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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 December 2009
Neutrino physics is playing a unique role in elucidating the properties of weak interactions. But even more important, neutrino studies are capable of providing new ingredients for future theoretical descriptions of the physics of elementary particles. Although impressive progress has been made in our understanding of neutrino interactions, many important issues remain to be settled, foremost among these are the questions: have neutrinos a nonvanishing rest mass, and are neutrinos, participating in weak interaction, pure states in a quantum mechanical sense? The role of neutrino mass and its various consequences, therefore, will form the central issue throughout this text.
The study of neutrino properties, unlike the study of other elementary particles, has always crossed the traditional disciplinary boundaries. While we think of particle properties as being the domain of high energy physics, much information on neutrino properties has come from low energy nuclear physics, as well as from astrophysics and cosmology. For that reason it will be necessary to explore a number of different disciplines and techniques.
Among the many excellent reviews on weak interaction, we mention the books by Bailin (82), Commins & Bucksbaum (83), Georgi (84), Okun (82), Pietschmann (83), and Taylor (78). Since the first edition of this book several related books have appeared, Grotz & Klapdor (90), Holstein (89), and Kayser, Gibrat-Debu & Perrier (89). More specialized reviews on various aspects of neutrino physics are mentioned at the beginning of each Chapter.
This Chapter provides an introduction to the formal description of neutrinos and their properties.
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