Particle Physics – Does the Standard Model Require Neutrinos to Be Massless?

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I am an undergraduate student in Physics, I have a basic understanding of Particle Physics and Quantum Mechanics but none whatsoever of Quantum Field Theory.

I know that Neutrino mixing requires neutrinos to be massive (but why? Physically, couldn't neutrinos mix if they were massless?), and that their mass is usually estimated to be lower than an upper threshold.

But mathematically, does the Standard Model actually predict an upper limit on the neutrino mass, or does it just say that they are massless?
In the former case, what is it stopping it from predicting a lower limit?
In the latter case, so is it wrong?

Best Answer

Your question is addressed in this paper. The Standard Model as is can accomodate massive neutrinos but if the neutrinos have a mass, and no right handed neutrinos are added, the model becomes non-renormalisable. Adding right handed neutrinos fixes this.

The Standard Model doesn't make any predictions of neutrino mass, but then it doesn't predict any of the fermion masses. The masses of leptons and quarks are input parameters.

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