Search

Recent high-precision cosmological data tighten the bound to neutrino masses and start rising a tension to the results of lab-experiment measurements, which may hint new physics in the role of neutrinos during the structure formation in the universe. A scenario with massless sterile neutrinos was proposed to alleviate the cosmological bound and recover the concordance in the measurements of neutrino masses. We revisit the scenario and discuss its testability at oscillation experiments. We find that the scenario is viable with a large active-sterile mixing that is testable at oscillation experiments. We present a numerical estimation of the sensitivity reach of the IceCube atmospheric neutrino observation to a sterile neutrino with a mass lighter than active neutrinos for the first time. IceCube shows a good sensitivity to the active-sterile mixing at the mass-square difference with a size of $\sim 0.1$ eV$^{2}$ in the case of the \textit{inverted-mass-ordering sterile neutrino}, which is forbidden under the assumption of the standard cosmology but is allowed thanks to the alleviation of the cosmological bound in this scenario., Comment: 9 pages, 2 eps figures

We discuss in detail the possibility that the ``type-II majoron'' -- that is, the pseudo Nambu-Goldstone boson that arises in the context of the type-II seesaw mechanism if the lepton number is spontaneously broken by an additional singlet scalar -- account for the dark matter (DM) observed in the universe. We study the requirements the model's parameters have to fulfill in order to reproduce the measured DM relic abundance through two possible production mechanisms in the early universe, freeze-in and misalignment, both during a standard radiation-dominated era and early matter domination. We then study possible signals of type-II majoron DM and the present and expected constraints on the parameter space that can be obtained from cosmological observations, direct detection experiments, and present and future searches for decaying DM at neutrino telescopes and cosmic-ray experiments. We find that -- depending on the majoron mass, the production mechanism, and the vacuum expectation value of the type-II triplet -- all of the three decay modes (photons, electrons, neutrinos) of majoron DM particles can yield observable signals at future indirect searches for DM. Furthermore, in a corner of the parameter space, detection of majoron DM is possible through electron recoil at running and future direct detection experiments., Comment: 23 pages + appendices and bibliography, 6 figures; v2: typos corrected, references and comments added, conclusions unchanged, version accepted for publication in PRD

Proton decay is usually discussed in the context of grand unified theories. However, as is well-known, in the standard model effective theory proton decay appears in the form of higher dimensional non-renormalizable operators. Here, we study systematically the 1-loop decomposition of the $d=6$ $B+L$ violating operators. We exhaustively list the possible 1-loop ultra-violet completions of these operators and discuss that, in general, two distinct classes of models appear. Models in the first class need an additional symmetry in order to avoid tree-level proton decay. These models necessarily contain a neutral particle, which could act as a dark matter candidate. For models in the second class the loop contribution dominates automatically over the tree-level proton decay, without the need for additional symmetries. We also discuss possible phenomenology of two example models, one from each class, and their possible connections to neutrino masses, LHC searches and dark matter., Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures

Within the standard model, non-renormalizable operators at dimension six ($d=6$) violate baryon and lepton number by one unit and thus lead to proton decay. Here, we point out that the proton decay mode with a charged pion and missing energy can be a characteristic signature of $d=6$ operators containing a light sterile neutrino, if it is not accompanied by the standard $\pi^0e^+$ final state. We discuss this effect first at the level of effective operators and then provide a concrete model with new physics at the TeV scale, in which the lightness of the active neutrinos and the stability of the proton are related., Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, published version

In this talk, we will discuss phenomenology of new physics associated with neutrinos, in particular, non-standard neutrino interactions, non-unitarity of the lepton mixing matrix, and secret neutrino interactions mediated by a light field., Comment: Proceedings of the 19th International Workshop on Neutrinos from Accelerators (NUFACT 2017). Comments, corrections, and suggestions on references are welcome

Over the past years, experiments accumulated intriguing hints for new physics (NP) in flavor observables, namely in the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon ($a_\mu$), in $R(D^{(*)})={\rm Br}(B\to D^{(*)}\tau\nu)/{\rm Br}(B\to D^{(*)}\ell\nu)$ and in $b\to s\mu^+\mu^-$ transitions, which are all at the $3-4\,\sigma$ level. In this article we point out that one can explain the $R(D^{(*)})$ anomaly using two scalar leptoquarks (LQs) with the same mass and coupling to fermions related via a discrete symmetry: an $SU(2)$ singlet and an $SU(2)$ triplet, both with hypercharge $Y=-2/3$. In this way, potentially dangerous contributions to $b\to s\nu\nu$ are avoided and non-CKM suppressed effects in $R(D^{(*)})$ can be generated. This allows for smaller overall couplings to fermions weakening the direct LHC bounds. In our model, $R(D^{(*)})$ is directly correlated to $b\to s\tau^+\tau^-$ transitions where an enhancement by orders of magnitude compared to the standard model (SM) is predicted, such that these decay modes are in the reach of LHCb and BELLE II. Furthermore, one can also naturally explain the $b\to s\mu^+\mu^-$ anomalies (including $R(K)$) by a $C_9=-C_{10}$ like contribution without spoiling $\mu-e$ universality in charged current decays. In this case sizable effects in $b\to s\tau\mu$ transitions are predicted which are again well within the experimental reach. One can even address the longstanding anomaly in $a_\mu$, generating a sizable decay rate for $\tau\to\mu\gamma$. However, we find that out of the three anomalies $R(D^{(*)})$, $b\to s\mu^+\mu^-$ and $a_{\mu}$ only two (but any two) can be explained simultaneously., Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, version accepted for publication in JHEP

We discuss the feasibility of detecting the gauge boson of the $U(1)_{L_{\mu}-L_{\tau}}$ symmetry, which possesses a mass in the range between MeV and GeV, at the Belle-II experiment. The kinetic mixing between the new gauge boson $Z'$ and photon is forbidden at the tree level and is radiatively induced. The leptonic force mediated by such a light boson is motivated by the discrepancy in muon anomalous magnetic moment and also the gap in the energy spectrum of cosmic neutrino. Defining the process $e^{+} e^{-} \rightarrow \gamma Z' \rightarrow \gamma \nu \bar{\nu}~(missing~energy)$ to be the signal, we estimate the numbers of the signal and the background events and show the parameter region to which the Belle-II experiment will be sensitive. The signal process in the $L_{\mu}-L_{\tau}$ model is enhanced with a light $Z'$, which is a characteristic feature differing from the dark photon models with a constant kinetic mixing. We find that the Belle-II experiment with the design luminosity will be sensitive to the $Z'$ with the mass $M_{Z'} \lesssim 1 $ GeV and the new gauge coupling $g_{Z'} \gtrsim 8\cdot 10^{-4}$, which covers a half of the unconstrained parameter region that explains the discrepancy in muon anomalous magnetic moment. The possibilities to improve the significance of the detection are also discussed., Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures: v2; title changed, references added, FIG. 4,5,7, and 8 changed, Footnotes added, conclusion unchanged

Effects of the inhomogeneous matter density on the three-generation neutrino oscillation probability are analyzed. Realistic profile of the matter density is expanded into a Fourier series. Taking in the Fourier modes one by one, we demonstrate that each mode has its corresponding target energy. The high Fourier mode selectively modifies the oscillation probability of the low-energy region. This rule is well described by the parametric resonance between the neutrino oscillation and the matter effect. The Fourier analysis gives a simple guideline to systematically control the uncertainty of the oscillation probability caused by the uncertain density of matter. Precise analysis of the oscillation probability down to the low-energy region requires accurate evaluation of the Fourier coefficients of the matter density up to the corresponding high modes., Comment: 7 pages, 5 eps figures

Characteristic patterns of cosmic neutrino spectrum reported by the IceCube collaboration and long-standing inconsistency between theory and experiment in muon anomalous magnetic moment are simultaneously explained by an extra leptonic force mediated by a gauge field with a mass of the MeV scale. With different assumptions for redshift distribution of cosmic neutrino sources, diffuse neutrino flux is calculated with the scattering between cosmic neutrino and cosmic neutrino background through the new leptonic force. Our analysis sheds light on a relation among lepton physics at the three different scales, PeV, MeV, and eV, and provides possible clues to the distribution of sources of cosmic neutrino and also to neutrino mass spectrum., Comment: v1: 9 pages, 11 figures; v2: references added, Sec.IV modifed, Sec.V improved, conclusion unchanged, final version

LHCb reported anomalies in $B\to K^* \mu^+\mu^-$, $B_s\to\phi\mu^+\mu^-$ and $R(K)=B\to K \mu^+\mu^-/B\to K e^+e^-$. Furthermore, BaBar, BELLE and LHCb found hints for the violation of lepton flavour universality violation in $R(D^{(*)})=B\to D^{(*)}\tau\nu/B\to D^{(*)}\ell\nu$. In this note we reexamine these decays and their correlations to $B\to K^{(*)}\nu\bar{\nu}$ using gauge invariant dim-6 operators. For the numerical analysis we focus on scenarios in which new physics couples, in the interaction eigenbasis, to third generation quarks and lepton only. We conclude that such a setup can explain the $b\to s\mu^+\mu^-$ data simultaneously with $R(D^{(*)})$ for small mixing angles in the lepton sector (of the order of $\pi/16$) and very small mixing angles in the quark sector (smaller than $V_{cb}$). In these region of parameter space $B\to K^{(*)}\tau\mu$ and $B_s\to \tau\mu$ can be order $10^{-6}$. Possible UV completions are briefly discussed., Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures

We address the question how light the lightest MSSM neutralino can be as dark matter candidate in a scenario where all supersymmetric scalar particles are heavy. The hypothesis that the neutralino accounts for the observed dark matter density sets strong requirements on the supersymmetric spectrum, thus providing an handle for collider tests. In particular for a lightest neutralino below 100 GeV the relic density constraint translates into an upper bound on the Higgsino mass parameter $\mu$ in case all supersymmetric scalar particles are heavy. One can define a simplified model that highlights only the necessary features of the spectrum and their observable consequences at the LHC. Reinterpreting recent searches at the LHC we derive limits on the mass of the lightest neutralino that, in many cases, prove to be more constraining than dark matter experiments themselves., Comment: 22 pages, 8 figures

The energy spectrum of cosmic neutrinos, which was recently reported by the IceCube collaboration, shows a gap between 400 TeV and 1 PeV. An unknown neutrino interaction mediated by a field with a mass of the MeV scale is one of the possible solutions to this gap. We examine if the leptonic gauge interaction L_{\mu} - L_{\tau} can simultaneously explain the two phenomena in the lepton sector: the gap in the cosmic neutrino spectrum and the unsettled disagreement in muon anomalous magnetic moment. We illustrate that there remains the regions in the model parameter space, which account for both the problems. Our results also provide a hint for the distance to the source of the high-energy cosmic neutrinos., Comment: 5 pages,7 figures: v2; references added, z dependence of cosmic neutrino energy included, conclusion unchanged

Under the hypothesis that the MSSM neutralino accounts for the observed dark matter density, we investigate how light this particle is still allowed to be after the latest LHC data. In particular, we discuss the impact of searches for events with multiple taus and missing transverse momentum, which are a generic prediction of the light neutralino scenario., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures; proceedings of the 49th Rencontres de Moriond, Electroweak Interactions and Unified Theories session (2014)

We investigate the current status of the light neutralino dark matter scenario within the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) taking into account latest results from the LHC. A discussion of the relevant constraints, in particular from the dark matter relic abundance, leads us to a manageable simplified model defined by a subset of MSSM parameters. Within this simplified model we reinterpret a recent search for electroweak supersymmetric particle production based on a signature including multi-taus plus missing transverse momentum performed by the ATLAS collaboration. In this way we derive stringent constraints on the light neutralino parameter space. In combination with further experimental information from the LHC, such as dark matter searches in the monojet channel and constraints on invisible Higgs decays, we obtain a lower bound on the lightest neutralino mass of about 24 GeV. This limit is stronger than any current limit set by underground direct dark matter searches or indirect detection experiments. With a mild improvement of the sensitivity of the multi-tau search, light neutralino dark matter can be fully tested up to about 30 GeV., Comment: 26 pages, 11 figures. v2: version published in JHEP

We discuss the systematic decomposition of the dimension nine neutrinoless double beta decay operator, focusing on mechanisms with potentially small contributions to neutrino mass, while being accessible at the LHC. We first provide a (d=9 tree-level) complete list of diagrams for neutrinoless double beta decay. From this list one can easily recover all previously discussed contributions to the neutrinoless double beta decay process, such as the celebrated mass mechanism or "exotics", such as contributions from left-right symmetric models, R-parity violating supersymmetry and leptoquarks. More interestingly, however, we identify a number of new possibilities which have not been discussed in the literature previously. Contact to earlier works based on a general Lorentz-invariant parametrisation of the neutrinoless double beta decay rate is made, which allows, in principle, to derive limits on all possible contributions. We furthermore discuss possible signals at the LHC for mediators leading to the short-range part of the amplitude with one specific example. The study of such contributions would gain particular importance if there were a tension between different measurements of neutrino mass such as coming from neutrinoless double beta decay and cosmology or single beta decay., Comment: 32 pages, 5 figures, 10 tables. Added errata for version 1

We demonstrate how the measurements of the Higgs-fermion and Higgs-gauge boson couplings can be interpreted in terms of physics beyond the Standard Model in a model-independent way. That is, we describe deviations from the Standard Model by effective $d=6$ operators made of Higgs fields and gauge fields, under the hypothesis that the new physics may show up in the Higgs sector only and the effective operators are generated at tree level. While the effective operator coefficients are independent in general, the completion of the theory at high energies will lead to specific correlations which will be recovered between Higgs-fermion and Higgs-gauge boson couplings. We demonstrate that the current measurement of these couplings in terms of tree-level new physics requires several new mediators with specific relationships among different couplings. New insights in the effective theory and mediator spaces can be expected for improved measurements from the inclusive $H \rightarrow \tau \tau$ and the exclusive vector boson fusion-dominated $H \rightarrow \gamma \gamma$ search channels, as well as the measurement of the Higgs self-couplings, including higher order couplings which do not exist in the Standard Model., Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures; v2: some discussions extended, conclusions unchanged; version to appear in PRD

We propose a new idea to test a class of loop-induced neutrino mass mechanisms by searching for lepton number violating charged current processes with incident of a neutrino beam. The expected rates of these processes are estimated based on some theoretical assumptions. They turn out to be sizable so that detection of such processes could be possible at near detectors in future highly intense neutrino-beam facilities., Comment: 4 pages, 5 eps files

We perform a systematic study of the $d=5$ Weinberg operator at the one-loop level. We identify three different categories of neutrino mass generation: (1) finite irreducible diagrams; (2) finite extensions of the usual seesaw mechanisms at one-loop and (3) divergent loop realizations of the seesaws. All radiative one-loop neutrino mass models must fall into one of these classes. Case (1) gives the leading contribution to neutrino mass naturally and a classic example of this class is the Zee model. We demonstrate that in order to prevent that a tree level contribution dominates in case (2), Majorana fermions running in the loop and an additional $\mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry are needed for a genuinely leading one-loop contribution. In the type-II loop extensions, the lepton number violating coupling will be generated at one loop, whereas the type-I/III extensions can be interpreted as loop-induced inverse or linear seesaw mechanisms. For the divergent diagrams in category (3), the tree level contribution cannot be avoided and is in fact needed as counter term to absorb the divergence., Comment: 18 pages, 5 Figures, 4 Tables - Version to appear in JHEP

We discuss the scenario of light neutralino dark matter in the minimal supersymmetric standard model, which is motivated by the results of some of the direct detection experiments --- DAMA, CoGENT, and CRESST. We update our previous analysis with the latest results of the LHC. We show that new LHC constraints disfavour the parameter region that can reproduce the results of DAMA and CoGENT., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, to appear in the conference proceedings of TAUP 2011, Munich Germany, 5-9 September 2011

We discuss neutrino masses from higher than d=5 effective operators in a supersymmetric framework, where we explicitly demonstrate which operators could be the leading contribution to neutrino mass in the MSSM and NMSSM. As an example, we focus on the d=7 operator L L H_u H_u H_d H_u, for which we systematically derive all tree-level decompositions. We argue that many of these lead to a linear or inverse see-saw scenario with two extra neutral fermions, where the lepton number violating term is naturally suppressed by a heavy mass scale when the extra mediators are integrated out. We choose one example, for which we discuss possible implementations of the neutrino flavor structure. In addition, we show that the heavy mediators, in this case SU(2) doublet fermions, may indeed be observable at the LHC, since they can be produced by Drell-Yan processes and lead to displaced vertices when they decay. However, the direct observation of lepton number violating processes is on the edge at LHC., Comment: 24 pages, 5 figures, 6 tables

We investigate the constraints to the light neutralino dark matter scenario in the minimal supersymmetric standard model from available experimental observations such as decays of B and K meson, relic dark matter abundance, and the search for neutralino and Higgs production at colliders. We find that two regions of the MSSM parameter space fulfill all the constraints: a fine-tuned strip with large tan beta where the lightest neutralino can be as light as 8 GeV, and a low tan beta region providing a neutralino mass larger than 16 GeV. The large tan beta strip, which can be compatible with recently reported signals from direct detection experiments, can be fully tested by means of low-energy observables and, in particular, by B_s -> mu mu and Higgs bosons searches at the LHC within the upcoming months., Comment: 25 pages, 9 figures; discussion improved, typos corrected, references added; version accepted for publication in JHEP

We propose a new scenario where neutrino masses are generated via operators with the mass dimension higher than five, which are induced at the loop level. The scenario is demonstrated with concrete models where neutrino masses are generated via a one-loop dimension-seven operator which is induced through TeV scale dynamics under the exact $Z_{2}$ symmetry. Tiny neutrino masses are naturally induced from the TeV scale dynamics without introducing any artificial assumption on magnitudes of coupling constants. The combination of one-loop factor $1/(4\pi)^2$ and the factor of the ratio $(v/\Lambda)^2$ between the electroweak scale $v$ and new physics scale $\Lambda$ provides sufficient suppression as compared to the model based on the dimension-five operator induced at the tree level. The reproduction of the data for neutrino masses and mixings are discussed under the constraint from experiments for lepton flavour violation. We also mention phenomenological implications at collider experiments and dark matter candidates., Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures

Recent developments on tau detection technologies and the construction of high intensity neutrino beams open the possibility of a high precision search for non-standard {\mu} - {\tau} flavour transition with neutrinos at short distances. The MINSIS - Main Injector Non-Standard Interaction Search- is a proposal under discussion to realize such precision measurement. This document contains the proceedings of the workshop which took place on 10-11 December 2009 in Madrid to discuss both the physics reach as well as the experimental requirements for this proposal., Comment: Proceedings of the MINSIS Workshop, Dec 10-11, 2009 in Madrid. 15 pages latex

We systematically investigate the prospects of testing new physics with tau sensitive near detectors at neutrino oscillation facilities. For neutrino beams from pion decay, from the decay of radiative ions, as well as from the decays of muons in a storage ring at a neutrino factory, we discuss which effective operators can lead to new physics effects. Furthermore, we discuss the present bounds on such operators set by other experimental data currently available. For operators with two leptons and two quarks we present the first complete analysis including all relevant operators simultaneously and performing a Markov Chain Monte Carlo fit to the data. We find that these effects can induce tau neutrino appearance probabilities as large as O(10^{-4}), which are within reach of forthcoming experiments. We highlight to which kind of new physics a tau sensitive near detector would be most sensitive., Comment: 20 pages, 2 figures, REVTeX4

We discuss the generation of small neutrino masses from effective operators higher than dimension five, which open new possibilities for low scale see-saw mechanisms. In order to forbid the radiative generation of neutrino mass by lower dimensional operators, extra fields are required, which are charged under a new symmetry. We discuss this mechanism in the framework of a two Higgs doublet model. We demonstrate that the tree level generation of neutrino mass from higher dimensional operators often leads to inverse see-saw scenarios in which small lepton number violating terms are naturally suppressed by the new physics scale. Furthermore, we systematically discuss tree level generalizations of the standard see-saw scenarios from higher dimensional operators. Finally, we point out that higher dimensional operators can also be generated at the loop level. In this case, we obtain the TeV scale as new physics scale even with order one couplings., Comment: 22 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables. Some references added

Parametric enhancement of the appearance probability of the neutrino oscillation under the inhomogeneous matter is studied. Fourier expansion of the matter density profile leads to a simple resonance condition and manifests that each Fourier mode modifies the energy spectrum of oscillation probability at around the corresponding energy; below the MSW resonance energy, a large-scale variation modifies the spectrum in high energies while a small-scale one does in low energies. In contrast to the simple parametric resonance, the enhancement of the oscillation probability is itself an slow oscillation as demonstrated by a numerical analysis with a single Fourier mode of the matter density. We derive an analytic solution to the evolution equation on the resonance energy, including the expression of frequency of the slow oscillation., Comment: 12 pages, 3 color figures, LaTeX, elsarticle.sty

We study the parametric resonance of the neutrino oscillation through the matter whose density varies spatially. The Fourier analysis of the matter effect enables us to clarify the parametric resonance condition, which is summarized in a frequency matching between the neutrino oscillation and the spatial variation of the matter density. As a result, the n-th Fourier mode of a matter density profile modifies the energy spectrum of the nu_mu -> nu_e appearance probability at around the n-th dip., Comment: Prepared for the Proceedings for the 10th International Workshop on Neutrino Factories, Super beams and Beta beams (NuFACT08), June 30 -- July 5, 2008, Valencia, Spain. 3 pages, 2 figures, LaTeX

We study the optimization of a neutrino factory with respect to non-standard neutral current neutrino interactions, and compare the results to those obtained without non-standard interactions. We discuss the muon energy, baselines, and oscillation channels as degrees of freedom. Our conclusions are based on both analytical calculations and on a full numerical simulation of the neutrino factory setup proposed by the international design study (IDS-NF). We consider all possible non-standard parameters, and include their complex phases. We identify the impact of the different parameters on the golden, silver, and disappearance channels. We come to the conclusion that, even in the presence of non-standard interactions, the performance of the neutrino factory hardly profits from a silver channel detector, unless the muon energy is significantly increased compared to the IDS-NF setup. Apart from the dispensable silver channel detector, we demonstrate that the IDS-NF setup is close to optimal even if non-standard interactions are considered. We find that one very long baseline is a key component in the search for non-standard interactions, in particular for |\epsilon^m_{\mu\tau}| and |\epsilon^m_{\tau\tau}|., Comment: LaTeX, 30 pages, 7 figures, 1 table

In this paper we explore the effect of non-unitary neutrino mixing on neutrino oscillation probabilities both in vacuum and matter. In particular, we consider the $\nu_\mu \to \nu_\tau$ channel and using a Neutrino Factory as the source for $\nu_\mu$'s discuss the constraints that can be obtained on the moduli and phases of the parameters characterizing the violation of unitarity. We point out how the new CP violation phases present in the case where the non-unitary mixings give rise to spurious ``degenerate'' solutions in the parameter space and discuss how the true solutions can be extricated by combining measurements at several baselines., Comment: 15 pages, 8 eps files

We study the performance of reactor and superbeam neutrino experiments in the presence of non-standard interactions (NSI). We find that for some non-standard terms, reactor and superbeam experiments would yield conflicting result in the theta-13 determination, while in other cases, they may agree well with each other, but the resulting value for theta-13 could be far from the true value. Throughout our discussion, we pay special attention to the impact of the complex phases of the NSI parameters and to the observations at the near detector., Comment: Submitted for the SUSY07 proceedings, 4 pages, 4 figures

The formalism of non-standard four-fermion interactions provides a convenient, model-independent way of parameterizing a wide class of ``new physics'' scenarios. In this article, we study the performance of reactor and superbeam neutrino experiments in the presence of such non-standard interactions (NSI). Due to interference between the standard and non-standard amplitudes, sizeable effects are to be expected if the NSI parameters are close to their current upper limits. We derive approximate formulas for the relevant oscillation probabilities including NSI, and show how the leading effects can be understood intuitively even without any calculations. We will present a classification of all possible NSI according to their impact on reactor and superbeam experiments, and it will turn out that these experiments are highly complementary in terms of their sensitivity to the non-standard parameters. The second part of the paper is devoted to detailed numerical simulations, which will demonstrate how a standard oscillation fit of the mixing angle theta-13 may fail if experimental data is affected by NSI. We find that for some non-standard terms, reactor and superbeam experiments would yield seemingly conflicting results, while in other cases, they may agree well with each other, but the resulting value for theta-13 could be far from the true value. This offset may be so large that the true theta-13 is even ruled out erroneously. In the last section of the paper, we demonstrate that reactor and superbeam data can actually establish the presence of non-standard interactions. Throughout our discussion, we pay special attention to the impact of the complex phases, and of the near detectors., Comment: 24 pages, 12 figures, 2 tables, RevTeX 4, minor clarifications, matches published version

We study how to incorporate CP violation in the Froggatt--Nielsen (FN) mechanism. To this end, we introduce non-renormalizable interactions with a flavor democratic structure to the fermion mass generation sector. It is found that at least two iso-singlet scalar fields with imposed a discrete symmetry are necessary to generate CP violation due to the appearance of the relative phase between their vacuum expectation values. In the simplest model, ratios of quark masses and the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix including the CP violating phase are determined by the CKM element |V_{us}| and the ratio of two vacuum expectation values R=|R|e^{i*alpha} (a magnitude and a phase). It is demonstrated how the angles phi_i (i=1--3) of the unitarity triangle and the CKM off-diagonal elements |V_{ub}| and |V_{cb}| are predicted as a function of |V_{us}|, |R| and \alpha. Although the predicted value of the CP violating phase does not agree with the experimental data within the simplest model, the basic idea of our scenario would be promising to construct a more realistic model of flavor and CP violation., Comment: 8 pages, no figure

We study the discovery reach for Non-Standard Interactions (NSIs) in a neutrino factory experiment. After giving a theoretical, but model-independent, overview of the most relevant classes of NSIs, we present detailed numerical results for some of them. Our simulations take into account matter effects, uncertainties in the neutrino oscillation parameters, systematical errors, parameter correlations, and degeneracies. We perform scans of the parameter space, and show that a neutrino factory has excellent prospects of detecting NSIs originating from new physics at around 1 TeV, which is a scale favored by many extensions of the standard model. It will also turn out that the discovery reach depends strongly on the standard and non-standard CP violating phases in the Lagrangian., Comment: RevTeX 4, 10 pages, 5 figures, extended discussion of systematical errors and of existing bounds, matches published version

We propose a natural framework of SU(5) supersymmetric grand unified theory with the minimal particle contents, which does not contain dimension five proton decay operators. The suitable fermion mass hierarchy can be reproduced by higher dimensional operators of an adjoint Higgs field which breaks SU(5) gauge symmetry., Comment: 4 pages

A supersymmetric see-saw model obeying the flavor symmetry L_mu - L_tau, which naturally predicts quasi-degenerate neutrinos, is investigated. Breaking of the symmetry is introduced in the Dirac mass matrix because it is the most economic choice in the sense that all interesting low and high energy phenomenology is made possible: we analyze the predictions for the low energy neutrino observables, for leptogenesis and for lepton flavor violating decays such as mu \to e gamma, where the SPS benchmark points for the SUSY parameters are used. It is outlined how these decays in connection with the requirement of successful leptogenesis and with correlations between the neutrino observables depend on the way the symmetry is broken., Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures. Comments and references added, to appear in PLB

We discuss lepton flavor violation (LFV) associated with tau leptons in the general framework of the two Higgs doublet model, in which LFV couplings are introduced as a deviation from Model II Yukawa interaction. Parameters of the model are constrained from experimental results and also from requirements of theoretical consistencies such as vacuum stability and perturbative unitarity. Current data for LFV rare tau decays provide substantial upper limits on the LFV Yukawa couplings in the large $\tan\beta$ region, which are comparable with predictions in fundamental theories. Here $\tan\beta$ is the ratio of vacuum expectation values of the two Higgs doublets. A search for the LFV decays $\phi^{0} \to \tau^\pm \mu^\mp$ $(\tau^\pm e^\mp)$ of neutral Higgs bosons ($\phi^{0} =h,H$ and $A$) at future collider experiments can be useful to further constrain the LFV couplings, especially in the relatively small $\tan\beta$ region ($\tan\beta \lesssim 30 $), where rare tau decay data cannot give any strong limit., Comment: To appear in the proceedings of 2005 International Linear Collider Workshop (LCWS2005), 17-22 March 2005, Stanford, California, USA

We examine contributions from Majorana phases to lepton flavor violating processes in the framework of the minimal supersymmetric standard model with heavy right-handed neutrinos. All phases in the complex neutrino Yukawa matrix are taken into account in our study. We find that in the scenario with universal soft-breaking terms sizable phase effects can appear on the lepton flavor violating processes such as $\mu \to e \gamma$, $\tau \to e \gamma$, and $\tau \to \mu \gamma$. In particular, the branching ratio of $\mu \to e \gamma$ can be considerably enhanced due to the Majorana phases, so that it can be much greater than that of $\tau \to \mu \gamma$., Comment: 14 pages, 4 eps figures, revtex4

We study lepton flavor violation (LFV) associated with tau leptons in the framework of the two Higgs doublet model, in which LFV couplings are introduced as a deviation from Model II Yukawa interaction. Parameters of the model are constrained from experimental results and also from requirements of theoretical consistencies such as vacuum stability and perturbative unitarity. Current data for rare tau decays provide substantial upper limits on the LFV Yukawa couplings in the large $\tan\beta$ region ($\tan\beta \gtrsim 30 $), which are comparable with predictions in fundamental theories. Here $\tan\beta$ is the ratio of vacuum expectation values of the two Higgs doublets. We show that a search for the LFV decays $\phi^{0} \to \tau^\pm \mu^\mp$ $(\tau^\pm e^\mp)$ of neutral Higgs bosons ($\phi^{0} =h,H$ and $A$) at future collider experiments can be useful to further constrain the LFV couplings especially in the relatively small $\tan\beta$ region ($\tan\beta \lesssim 30 $), where rare tau decay data cannot give any strong limit., Comment: 23 pages, 11 eps figures, revtex4, version accepted for publication in Physical Review D

The effective interactions which violate a lepton flavor accompanied with neutrinos (nLFV) are considered. Such a new physics effect is expected to be measured in future neutrino oscillation experiments with long baseline. They are induced by radiative correction in the framework of the minimal supersymmetric standard model with right-handed neutrinos. We numerically evaluate the size of the couplings for nLFV interactions in this framework. The slepton mixing is not only the origin of the lepton flavor violation in the charged lepton sector (cLFV) but also that of the nLFV. We find that the nLFV couplings are strongly correlated with the corresponding cLFV process, and they are constrained at $\mathcal{O}(10^{-5})$ times smaller than the standard four-Fermi couplings., Comment: 29 pages, 6 eps files

We study phenomenological predictions in the scenario with the quasi-degenerate relation among neutrino Dirac masses, m_D1 simeq m_D2 < m_D3, assuming the bi-maximal mixing at the grand unification scale in supersymmetric standard models with right-handed neutrinos. A sufficient lepton number asymmetry can be produced for successful leptogenesis. The lepton flavor violating process mu to e gamma can be enhanced due to the Majorana phase, so that it can be detectable at forthcoming experiments. The processes tau to e gamma and tau to mu gamma are suppressed because of the structure of neutrino Dirac masses, and their branching ratios are smaller than that of mu to e gamma., Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures

We evaluate the size of a coupling for a lepton flavor violating interaction with neutrinos (nLFV) in the minimal supersymmetric standard model with right-handed neutrinos (MSSMRN). It is expected that the nLFV interactions are detected in a long baseline neutrino oscillation experiment. We here deal with $\mu^{-} \to e^{-} \bar{\nu}_{e} \nu_{\tau}$ in $\nu_{\mu} \to \nu_{\tau}$ channel at a neutrino factory. First, we show the numerical study on feasibility to observe such interaction and point out that we can search for them with some oscillation channels. Next, we make a numerical calculation for the size of the nLFV coupling in the framework of the MSSMRN. A long baseline experiment is sensitive not only to the lepton mixings in the standard model but also to new physics effect., Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the 6th International Workshop on Neutrino Factory and Superbeams NuFact04, Osaka,Japan, July 26 - August 1, 2004

We study a lepton flavor violating $\mu N \to \tau X$ reaction in deep inelastic scattering region in supersymmetric models. The contribution from the Higgs boson mediation could be important for this reaction. For that case, the cross section is constrained by the experimental limit of the pseudo-scalar coupling from $\tau \to \mu\eta$ decays. We find that at a muon energy ($E_{\mu}$) higher than 50 GeV, the predicted cross section increases significantly due to the contribution from sea $b$-quarks. As a result, with $10^{20}$ muons per year, at most a number of $\mathcal{O}(10^4)$ is expected for $\mu N \to \tau X$ events at $E_{\mu}$= 300 GeV, whereas $\mathcal{O}(10^2)$ events are given at $E_{\mu}= 50$ GeV. Furthermore, the $\mu N \to \tau X$ phenomenology, in particular that for the signal and backgrounds, is briefly discussed. Another promising possibility to search for the $e N \to \tau X$ reaction at an electron-positron linear collider is also discussed. Searches for these reactions would be competitive to studies of rare tau decays and have potential to improve sensitivities to lepton flavor violation significantly., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, revtex4

We study possibility of observing the process $h^{0} \to \tau^{\pm} \mu^{\mp}$ at a linear collider. The branching ratio is constrained to be of the order of $10^{-4}$ by the $\tau^{-} \to \mu^{-} \eta$ result. Supersymmetric standard models can reproduce such amount of the branching ratio by taking a specific parameter set. The Higgsstrahlung process $e^{+}e^{-} \to Zh^{0}$ is preferable because of its simple kinematic structure, then, the signal process is $e^{+} e^{-} \to Z h^{0} \to Z \tau^{\pm} \mu^{\mp}$. The most serious background comes from the process, $e^{+} e^{-} \to Zh^{0} \to Z\tau^{\pm} \tau^{\mp} \to \tau^{\pm} \mu^{\mp} \nu \bar{\nu}$. We estimate the significance of the signal, taking into account the background reduction., Comment: Proceedings for the Linear Collider Workshop (LCWS2004) in Paris, France, April 19-23, 2004, Talk given by T. Ota, 4 pages, 2 figures

We discuss possibility of direct search for lepton flavor violation (LFV) in Yukawa interaction by measuring the branching ratio for the decay of the lightest Higgs boson ($h^0$) into a $\tau$-$\mu$ pair at a linear collider. We study the significance of the signal process, $e^+e^- \to Z^\ast \to Z h^0 \to Z \tau^\pm \mu^\mp$, against the backgrounds such as $e^{+}e^{-} \to Z \tau^{+}\tau^{-} \to Z \tau^{\pm}\mu^{\mp}+$ missings. After taking appropriate kinematic cuts, the number of the background event is considerably reduced, so that the signal can be visible when the branching ratio of $h^0 \to \tau^\pm \mu^\mp$ is larger than about $10^{-4}$. In a Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model scenario, the effective coupling of $h^0 \tau^\pm \mu^\mp$ can be generated at loop level due to the slepton mixing. When supersymmetric mass parameters are larger than TeV scales, the branching ratio can be as large as several times $10^{-4}$. Therefore, the signal can be marginally visible at a LC. In the general two Higgs doublet model, the possible maximal value for the branching ratio of $h^0 \to \tau^\pm \mu^\mp$ can reach to a few times $10^{-3}$ within the available experimental bound, so that we can obtain larger significance., Comment: 14 pages 3 figures, REVTEX4, version accepted for publication in Physics Letters B

We investigate the effect induced by variations in the density profile of the Earth's interior using a long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment. At first, we point out two facts. (i) The most essential part of the matter profile is the first Fourier mode of the matter profile function; and (ii) The Earth models based on the study of seismology include a large uncertainty for the first Fourier mode. Next, we show that there is a strong correlation between the average density value and the first Fourier coefficient in the analysis of oscillation probability. This means that the matter profile effect induces added uncertainty for the average matter parameter. %although the average density can be determined at a few percent accuracy. Taking into account this extra uncertainty, we make numerical calculations for the sensitivity to CP violation search and show that CP sensitivity is impaired by this added uncertainty within a large $U_{e3}$ region., Comment: 11 pages, 11 eps figures

In this letter we explore whether we have a chance to observe a flavor-changing effect in $\tau$ appearance experiments ICARUS and OPERA., Comment: 10 pages including 3 eps files. We added the comments on the variation of the oscillation parameters and revised the discussion on models

We discuss the measurement of new physics in long baseline neutrino oscillation experiments. Through the neutrino oscillation, the probability to detect the new physics effects such as flavor violation is enhanced by the interference with the weak interaction. We carefully explain the situations that the interference can take place. Assuming a neutrino factory and an upgraded conventional beam, we estimate the feasibility to observe new physics numerically and point out that we can search new interactions using some channels, for example $\nu_{\mu} \to \nu_{\mu}$, in these experiments. We also discuss several models which induce the effective interactions interfering with the weak interaction, and show that some new physics effects are large enough to be observed in the oscillation enhanced way., Comment: 25 pages, 20 figures

A possibility to search for T-violation in neutrino oscillation with the use of muon polarization is studied. The sensitivity to T-violation is examined with different muon polarization as a function of muon energy and long-baseline distances., Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures