Related papers: Neutrinos: Majorana or Dirac?
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…
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…
The history of research associated with the fundamental problem of the nature of massive neutrinos, which can be Dirac particles or Majorana fermions, and the related processes of neutrinoless double beta decay, $(A,Z)\rightarrow (A,Z+2) +…
The most plausible see-saw explanation of the smallness of the neutrino masses is based on the assumption that total lepton number is violated at a large scale and neutrinos with definite masses are Majorana particles. In this review we…
We explain why it is so hard to determine whether neutrinos are Majorana or Dirac particles as long as the only neutrinos we study are ultra-relativistic. We then show how non-relativistic neutrinos could help, and focus on the angular…
Our present understanding of neutrino properties is reviewed with a particular emphasis on observable differences between Majorana and Dirac neutrinos. Current and future experimental efforts towards measuring neutrino properties are…
This paper reviews the current status and future outlook of neutrinoless double beta decay searches, which try to provide an answer to the fundamental question of whether neutrinos are Dirac or Majorana particles.
We discuss recent developments in neutrino physics and focus, in particular, on neutrino oscillations and matter effects of three light active neutrinos. Moreover, we discuss the difference between Dirac and Majorana neutrinos, neutrinoless…
We explain the relationship between Majorana neutrinos, which are their own antiparticles, and Majorana neutrino masses. We point out that Majorana masses would make the neutrinos very distinctive particles, and explain why many theorists…
It was recently claimed that the observed physical neutrinos cannot be of Majorana type because such particles lack vector interactions. Contrary to this claim we show that if the Majorana neutrino is massless it is indistinguishable from…
The problem if existing neutrinos are Dirac or Majorana particles is considered in a very pedagogical way. After a few historical remarks we recall the theoretical description of neutral spin 1/2 particles, emphasizing the difference…
Existing data on neutrino-electron scattering do not imply that neutrinos are not Majorana particles. The question of whether neutrinos are of Majorana or of Dirac character remains completely open.
There are now strong hints suggesting that neutrinos do have a mass after all. If they do have a mass, it would have to be tiny. Why is it so? Is it Dirac or Majorana? Can one build a model in which a teeny, tiny Dirac neutrino mass arises…
Determining the nature -Dirac or Majorana- of massive neutrinos is one of the most pressing and challenging problems in the field of neutrino physics. We discuss how one can possibly extract information on the couplings, if any, which might…
According to the "Black Box" theorem the experimental confirmation of neutrinoless double beta decay ($0 \nu 2 \beta$) would imply that at least one of the neutrinos is a Majorana particle. However, a null $0 \nu 2 \beta$ signal cannot…
This paper reviews some aspects of the physics of neutrinos, in particular neutrino masses and the issue of Dirac versus Majorana neutrinos. The see-saw mechanism is described and it is argued that the Majorana nature of neutrinos can be…
This is an elementary account of neutrinos as Majarona particles and the search for neutrinoless double beta decays. It also includes some more ideas about neutrinos.
We investigate purely leptonic decays of leptons $\l^{\prime-}\to l^-\bar{\nu}_l\nu_{l^{\prime}}$ to distinguish Dirac or Majorana neutrinos. We derive the differences of the decay width (and associated quantities) between the two neutrino…
The status of the problem of neutrino masses and mixing is shortly reviewed. Different schemes of mixing of (Dirac or Majorana) massive neutrinos are considered. The theory of neutrino oscillations in vacuum and in matter is presented.…
The compelling experimental evidences for oscillations of solar, reactor, atmospheric and accelerator neutrinos imply the existence of 3-neutrino mixing in the weak charged lepton current. The current data on the 3-neutrino mixing…