Question Concerning Neutrino Mass Hierarchy

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on neutrino mass hierarchy, specifically the "normal" hierarchy (v1 < v2 < v3) and the "inverted" hierarchy (v3 < v1 < v2). The participant references the paper at http://arxiv.org/abs/hep-ph/0407155, which states that the mass squared difference Δm²21 for solar neutrinos is positive due to the solar mixing angle θ12 being in the first octant. Clarification is sought regarding the term "octant" and its relation to neutrino parameters, with a response indicating it refers to the range of θ12 values (0 < θ12 < π/4).

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Appity
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I've been reading up on neutrino oscillations and I have come across this issue. I know that oscillations are dependent on the mass squared differences of the mass eigenstates, which is why determining things like the absolute masses of the eigenstates and the hierarchy of the eigenstates is difficult.

When I see possible mass hierarchies, there are usually two options presented; the "normal" hierarchy (v1 < v2 < v3) and the "inverted" hierarchy (v3 < v1 < v2). This means that we know v2 is greater than v1. When I tried to look for an explanation, the closest I got was a description in the following paper: http://arxiv.org/abs/hep-ph/0407155

At the bottom of page 2, it states that "For the solar neutrinos, the mass squared difference \Delta m^{2}_{21} is known to be positive, since the solar mixing angle θ12 lies in the first octant."

I've tried looking up what it means by "octant" and how it relates to the neutrino parameters, but no luck. Can anyone explain or offer any sources discussing the matter? Thanks in advance!
 
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Appity said:
I've been reading up on neutrino oscillations and I have come across this issue. I know that oscillations are dependent on the mass squared differences of the mass eigenstates, which is why determining things like the absolute masses of the eigenstates and the hierarchy of the eigenstates is difficult.

When I see possible mass hierarchies, there are usually two options presented; the "normal" hierarchy (v1 < v2 < v3) and the "inverted" hierarchy (v3 < v1 < v2). This means that we know v2 is greater than v1. When I tried to look for an explanation, the closest I got was a description in the following paper: http://arxiv.org/abs/hep-ph/0407155

At the bottom of page 2, it states that "For the solar neutrinos, the mass squared difference \Delta m^{2}_{21} is known to be positive, since the solar mixing angle θ12 lies in the first octant."

I've tried looking up what it means by "octant" and how it relates to the neutrino parameters, but no luck. Can anyone explain or offer any sources discussing the matter? Thanks in advance!

I believe they are referring to direction of emission from the sun, not a property of neutrinos themselves. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octant
 
I think it just means 0 &lt; \theta_{12} &lt; \pi/4.
 

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