Abstract
Zero modes of massive standard model fermions have been found on electroweak Z strings. A zero mode solution for a massless left-handed neutrino is also known, but was thought to be non-normalizable. Here we show that although this mode is not discretely normalizable, it is delta-function normalizable and the correct interpretation of this solution is within the framework of the continuum spectrum. We also analyze an extension of the standard model including right-handed neutrinos in which neutrinos have Dirac masses, arising from a Yukawa coupling to the usual SU(2) Higgs doublet, and right-handed Majorana masses. The Majorana mass terms are taken to be spatially homogeneous and are presumed to arise from the vacuum expectation value of some field acquired in a phase transition well above the electroweak phase transition. The resulting zero energy equations have a discrete zero mode.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Article number | 085011 |
Pages (from-to) | 850111-850116 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Physical Review D - Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology |
Volume | 63 |
Issue number | 8 |
State | Published - Aug 15 2001 |
Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Nuclear and High Energy Physics
- Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)