Are neutrinos their own antiparticles?

doi:10.1360/N972017-00374

	Are neutrinos their own antiparticles?
	Zhou, Shun; Zhou S(周顺)
刊名	Chinese Science Bulletin科学通报
	2017
卷号	62 期号:17 页码:1798-1801
ISSN号	0023-074X
DOI	10.1360/N972017-00374
其他题名	中微子是其自身的反粒子吗?
文献子类	Article
英文摘要	Neutrino oscillation experiments have provided robust evidence that neutrinos are indeed massive and lepton flavors are significantly mixed. Therefore, both theoretical and experimental investigations of intrinsic properties of massive neutrinos become one of the most important topics at the frontier of particle physics. Currently, it is still unknown whether neutrino mass ordering is normal (i.e., m123) or inverted (i.e., m312), how small the lightest neutrino mass is and if neutrinos are Majorana particles, namely, if they are their own antiparticles. In this article, we mainly concentrate on the last fundamental problem. As neutrinos are electrically neutral, their antiparticles are in principle allowed to be themselves. First of all, we briefly introduce the concepts of antiparticles and Majorana fermions by following their historical development. Then, we explain how to probe the Majorana nature of massive neutrinos. In reality, this can be achieved by observing the neutrinoless double-beta decays of some heavy nuclear isotopes, which consist of even numbers of protons and neutrons and their single beta decays are kinetically forbidden. Although neutrinoless double-beta decays are extremely rare (probably with a half-life longer than 1026years), a clear experimental signal will unambiguously demonstrate that neutrinos are Majorana particles and there exist lepton-number-violating interactions in nature. In the case of an inverted neutrino mass ordering, a number of next-generation experiments will be able to successfully discover neutrinoless double-beta decays. For instance, the huge liquid-scintillator detector of JUNO experiment in China can be dopped with a few tons of136Xe and upgraded to measure neutrinoless double-beta decays. Another idea is taken by the PandaX-III collaboration that a ton-scale high-pressure xenon gas time-projection chamber is built to catch the tracks of neutrinoless double-beta decays. The answer to whether neutrinos are their own antiparticles would finally help us explore the origin of neutrino masses, and the new physics beyond the Standard Model of elementary particles. © 2017, Science Press. All right reserved.
电子版国际标准刊号	2095-9419
语种	中文
CSCD记录号	CSCD:6041480
内容类型	期刊论文
源URL	[http://ir.ihep.ac.cn/handle/311005/285451]
专题	高能物理研究所_理论物理室
作者单位	Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing; 100049, China
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Zhou, Shun,Zhou S. Are neutrinos their own antiparticles?[J]. Chinese Science Bulletin科学通报,2017,62(17):1798-1801.
APA	Zhou, Shun,&周顺.(2017).Are neutrinos their own antiparticles?.Chinese Science Bulletin科学通报,62(17),1798-1801.
MLA	Zhou, Shun,et al."Are neutrinos their own antiparticles?".Chinese Science Bulletin科学通报 62.17(2017):1798-1801.