Neutrino: chronicles of an aloof protagonist

Abstract

We give a brief account of the history of neutrino, and how that most aloof of all particles has shaped our search for a theory of fundamental interactions ever since it was theoretically proposed. We introduce the necessary concepts and phenomena in a non-technical language aimed at a physicist with some basic knowledge of quantum mechanics. In showing that neutrino mass could be the door to new physics beyond the Standard Model, we emphasize the need to frame the issue in the context of a complete theory, with testable predictions accessible to present and near future experiments. We argue in favor of the Minimal Left-Right Symmetric theory as the strongest candidate for such theory, connecting neutrino mass with parity breakdown in nature. This is the theory that led originally to neutrino mass and the seesaw mechanism behind its smallness, but even more important, the theory that sheds light on a fundamental question that touches us all: the symmetry between left and right.

21 pages, 19 figures. Non-technical essay, based on a series of Physics Department colloquia

References in corpus (6)

• Final Results of GERDA on the Search for Neutrinoless Double-$\beta$ Decay
• Left-Right Symmetry: from LHC to Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay
• Left-Right Symmetry: from Majorana to Dirac
• Right Handed Quark Mixing in Left-Right Symmetric Theory
• Neutrino 2020: Theory Outlook
• Probing the Origin of Neutrino Mass: from GUT to LHC

Cited by in corpus (1)

• Left-Right symmetric fermions and sterile neutrinos from complex split biquaternions and bioctonions