PossibleZ-width probe of a “brane-world” scenario for neutrino masses

Abstract

The possibility that the accurately known value of the Z width might furnish information about the coupling of two neutrinos to the Majoron (Nambu-Goldstone boson of spontaneous lepton number violation) is proposed and investigated in detail. Both the "ordinary" case and the case in which one adopts a "brane" world picture with the Majoron free to travel in extra dimensions are studied. Bounds on the dimensionless coupling constants are obtained, allowing for any number of extra dimensions and any intrinsic mass scale. These bounds may be applied to a variety of different Majoron models. If a technically natural see-saw model is adopted, the predicted coupling constants are far below these upper bounds. In addition, for this natural model, the effect of extra dimensions is to decrease the predicted partial Z width, the increase due to many Kaluza-Klein excitations being compensated by the decrease of their common coupling constant.