Lower bound on e+e- decay of massive neutrinos

Cowsik, R. ; Schramm, D. N. ; Hoflich, P. (1989) Lower bound on e+e- decay of massive neutrinos Physics Letters B, 218 (1). pp. 91-94. ISSN 0370-2693

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0370-2693(89)90481-4

Related URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0370-2693(89)90481-4

Abstract

Astronomical observations of SN1987A, such as the light curve, spectral intensities of lines, the X-ray emission, etc., constrain the lifetime for the decay of a heavy neutrino 1≲ mVH ≤50 MeV through VH → µ1+e++e- to exceed 4×1015 exp(-mVH/5 MeV) s. Otherwise, resulting ionization energy deposits and stronger X-ray emission would have been observed. This coupled with traditional cosmological considerations argues that the lifetime of Τ-neutrinos probably exceeds the age of the universe. This in turn would imply the standard cosmological mass bound does apply to µΤ, namely mνΤ ≲100h2eV (where h is the Hubble constant in units of 100 km s-1Mpc-1. The only significant loophole for these latter arguments would be if VΤ primarily decays rapidly into particles having very weak interactions.

Item Type:Article
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ID Code:20671
Deposited On:20 Nov 2010 13:45
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