Massive Neutrino Decays
Abstract
Neutrino physics is used as an illustrative example for an elementary introduction to the computational method of Feynman loop-diagrams and decay rates. If the neutrinos are as massive as recently reported by the Super-Kamiokande results, the heaviest neutrino H would not be stable. Although chargeless, it could decay -- by quantum loop effect -- into a lighter neutrino L by emitting a photon: H L + γ . If kinematically possible, the H L + e+ + e- mode could occur at the tree diagram level and furthermore get enhanced, at one-loop radiative corrections, by a large logarithm of the electron mass acting as an infrared cutoff.
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