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This is a particularly exciting time for neutrino physics. Now providing the first experimental evidence for new physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics, neutrino studies are leading that larger field in new direc tions. As a probe for discovery, neutrinos are unique among particles. Being leptons, neutrinos are as far as one knows true elementary particles, but in addition they are unencumbered by charge, and of course they do not have complicating strong interactions. Their unusually small mass also points to their novelty and possibly to their providing a window onto very high energy scales. The emphasis for neutrino physics at this time is on their masses and mixing with each other, as well as on their basic nature and their role in the Universe. While they have been important tools for studying particle properties, such as structure functions and the nature of the weak interaction, at present this is not the thrust of most research and hence is not covered in this book. Rather, the topics are those currently of most interest at the frontier of particle physics.
List of contents
1 Pauli's Ghost: The Conception and Discovery of Neutrinos.- 2 The Nature of Massive Neutrinos.- 3 Direct Measurements of Neutrino Mass.- 4 Neutrino Oscillations and the Solar Neutrino Problem.- 5 The Atmospheric Neutrino Anomaly: Muon Neutrino Disappearance.- 6 Studies of Neutrino Oscillations at Reactors.- 7 Studies of Neutrino Oscillations at Accelerators.- 8 Double Beta Decay: Theory, Experiment and Implications.- 9 Neutrino Mixing Schemes.- 10 Theories of Neutrino Masses and Mixings.- 11 Neutrino Flavor Transformation in Supernovae and the Early Universe.- 12 Hot Dark Matter in Cosmology.- 13 High Energy Neutrino Astronomy: Towards Kilometer-Scale Detectors.
Summary
This is a particularly exciting time for neutrino physics. Now providing the first experimental evidence for new physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics, neutrino studies are leading that larger field in new direc tions. As a probe for discovery, neutrinos are unique among particles. Being leptons, neutrinos are as far as one knows true elementary particles, but in addition they are unencumbered by charge, and of course they do not have complicating strong interactions. Their unusually small mass also points to their novelty and possibly to their providing a window onto very high energy scales. The emphasis for neutrino physics at this time is on their masses and mixing with each other, as well as on their basic nature and their role in the Universe. While they have been important tools for studying particle properties, such as structure functions and the nature of the weak interaction, at present this is not the thrust of most research and hence is not covered in this book. Rather, the topics are those currently of most interest at the frontier of particle physics.
Additional text
"...this book should be useful for a long time yet, both as a reference and a textbook, due to its comprehensive content, clear logic in ordering the material, and extremely good oversight of most aspects of neutrino physics."
--Cern Courier: International Journal of High Energy
"Without exception, articles are written in a fluent style, with excellent diagrams and comprehensive reference lists...there is sufficient fundamental material included that this will remain a valuable book for quite some time."
--The Physicist
Report
"...this book should be useful for a long time yet, both as a reference and a textbook, due to its comprehensive content, clear logic in ordering the material, and extremely good oversight of most aspects of neutrino physics."
--Cern Courier: International Journal of High Energy
"Without exception, articles are written in a fluent style, with excellent diagrams and comprehensive reference lists...there is sufficient fundamental material included that this will remain a valuable book for quite some time."
--The Physicist
