Related papers: Colloquium: Majorana Fermions in nuclear, particle…
The nature of neutrino mass -- whether neutrinos are Dirac or Majorana particles -- remains one of the central open questions in particle physics. While observation of neutrinoless double beta decay would confirm the Majorana case, the…
The status of the search for neutrinoless double beta decay is reviewed. The effort to reach the sensitivity needed to cover the effective Majorana neutrino mass corresponding to the degenerate and inverted mass hierarchy is described.…
For the past decade, Majorana quasiparticles have become one of the hot topics in condensed matter research. Besides the fundamental interest in the realization of particles being their own antiparticles, going back to basic concepts of…
This short essay aims to offer a discursive presentation of three scientific articles by Ettore Majorana highlighting the fundamental importance of one of them - the last one - for the investigation of the intimate constitution of matter.…
The discovery of neutrino oscillations invites many fundamental physics questions that have yet to be answered. Two of these questions are simple, easy to state, and essential: What are the values of the neutrino masses? Are neutrinos…
We propose new solutions to the neutrino mass problem in theories with large extra dimensions in a thick wall scenario. It has recently been argued that our 3-brane could be a thick wall at the boundary of the bulk. The gauge bosons and the…
Finding out if neutrinos are Dirac or Majorana particles is known to be extremely difficult. This is generally believed to be due to the smallness of the neutrino mass compared to typical neutrino energies, and to the fact that in the limit…
We review the introduction in physics of the concepts of an elementary space length and of a fundamental time scale, analyzing some related unknown contributions by Ettore Majorana. In particular, we discuss the quasi-Coulombian scattering…
Two mathematical models based on Pauli transformations including U(1) chiral group and Pauli SU(2) group, that mixes particle and antiparticle states, are developed for description of Majorana properties of neutral particles. The first one…
The physical results of quantum field theory are independent of the various specializations of Dirac's gamma-matrices, that are employed in given problems. Accordingly, the physical meaning of Majorana's equation is very dubious,considering…
The existence of three generations of neutrinos(charged leptons/quarks) and their mass mixing are deep mysteries of our universe. Recently, Majorana's spirit returns in modern condensed matter physics -- in the context of topological…
Two-particle interferometry, a second-order interference effect, is explored as another possible tool to distinguish between massive Dirac and Majorana neutrinos. A simple theoretical framework is discussed in the context of several…
Neutrinoless double-beta decay ($0\nu\beta\beta$) is a rare hypothesised process that, if discovered, would establish that the neutrino is Majorana, that is, it is its own antiparticle. Interpretation of experimental results relies on…
There is a broad theoretical consensus on the idea that ordinary neutrinos have a Majorana mass, but we have no clear prediction about its value, and direct experimental measurements of this quantity are rather challenging. In this work, we…
In spite of the general belief that neutrinos are Majorana particles, their character should be revealed experimentally. We begin by discussing why it is so difficult in terrestrial experiments. If neutrinos are Majorana particles, the…
We investigate the predictions for neutrinoless double beta ($(\beta \beta)_{0 \nu}$-) decay effective Majorana mass $\left| \langle \, m \, \rangle \right|$ in the 3+1 and 3+2 schemes with one and two additional sterile neutrinos with…
The study of neutrinoless double-beta decay plays a fundamental role in the understanding of neutrino physics. Its observation would prove that neutrinos are Majorana particles and that lepton number is not conserved. Experimental searches…
In supersymmetric models with an unbroken R-symmetry (rather than only R-parity), the neutralinos are Dirac fermions rather than Majorana. In this article, we discuss the phenomenology of neutralino dark matter in such models, including the…
Two most outstanding questions are puzzling the world of neutrino Physics: the possible Majorana nature of neutrinos and their absolute mass scale. Direct neutrino mass measurements and neutrinoless double beta decay (0nuDBD) are the…
Majorana neutrino oscillations in a magnetic field are considered using the wave packets formalism. The modified Dirac equation for Majorana neutrinos with non-zero transition magnetic moments propagating in a magnetic field is solved…