Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay and the Solar Neutrino Problem

Abstract

The MSW or vacuum oscillation solution of the solar neutrino problem can be reconciled with possible existence of the $(ββ)_{0ν}$ decay with a half-life corresponding to an effective Majorana mass of the electron neutrino $|m_{ee}| \cong (0.1 - 1.0)~$eV. The phenomenological consequences of such a possibility are analyzed and the implications for the mechanisms of neutrino mass generation are considered.