Published March 2012 | Version v1
Journal article

μ → eγ decay versus the μ → eee bound and lepton flavor violating processes in supernova

  • 1. Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics (Russian Federation)

Description

Even tiny lepton flavor violation (LFV) due to some New Physics is able to alter the conditions inside a collapsing supernova core and probably to facilitate the explosion. LFV emerges naturally in a see-saw type-II model of neutrino mass generation. Experimentally, the LFV beyond the Standard Model is constrained by rare lepton decay searches. In particular, strong bounds are imposed on the μ → eee branching ratio and on the μ-e conversion in muonic gold. Currently, the μ→eγ is under investigation in the MEG experiment that aims at a dramatic increase in sensitivity in the next three years. We seek a see-saw type-II LFV pattern that fits all the experimental constraints, leads to Br(μ →eγ) ≳ Br(μμ →eee), and ensures a rate of LFV processes in supernova high enough to modify the supernova physics. These requirements are sufficient to eliminate almost all freedom in the model. In particular, they lead to the prediction 0.4 × 10−12 ≲ Br(μ → eγ) ≲ 6 × 10−12, which will be testable by MEG in the nearest future. The considered scenario also constrains the neutrino mass-mixing pattern and provides lower and upper bounds on τ-lepton LFV decays. We also briefly discuss a model with a single bilepton in which the μ → eee decay is absent at the tree level.

Additional details

Identifiers

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics
Journal Volume
114
Journal Issue
3
Journal Page Range
p. 382-391
ISSN
1063-7761
CODEN
JTPHES

Optional Information

Copyright
Copyright (c) 2012 Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.