During 2004, four divisions of the American Physical Society commissioned a study of neutrino physics to take stock of where the field is at the moment and where it is going in the near and far future. Several working groups looked at various aspects of this vast field. The summary was published as a main report entitled "The Neutrino Matrix" accompanied by short 50 page versions of the report of each working group. Theoretical research in this field has been quite extensive and touches many areas and the short 50 page report [1] provided only a brief summary and overview of few of the important points. The theory discussion group felt that it may be of value to the community to publish the entire study as a white paper and the result is the current article. After a brief overview of the present knowledge of neutrino masses and mixing and some popular ways to probe the new physics implied by recent data, the white paper summarizes what can be learned about physics beyond the Standard Model from the various proposed neutrino experiments. It also comments on the impact of the experiments on our understanding of the origin of the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the Universe and the basic nature of neutrino interactions as well as the existence of possible additional neutrinos. Extensive references to original literature are provided.2

High-precision analyses of supersymmetry parameters aim at reconstructing the fundamental supersymmetric theory and its breaking mechanism. A well defined theoretical framework is needed when higher-order corrections are included. We propose such a scheme, Supersymmetry Parameter Analysis SPA, based on a consistent set of conventions and input parameters. A repository for computer programs is provided which connect parameters in different schemes and relate the Lagrangian parameters to physical observables at LHC and high energy e + e − linear collider experiments, i.e., masses, mixings, decay widths and production cross sections for supersymmetric particles. In addition, programs for calculating high-precision low energy observables, the density of cold dark matter (CDM) in the universe as well as the cross sections for CDM search experiments are included. The SPA scheme still requires extended efforts on both the theoretical and experimental side before data can be evaluated in the future at the level of the desired precision. We take here an initial step of testing the SPA scheme by applying the techniques involved to a specific supersymmetry reference point.

Recently the Experiment to Detect the Global Epoch of Reionization Signature (EDGES) reported the detection of a 21cm absorption signal stronger than astrophysical expectations. In this paper we study the impact of radiation from dark matter (DM) decay and primordial black holes (PBH) on the 21cm radiation temperature in the reionization epoch, and impose a constraint on the decaying dark matter and PBH energy injection in the intergalactic medium, which can heat up neutral hydrogen gas and weaken the 21cm absorption signal. We consider decay channels DM→ e + e − , γγ, µ + µ − , bb and the 10 15−17 g mass range for primordial black holes, and require the heating of the neutral hydrogen does not negate the 21cm absorption signal. For e + e − , γγ final states and PBH cases we find strong 21cm bounds that can be more stringent than the current extragalactic diffuse photon bounds. For the DM→ e + e − channel, the lifetime bound is τDM > 10 27 s for sub-GeV dark matter. The bound is τDM ≥ 10 26 s for sub-GeV DM→ γγ channel and reaches 10 27 s at MeV DM mass. For bb and µ + µ − cases, the 21 cm constraint is better than all the existing constraints for mDM < 20 GeV where the bound on τDM ≥ 10 26 s. For both DM decay and primordial black hole cases, the 21cm bounds significantly improve over the CMB damping limits from Planck

We propose that the observed baryon asymmetry of the Universe can naturally arise from a net asymmetry generated in the sleptonic sector at fairly low reheat temperatures. The best candidate is indeed the right-handed sneutrino. The initial asymmetry in the sneutrino sector can be produced from the decay of the inflaton, and is subsequently transferred into the Standard Model (s)lepton doublet via the decay of the sneutrino. The active sphalerons then reprocess the leptonic asymmetry into the baryonic asymmetry. The marked feature of this scenario is that the lepton asymmetry is decoupled from the neutrino Yukawa sector. We exhibit that our scenario can be embedded within models which seek the origin of a tiny mass for neutrinos.Comment: 7 revtex pages, 2 figures (uses axodraw). Minor changes for better clarification and updated references. Final version to appear in Phys. Rev.