Karlsruhe 2011 – scientific programme
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T: Fachverband Teilchenphysik
T 20: Neutrinophysik (Theorie)
T 20.2: Talk
Monday, March 28, 2011, 17:00–17:15, 30.23: 3-1
Lepton Number Violating New Physics and Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay — •Michael Duerr1, Manfred Lindner1, and Alexander Merle1,2 — 1Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Heidelberg, Germany — 2Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden
Neutrinoless double beta decay is a very sensitive experimental probe for lepton number violating (Δ L = 2) physics beyond the Standard Model. Whatever the new physics mechanism is that triggers the decay, according to the well known Schechter-Valle (or Black Box) theorem, it will induce a Majorana mass term for neutrinos. Neutrinoless double beta decay is therefore the only known possibility to ascertain in the foreseeable future whether the neutrino is a Dirac or a Majorana particle. We discuss the relation between various lepton number violating operators, Majorana neutrino masses, and future experiments.