Detecting Neutrino Magnetic Moments with Conducting Loops

Abstract

It is well established that neutrinos have mass, yet it is very difficult to measure those masses directly. Within the standard model of particle physics, neutrinos will have an intrinsic magnetic moment proportional to their mass. We examine the possibility of detecting the magnetic moment using a conducting loop. According to Faraday's Law of Induction, a magnetic dipole passing through a conducting loop induces an electromotive force, or EMF, in the loop. We compute this EMF for neutrinos in several cases, based on a fully covariant formulation of the problem. We discuss prospects for a real experiment, as well as the possibility to test the relativistic formulation of intrinsic magnetic moments.