Neutrino mass direct measurement phenomenology

Author(s)

Maurílio Ferreira Salgado

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: Campinas, SP.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Física Gleb Wataghin
• Defense date: 2010-05-07

Examining board members

Orlando Luis Goulart Peres; Celso Chikahiro Nishi; Pedro Cunha de Holanda

• Advisor: Orlando Luis Goulart Peres

Abstract

The mass is one of the most important study subjects in neutrino physics, if not the most important. In this dissertation we discuss how mass is generated in the Standard Model, which explains in a compact way almost all of the observed phenomena diversity in particle physics. It forcasts a massless neutrino. Following we expatiate on neutrino oscilations, almost unanimous in the scientific community nowadays, and argue how the neutrino oscilation hypothesis implies the existence of neutrino mass (diverging of Standard Model) and study the possibilities that the neutrino could be a Dirac or Majorana particle. Lastly, we devote attention to the double beta decay experiment, which is a trial in identifing which particle the neutrino is, and specialy to KATRIN (Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino Experiment) which aims the determination of the neutrino mass scale using the electron spectra in tritium beta decay. In this one we reproduce the expected sensitivity (0:2eV) by an independent method and test, for four mixed and massive neutrinos, how the spectrum modifies and if the experiment could differentiate this case, which proved impracticable (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 07/06012-0 - Searching new phenomena with massive neutrinos
• Grantee: Maurílio Ferreira Salgado
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master