Neutrino Mass Textures and the Nature of New Physics Implied by Present Neutrino Data

Abstract

If all indications for neutrino oscillations observed in the solar, atmospheric neutrino data as well as in the LSND experiments are borne out by the ongoing and future experiments, then they severely constrain the neutrino mass texture. In particular, the need for an ultralight sterile neutrino is hard to avoid. Such ultralight neutrinos have profound implications not only for physics beyond the standard model but also perhaps for physics beyond the conventional grand unification. We discuss a scenario involving a parallel universe that interacts with the familiar universe only via gravitational interactions, where the ultralightness of the sterile neutrino follows from the same physics that explains the near masslessness of the familiar neutrinos.