The Physics of Neutrino Interactions

The study of neutrinos and their interaction with matter has made many important contributions to our present knowledge of physics. This advanced text introduces neutrino physics and presents a theoretical framework for describing relativistic particles. It gives a pedagogical description of the neutrino, its properties, the standard model of electroweak interactions, and neutrino scattering from leptons and nucleons. Focusing on the role of nuclear effects, the discussion extends to various processes of quasielastic, inelastic, and deep inelastic scattering from nucleons and nuclei. Neutrino sources, detection and oscillation, along with the role of neutrinos in astrophysics and motivation for the need of physics beyond the standard model are discussed in detail. This topical book will stimulate new ideas and avenues for research, and will form a valuable resource for advanced students and researchers working in the field of neutrino physics.

List of Tables; List of Figures; Preface; Acknowledgements; 1. Neutrino Properties and Its Interactions; 2. Relativistic Particles and Neutrinos; 3. Quantization of Free Particle Fields; 4. Interacting Fields and Relativistic Perturbation Theory; 5. Phenomenological Theory I: Nuclear β-decays and Weak Decays of Leptons; 6. Phenomenological Theory II: Weak Decays of Hadrons; 7. Gauge Field Theories and Fundamental Interactions; 8. Unified Theory of Electroweak Interactions; 9. Neutrino Scattering from Point Particles; 10. Neutrino scattering Cross Sections from Hadrons: Quasielastic Scattering; 11. Neutrino Scattering from Hadrons: Inelastic Scattering (I); 12. Neutrino Scattering from Hadrons: Inelastic Scattering (II); 13. Neutrino Scattering from Hadrons: Deep Inelastic Scattering; 14. Weak Quasielastic ν( ¯ν)-nucleus-nucleus Scattering; 15. Inelastic Scattering of (Anti)neutrinos from Nuclei; 16. Deep Inelastic Scattering of (Anti)neutrinos from Nuclei; 17. Neutrino Sources and Detection; 18. Neutrino Mixing and Oscillations; 19. Neutrino Astrophysics and the Synthesis of Elements; 20. Neutrino Interactions Beyond the Standard Model; Appendices; Bibliography

M. Sajjad Athar is a professor in the Department of Physics, Aligarh Muslim University, India. He has more than 24 years of teaching and research experience, and has taught courses on nuclear and particle physics, quantum mechanics, advanced nuclear physics, electricity and magnetism, and classical mechanics at undergraduate and graduate levels. He is a member of NuSTEC (Neutrino Theory-Experiment Collaboration) working group, a collaboration of about 25 scientists worldwide working on the understanding of neutrino interaction from nucleons and nuclei. He has published more than 80 research papers in journals of international repute.
S. K. Singh is a former professor in the Department of Physics, Aligarh Muslim University, India. He was awarded his Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University, USA. He has been teaching courses on classical mechanics, relativity, classical electrodynamics, quantum mechanics, nuclear physics, particle physics, field theory and mathematical physics at undergraduate and graduate levels. He has been an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow, Germany; Senior Associate of ICTP, Trieste, Italy; and has been visiting professor at the University of Mainz, Germany and the University of Valencia, Spain. He has published more than 100 research papers in reputed journals and has contributed to the understanding of neutrino reactions from the nuclear targets, which is widely acclaimed.