Research report 2009 - Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics
Neutrinos: fundamental insights from puzzling particles
Authors
Hönes, Gertrud; Lindner, Manfred; Rodejohann, Werner; Schwetz-Mangold, Thomas
Departments
Teilchen- und Astroteilchenphysik (Prof. Dr. Manfred Lindner)
MPI für Kernphysik, Heidelberg
Summary
Experiments with solar, atmospheric, reactor and accelerator neutrinos showed that the properties of neutrinos differ from the standard model of particle physics. Neutrinos are able to convert periodically from one type into another. These oscillations demonstrate that neutrinos mix with each other like quarks and must possess mass. Both neutrino properties, mass and mixing, lead to important consequences for nuclear, particle and astrophysics as well as cosmology. Novel experiments aim to measure the neutrino properties more precisely.