In the theory of grand unification, and in particular, in theories of neutrino masses and neutrino oscillation, the seesaw mechanism is a model used to explain the relative sizes of observed neutrino masses compared to quarks and other leptons.
There are several types of models, each extending the Standard Model. The simplest version, type 1, extends the Standard Model by assuming two or more additional right-handed neutrino fields, and the existence of a very large mass scale. This allows the mass scale to be comparable to the postulated scale of grand unification.
Read more about Seesaw Mechanism: Type 1 Seesaw, Background
Famous quotes containing the words seesaw and/or mechanism:
“Perhaps if the future existed, concretely and individually, as something that could be discerned by a better brain, the past would not be so seductive: its demands would be balanced by those of the future. Persons might then straddle the middle stretch of the seesaw when considering this or that object. It might be fun.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)
“The two elements the traveler first captures in the big city are extrahuman architecture and furious rhythm. Geometry and anguish. At first glance, the rhythm may be confused with gaiety, but when you look more closely at the mechanism of social life and the painful slavery of both men and machines, you see that it is nothing but a kind of typical, empty anguish that makes even crime and gangs forgivable means of escape.”
—Federico García Lorca (1898–1936)