Mattias Blennow

General bounds on non-standard neutrino interactions

We derive model-independent bounds on production and detection non-standard neutrino interactions (NSI). We find that the constraints for NSI parameters are around O(10 −2 ) to O(10 −1 ). Furthermore, we review and update the constraints on matter NSI. We conclude that the bounds on production and detection NSI are generally one order of magnitude stronger than their matter counterparts.

Quantifying the sensitivity of oscillation experiments to the neutrino mass ordering

A bstractDetermining the type of the neutrino mass ordering (normal versus inverted) is one of the most important open questions in neutrino physics. In this paper we clarify the statistical interpretation of sensitivity calculations for this measurement. We employ standard frequentist methods of hypothesis testing in order to precisely define terms like the median sensitivity of an experiment. We consider a test statistic T which in a certain limit will be normal distributed. We show that the median sensitivity in this limit is very close to standard sensitivities based on Δχ2 values from a data set without statistical fluctuations, such as widely used in the literature. Furthermore, we perform an explicit Monte Carlo simulation of the INO, JUNO, LBNE, NOνA, and PINGU experiments in order to verify the validity of the Gaussian limit, and provide a comparison of the expected sensitivities for those experiments.

Neutrinoless double beta decay in seesaw models

We study the general phenomenology of neutrinoless double beta decay in seesaw models. In particular, we focus on the dependence of the neutrinoless double beta decay rate on the mass of the extra states introduced to account for the Majorana masses of light neutrinos. For this purpose, we compute the nuclear matrix elements as functions of the mass of the mediating fermions and estimate the associated uncertainties. We then discuss what can be inferred on the seesaw model parameters in the different mass regimes and clarify how the contribution of the light neutrinos should always be taken into account when deriving bounds on the extra parameters. Conversely, the extra states can also have a significant impact, canceling the Standard Model neutrino contribution for masses lighter than the nuclear scale and leading to unobservable neutrinoless double beta decay amplitudes even if neutrinos are Majorana particles. In particular, the decay rate is reduced by at least six orders of magnitude for masses of the extra states below 1 MeV in absence of extra contributions. We also discuss how seesaw models could reconcile large rates of neutrinoless double beta decay with more stringent cosmological bounds on neutrino masses.

Probing non-unitary mixing and CP-violation at a Neutrino Factory

A low-energy nonunitary leptonic mixing matrix is a generic feature of many extensions of the standard model. In such a case, the task of future precision neutrino oscillation experiments is more ambitious than measuring the three mixing angles and the leptonic (Dirac) CP phase, i.e., the accessible parameters of a unitary leptonic mixing matrix. A nonunitary mixing matrix has 13 parameters that affect neutrino oscillations, out of which four are CP violating. In the scheme of minimal unitarity violation we analyze the potential of a neutrino factory for determining or constraining the parameters of the nonunitary leptonic mixing matrix, thereby testing the origin of CP violation in the lepton sector.

Aidnogenesis via leptogenesis and dark sphalerons

We discuss aidnogenesis,1 i.e. the generation of a dark matter asymmetry, via new sphaleron processes associated to an extra non-abelian gauge symmetry common to both the visible and the dark sectors. Such a theory can naturally produce an abundance of asymmetric dark matter which is of the same size as the lepton and baryon asymmetries, as suggested by the similar sizes of the observed baryonic and dark matter energy content, and provide a definite prediction for the mass of the dark matter particle. We discuss in detail a minimal realization in which the Standard Model is only extended by dark matter fermions which form “dark baryons” through an SU(3) interaction, and a (broken) horizontal symmetry that induces the new sphalerons. The dark matter mass is predicted to be ∼ 6 GeV, close to the region favored by DAMA and CoGeNT. Furthermore, a remnant of the horizontal symmetry should be broken at a lower scale and can also explain the Tevatron dimuon anomaly.

A very intense neutrino super beam experiment for leptonic CP violation discovery based on the European spallation source linac

Very intense neutrino beams and large neutrino detectors will be needed in order to enable the discovery of CP violation in the leptonic sector. We propose to use the proton linac of the European Spoliation Source currently under construction in Lund, Sweden, to deliver, in parallel with the spoliation neutron production, a very intense, cost effective and high performance neutrino beam. The baseline program for the European Spoliation Source linac is that it will be fully operational at 5 MW average power by 2022, producing 2 GeV 2.86 ms long proton pulses at a rate of 14 Hz. Our proposal is to upgrade the linac to 10 MW average power and 28 Hz, producing 14 pulses/s for neutron production and 14 pulses/s for neutrino production. Furthermore, because of the high current required in the pulsed neutrino horn, the length of the pulses used for neutrino production needs to be compressed to a few mu s with the aid of an accumulator ring. A long baseline experiment using this Super Beam and a megaton underground Water Cherenkov detector located in existing mines 300-600 km from Lund will make it possible to discover leptonic CP violation at 5 sigma significance level in up to 50% of the leptonic Dirac CP-violating phase range. This experiment could also determine the neutrino mass hierarchy at a significance level of more than 3 sigma if this issue will not already have been settled by other experiments by then. The mass hierarchy performance could be increased by combining the neutrino beam results with those obtained from atmospheric neutrinos detected by the same large volume detector. This detector will also be used to measure the proton lifetime, detect cosmological neutrinos and neutrinos from supernova explosions. Results on the sensitivity to leptonic CP violation and the neutrino mass hierarchy are presented

Identifying the Neutrino mass Ordering with INO and NOvA

A bstractThe relatively large value of θ13 established recently by the Daya Bay reactor experiment opens the possibility to determine the neutrino mass ordering with experiments currently under construction. We investigate synergies between the NOvA long-baseline accelerator experiment with atmospheric neutrino data from the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO). We identify the requirements on energy and direction reconstruction and detector mass for INO necessary for a significant sensitivity. If neutrino energy and direction reconstruction at the level of 10% and 10° can be achieved by INO a determination of the neutrino mass ordering seems possible around 2020.

Effects of non-standard interactions in the MINOS experiment

We investigate the effects of non-standard interactions on the determination of the neutrino oscillation parameters Delta m(31)(2), theta(23), and theta(13) in the MINOS experiment. We show that ad ...

Asymmetric Dark Matter and Dark Radiation

Asymmetric Dark Matter (ADM) models invoke a particle-antiparticle asymmetry, similar to the one observed in the Baryon sector, to account for the Dark Matter (DM) abundance. Both asymmetries are usually generated by the same mechanism and generally related, thus predicting DM masses around 5 GeV in order to obtain the correct density. The main challenge for successful models is to ensure efficient annihilation of the thermally produced symmetric component of such a light DM candidate without violating constraints from collider or direct searches. A common way to overcome this involves a light mediator, into which DM can efficiently annihilate and which subsequently decays into Standard Model particles. Here we explore the scenario where the light mediator decays instead into lighter degrees of freedom in the dark sector that act as radiation in the early Universe. While this assumption makes indirect DM searches challenging, it leads to signals of extra radiation at BBN and CMB. Under certain conditions, precise measurements of the number of relativistic species, such as those expected from the Planck satellite, can provide information on the structure of the dark sector. We also discuss the constraints of the interactions between DM and Dark Radiation from their imprint in the matter power spectrum.

Damping signatures in future neutrino oscillation experiments

We discuss the phenomenology of damping signatures in the neutrino oscillation probabilities, where either the oscillating terms or the probabilities can be damped. This approach is a possibility f ...