…
comment: The repository administrator has not yet configured an RDF license.
primary topic: The Universe as a neutrino laboratory: Probing neutrino nature and interactions in cosmology and astrophysics

The Universe as a neutrino laboratory: Probing neutrino nature and interactions in cosmology and astrophysics
type: Article
abstract: Understanding neutrino properties remains a key open question in particle physics. This thesis explores how cosmology and astrophysics constrain or support a possible Dirac nature of neutrinos and probe neutrino interactions with dark matter (DM). Explaining a Dirac mass for neutrinos requires new fields and symmetries. These lead to an experimentally constrained excess in $\Delta N_\text{eff}$ from production of right-handed neutrinos in the early Universe. We develop a Monte Carlo-based scheme for integrated Boltzmann equations and apply it to Dirac neutrino models. First, we study ${Z^\prime}$ extensions, finding them subject to strong and generic constraints from $\Delta N_\text{eff}$ that are only avoided if the thermal history of the Universe was non-standard or it reheated to $T_\mathrm{reh}\ll m_{Z^\prime}$. We also introduce a Dirac-Type-I seesaw family as a unified framework of Dirac seesaws and a generalization of the Majorana Type-I seesaw family. We study two minimal UV completions with a spontaneously broken global symmetry yielding the Diracon as a Nambu-Goldstone boson. The production of light degrees of freedom is suppressed compared to gauged models, which leads to weaker bounds from $\dneff$ in direct comparison. Astrophysical and laboratory-based flavor observables involving the Diracon and complementary to $\dneff$ are identified. Minimal Dirac models with a global symmetry appear as a viable alternative to a gauge symmetry, due to the strong and generic constraints we find on the latter. In a separate study, we turn to astrophysical tests of neutrino-DM interactions. We investigate the upscattering of MeV-scale DM by the diffuse supernova neutrino background (DSNB), focusing on model dependence and improved flux attenuation modeling. The strength of neutrino-DM interactions preferred by cosmological data is below current experimental sensitivities. We discuss the role of DSNB upscattering in probing such interactions and its wider implications …
date: 2025
author list: authors
type: EPrint
type: DoctoralThesisEPrint
is part of: repository
has document: The Universe as a neutrino laboratory: Probing neutrino nature and interactions in cosmology and astrophysics (PDF)
has document: The Universe as a neutrino laboratory: Probing neutrino nature and interactions in cosmology and astrophysics (Other)
subject: 530 Physik

The Universe as a neutrino laboratory: Probing neutrino nature and interactions in cosmology and astrophysics (PDF)
type: Document
has file: main.pdf
has part: main.pdf

Tim Herbermann
type: Person
given name: Tim
family name: Herbermann

The Universe as a neutrino laboratory: Probing neutrino nature and interactions in cosmology and astrophysics (Other)
type: Document
is version of: The Universe as a neutrino laboratory: Probing neutrino nature and interactions in cosmology and astrophysics (PDF)
is volatile version of: The Universe as a neutrino laboratory: Probing neutrino nature and interactions in cosmology and astrophysics (PDF)
islightbox thumbnail version of: The Universe as a neutrino laboratory: Probing neutrino nature and interactions in cosmology and astrophysics (PDF)
has file: lightbox.jpg
has part: lightbox.jpg

The Universe as a neutrino laboratory: Probing neutrino nature and interactions in cosmology and astrophysics (Other)
type: Document
is version of: The Universe as a neutrino laboratory: Probing neutrino nature and interactions in cosmology and astrophysics (PDF)
is volatile version of: The Universe as a neutrino laboratory: Probing neutrino nature and interactions in cosmology and astrophysics (PDF)
ispreview thumbnail version of: The Universe as a neutrino laboratory: Probing neutrino nature and interactions in cosmology and astrophysics (PDF)
has file: preview.jpg
has part: preview.jpg

The Universe as a neutrino laboratory: Probing neutrino nature and interactions in cosmology and astrophysics (Other)
type: Document
is version of: The Universe as a neutrino laboratory: Probing neutrino nature and interactions in cosmology and astrophysics (PDF)
is volatile version of: The Universe as a neutrino laboratory: Probing neutrino nature and interactions in cosmology and astrophysics (PDF)
ismedium thumbnail version of: The Universe as a neutrino laboratory: Probing neutrino nature and interactions in cosmology and astrophysics (PDF)
has file: medium.jpg
has part: medium.jpg

The Universe as a neutrino laboratory: Probing neutrino nature and interactions in cosmology and astrophysics (Other)
type: Document
is version of: The Universe as a neutrino laboratory: Probing neutrino nature and interactions in cosmology and astrophysics (PDF)
is volatile version of: The Universe as a neutrino laboratory: Probing neutrino nature and interactions in cosmology and astrophysics (PDF)
issmall thumbnail version of: The Universe as a neutrino laboratory: Probing neutrino nature and interactions in cosmology and astrophysics (PDF)
has file: small.jpg
has part: small.jpg

The Universe as a neutrino laboratory: Probing neutrino nature and interactions in cosmology and astrophysics (Other)
type: Document
is version of: The Universe as a neutrino laboratory: Probing neutrino nature and interactions in cosmology and astrophysics (PDF)
is volatile version of: The Universe as a neutrino laboratory: Probing neutrino nature and interactions in cosmology and astrophysics (PDF)
is index codes version of: The Universe as a neutrino laboratory: Probing neutrino nature and interactions in cosmology and astrophysics (PDF)
has file: indexcodes.txt
has part: indexcodes.txt

HTML Summary of #37526 The Universe as a neutrino laboratory: Probing neutrino nature and interactions in cosmology and astrophysics
format: text/html
primary topic: The Universe as a neutrino laboratory: Probing neutrino nature and interactions in cosmology and astrophysics

530 Physik
type: Concept
preferred label: 530 Physics @en