Neutrinos, a window on new physics

Abstract

This paper reviews some aspects of the physics of neutrinos, in particular neutrino masses and the issue of Dirac versus Majorana neutrinos. The see-saw mechanism is described and it is argued that the Majorana nature of neutrinos can be tested by measuring the invisible decays of the Higgs particle, as its decay into neutrinos is determined by their Yukawa couplings, i.e. the Dirac masses, rather than the physical Majorana masses. The measurement would allow us to probe the scale M of the large Majorana masses for right-handed singlet neutrinos. The optimal machine for performing such a measurement would be a future electron-positron collider.