EFFECTS OF A MASSIVE TENSOR FIELD IN COHERENCE EXPERIMENTS
Abstract
A group at Fermilab has recently measured anomalous high energy values for the neutral kaon parameters. It is unlikely that all the low energy data is incorrect, so one must assume that the kaon parameters are energy dependent in the usual phenomenology. A background field generates energy dependent parameters. However, the known long range fields, gravity and electromagnetism, do not account for the data. A theory in which a field couples directly to hypercharge is also unable to explain the data. Consequently, the energy dependent kaon parameters force the theorist to consider new types of long range fields. In this study, a massive tensor interaction is examined. General features of the interaction are developed first. These general features include experimental limits on the field strength, calculational methods, redshift anomalies, and modifications to Gauss' Law. The neutral kaon system is discussed next. First, the usual phenomenology is reviewed. Second, the Fermilab experiment is discussed. Third, a Feynman diagram calculation of tensor corrections is presented. Finally, tensor corrections to neutrino experiments is discussed. One discovers that the tensor field destroys the oscillations somewhere in the energy range 200 MeV to 20 GeV. The cut-off energy depends upon the mixing angle and neutrino mass used. Comments on kinematics are presented. These guidelines are useful in designing additional experiments to search for tensor interactions. Specifically, tensor effects in neutrino experiments are expected to be more noticeable than kaon corrections since (DELTA)m/m is of order unity for neutrinos and since the Lorentz factor (gamma)(,v) is so large. The massive tensor field provides an explanation for the kaon data. Furthermore, the tensor field generates a variety of effects in neutrino systems.
Degree
Ph.D.
Subject Area
Particle physics
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