Bounds on minicharged neutrinos in the minimal standard model

Journal Article · Thu Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1992 · Physical Review, D (Particles Fields); (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.46.R2764· OSTI ID:7158053

Babu, K S ^[1]; Volkas, R R ^[2]

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1. Bartol Research Institute, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19716 (United States)
2. Research Centre for High Energy Physics, School of Physics, University of Melbourne, Parkville 3052 (Australia)

In the minimal standard model (MSM) with three generations of quarks and leptons neutrinos can have tiny charges consistent with electromagnetic gauge invariance. There are three types of nonstandard electric charge given by {ital Q}{sub st}+{epsilon}({ital L}{sub {ital i}}{minus}{ital L}{sub {ital j}}), where {ital i},{ital j}={ital e},{mu},{tau} ({ital i}{ne}{ital j}), {ital Q}{sub st} is the standard electric charge, {ital L}{sub {ital i}} is a family-lepton number, and {epsilon} is an arbitrary parameter which is put equal to zero in the usual incarnation of the MSM. These three nonstandard electric charges are of considerable theoretical interest because they are compatible with the MSM Lagrangian and SU(3){sub {ital c}}{direct product}SU(2){sub {ital L}}{direct product}U(1){sub {ital Y}} gauge anomaly cancellation. The two most conspicuous implications of such nonstandard electric charges are the presence of two generations of massless charged neutrinos and a breakdown in electromagnetic universality for {ital e}, {mu}, and {tau}. We use results from (i) charge conservation in {beta} decay, (ii) the physical consequences of charged atoms in various contexts, (iii) the anomalous magnetic moments of charged leptons, (iv) neutrino-electron scattering, (v) energy loss in red giant and white dwarf stars, and (vi) limits on a cosmologically induced thermal photon mass, to place bounds on {epsilon}. While the constraints derived for {epsilon} are rather severe in the {ital L}{sub {ital e}}{minus}{ital L}{sub {mu},{tau}} cases ({epsilon}{lt}10{sup {minus}17}--10{sup {minus}21}), the {ital L}{sub {mu}}{minus}{ital L}{sub {tau}} case allows {epsilon} to be as large as about 10{sup {minus}14}.

• OSTI ID: 7158053
• Journal Information: Physical Review, D (Particles Fields); (United States), Journal Name: Physical Review, D (Particles Fields); (United States) Vol. 46:7; ISSN PRVDA; ISSN 0556-2821
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

662210* -- Specific Theories & Interaction Models
662320 -- Neutrino Interactions-- (1992-)
662430 -- Properties of Leptons-- (1992-)
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
BASIC INTERACTIONS
BETA DECAY
COSMOLOGY
DECAY
DWARF STARS
ELECTRIC CHARGES
ELECTROMAGNETIC INTERACTIONS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
FERMIONS
FIELD THEORIES
GAUGE INVARIANCE
GIANT STARS
INTERACTIONS
INVARIANCE PRINCIPLES
KOBAYASHI-MASKAWA MATRIX
LEPTON NUMBER
LEPTON-LEPTON INTERACTIONS
LEPTONS
LIE GROUPS
MAGNETIC MOMENTS
MASSLESS PARTICLES
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MATRICES
NEUTRINO-ELECTRON INTERACTIONS
NEUTRINOS
NUCLEAR DECAY
PARTICLE INTERACTIONS
PARTICLE MODELS
POSTULATED PARTICLES
Pa
Particle Systematics-- Unified Theories & Models-- (1992-)
QUARKS
STANDARD MODEL
STARS
SU GROUPS
SU-2 GROUPS
SU-3 GROUPS
SYMMETRY GROUPS
U GROUPS
U-1 GROUPS
UNIFIED GAUGE MODELS
UNIFIED-FIELD THEORIES
WHITE DWARF STARS