Statistical derivation of an upper limit to the electron neutrino mass from the SN 1987A neutrino data

Using all the SN 1987A neutrino burst events culled by the Kamiokande II detector and a realistic underlying neutrino source model and spectrum, a series of Monte Carlo calculations has been performed to obtain upper limits with confidence levels for the mass of the electron neutrino. With conservative assumptions, the upper limits are 14 eV (90 percent), 16 eV (95 percent), and 19 eV (99 percent). These limits are inconsistent with the lower limit quoted by the ITEP collaboration and are lower than all the extant upper limits from tritium decay experiments. If further, but reasonable, source model constraints are imposed, limits of 12 eV (90 percent), 14 eV (95 percent), and 17 eV (99 percent) are obtained. 29 references