Abstract
This is a pedagogical introduction to the main concepts of the sterile neutrino - a hypothetical particle, coined to resolve some anomalies in neutrino data and retain consistency with observed widths of the W and Z bosons. We briefly review existing anomalies and the oscillation parameters that best describe these data. We discuss in more detail how sterile neutrinos can be observed, as well as the consequences of its possible existence. In particular, we pay attention to a possible loss of coherence in a model of neutrino oscillations with sterile neutrinos, where this effect might be of a major importance with respect to the 3ν model. The current status of searches for a sterile neutrino state is also briefly reviewed.
Highlights
There are three generations of leptons in the Standard Model (SM) ν1, eL ν2 μ L ν3 τ (1)grouped into three SU(2)L doublets
We reviewed main concepts of sterile neutrinos – a yet hypothetical particle, coined to resolve some anomalies in neutrino data
In the framework of an extension of the SM, a sterile neutrino field is a superposition of fields of massive neutrinos
Summary
2 α=e,μ,τ i=1,2,3 where Vαi is the matrix element of the PMNS matrix V, νi, α, Wμ are quantum fields of the neutrino with mass mi, lepton of flavor α and W-boson, respectively and γμ is a Dirac 4 × 4 matrix. The smallness of the masses of neutrinos and their mixture in interactions with W-boson and charged leptons from different generations give rise to a spectacular quantum effect observed at macroscopic scales – oscillation of lepton flavor, or – neutrino oscillation [3,4,5,6,7,8,9] This effect manifests itself as a quasi-periodic probability to observe charged leptons α and β in, respectively, the source and the detector of neutrino.
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