Related papers: Invisible neutrino decay in precision cosmology
The anisotropies of the Cosmic Neutrino Background (C$\nu$B) offer an ideal tool to test non-standard neutrino interactions, since they directly trace the perturbations in the neutrino distribution function. Here, we study how invisible…
At present, the strongest upper limit on $\sum m_{\nu}$, the sum of neutrino masses, is from cosmological measurements. However, this bound assumes that the neutrinos are stable on cosmological timescales, and is not valid if the neutrino…
We consider invisible neutrino decay $\nu_H \to \nu_l + \phi$ in the ultra-relativistic limit and compute the neutrino anisotropy loss rate relevant for the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies. Improving on our previous work…
Discovering neutrino decay would be strong evidence of physics beyond the Standard Model. Presently, there are only lax lower limits on the lifetime $\tau$ of neutrinos, of $\tau/m \sim 10^{-3}$ s eV$^{-1}$ or worse, where $m$ is the…
Future direct observations of the Cosmic Neutrino Background (C$\nu$B) have the potential to explore a neutrino lifetime, especially in the region of the age of the universe, $t_0=4.35\times 10^{17}\ {\rm s}$. We forecast constraints on…
Invisible neutrino decay modes are difficult to target at laboratory experiments, and current bounds on such decays from solar neutrino and neutrino oscillation experiments are somewhat weak. It has been known for some time that Cosmology…
A new tension is emerging between the tight cosmological upper bounds on the total neutrino mass ($\sum m_\nu \lesssim 0.06 \, \rm{eV}$) and the lower limits from oscillation experiments, with potentially far-reaching implications for…
We investigate a scenario in which neutrinos are coupled to a pseudoscalar degree of freedom $\ph$ and where decays $\nu_1 \to \nu_2+\ph$ and inverse decays are the responsible mechanism for obtaining equilibrium. In this context we discuss…
We investigate in detail the possibility of constraining neutrino decays with data from the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR). Two generic decays are considered \nu_H -> \nu_L \phi and \nu_H -> \nu_L \nu_L_bar \nu_L. We have…
We investigate the radiative decay of the cosmic neutrino background, and its impact on the spectrum of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) that is known to be a nearly perfect black body. We derive exact formulae for the decay of a…
At present, cosmological observations set the most stringent bound on the neutrino mass scale. Within the standard cosmological model ($\Lambda$CDM), the Planck collaboration reports $\sum m_\nu < 0.12\,\text{eV}$ at 95% CL. This bound,…
We discuss decays of ultra-relativistic neutrinos over cosmological distances by solving the decay equation in terms of its redshift dependence. We demonstrate that there are significant conceptual differences compared to more simplified…
Neutrino oscillation experiments and direct bounds on absolute masses constrain neutrino mass differences to fall into the microwave energy range, for most of the allowed parameter space. As a consequence of these recent phenomenological…
Four zero neutrino Yukawa textures in a specified weak basis, combined with $\mu\tau$ symmetry and type-I seesaw, yield a highly constrained and predictive scheme. Two alternately viable $3\times3$ light neutrino Majorana mass matrices…
Precision measurements of the acoustic peaks of the cosmic microwave background indicate that neutrinos must be freely streaming at the photon decoupling epoch when T ~ 0.3 eV. This requirement implies restrictive limits on ``secret…
Neutrinos are perhaps the most elusive known particles in the universe. We know they have some nonzero mass, but unlike all other particles, the absolute scale remains unknown. In addition, their fundamental nature is uncertain; they can…
We reanalyze the cosmological constraints on the existence of a net universal lepton asymmetry and neutrino degeneracy. We show that neutrinos can begin to decouple at higher temperatures than previous estimates due to several corrections…
The light neutrino masses are at present most stringently constraint via cosmological probes. In particular the Planck collaboration reports $ \sum m_\nu \leq 0.12\,\mathrm{eV}$ at $95\%$ CL within the standard cosmological model. This is…
Cosmological parameter estimation exercises usually make the approximation that the three standard neutrinos have degenerate mass, which is at odds with recent terrestrial measurements of the difference in the square of neutrino masses. In…
We investigate the non-radiative decay during nucleosynthesis of a massive tau neutrino with mass 0.1 - 1 MeV into an electron neutrino and a scalar or pseudoscalar particle, $\phi$. The full Boltzmann equation is used and shown to give…