L. This is two orders of magnitude tighter than the bound from MINOS. The effect of invisible decay on the precision measurement of $θ_{23}$ and $|Δ{m^2_{32}}|$ is also studied.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2017

Physics Potential of the ICAL detector at the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO)

The upcoming 50 kt magnetized iron calorimeter (ICAL) detector at the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) is designed to study the atmospheric neutrinos and antineutrinos separately over a wide range of energies and path lengths. The primary focus of this experiment is to explore the Earth matter effects by observing the energy and zenith angle dependence of the atmospheric neutrinos in the multi-GeV range. This study will be crucial to address some of the outstanding issues in neutrino oscillation physics, including the fundamental issue of neutrino mass hierarchy. In this document, we present the physics potential of the detector as obtained from realistic detector simulations. We describe the simulation framework, the neutrino interactions in the detector, and the expected response of the detector to particles traversing it. The ICAL detector can determine the energy and direction of the muons to a high precision, and in addition, its sensitivity to multi-GeV hadrons increases its physics reach substantially. Its charge identification capability, and hence its ability to distinguish neutrinos from antineutrinos, makes it an efficient detector for determining the neutrino mass hierarchy. In this report, we outline the analyses carried out for the determination of neutrino mass hierarchy and precision measurements of atmospheric neutrino mixing parameters at ICAL, and give the expected physics reach of the detector with 10 years of runtime. We also explore the potential of ICAL for probing new physics scenarios like CPT violation and the presence of magnetic monopoles.

physics.ins-det↗