Neutrino windows to the origin of matter

Abstract

The Standard Model of particle Physics (SM) is a quantum eld theory based on the SU(3)c SU(2)L U(1)Y gauge group, which has so far precisely described strong and electroweak interactions between elementary particles. We know, however, that the SM cannot be the end of the story, as it is not able to give a consistent description of gravity. Thus, the SM has to be the low energy version of a more complete theory. Besides, there are other questions, both experimental and theoretical ones, which the SM cannot answer that call for the existence of Physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM). On the experimental side, the observation of non-baryonic particle dark matter (DM) in the Universe through its gravitational e ects call for an extension of the SM to include such new states. Additionally, through Big Bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) and CMB observations, we know that there is an imbalance between matter and antimatter. However, even though the SM has all the necessary ingredients to explain such an asymmetry, it was shown that it cannot generate the observed imbalance between baryons and antibaryons, such that BSM Physics is also necessary to explain this fact. Moreover, we have overwhelming evidence for BSM Physics from the observation of the neutrino oscillation phenomenon. This is arguably the clearest signal for BSM Physics from laboratory experiments. Thus, the neutrino sector seems a particularly green eld area of investigation in order to nd new Physics and to relating di erent open problems of the SM. This thesis focuses on the study of a future neutrino super beam to study neutrino oscillations and probe for the still unknown parameters characterizing the neutrino sector, such as CP violation, and the neutrino mass ordering. Secondly, we study the possibility that the DM is primarily interacting with neutrinos through the neutrino portal, and that therefore large neutrino detectors acting as observatories might be our best probe to explore the dark sector. Later on we will consider the possibility that a keV neutrino arising from the neutrino mass mechanism could be itself the DM. In the third part we will study the possible relation between the neutrino mass mechanism and the matter-antimatter asymmetry