Neutrinos play a fundamental role in the latest particle physics theories, such as Grand Unified Theories, theories of supersymmetry, and superstring theory. Their mass yields an important boundary condition for grand unification models. They are the best candidates for dark matter in the universe, and their mass could determine its large scale structure and evolution. Neutrinos probe the interior of collapsing stars, and understanding them may lead to a solution of the solar neutrino problem. In ten chapters written by experts in each of these fields this book gives a comprehensive presentation of our current knowledge of the neutrino, of its role in nuclear particle and astrophysics theories, and of ongoing experimental efforts to learn more about its own nature. Graduate students and researchers in these fields will find this book a reliable advanced text and source of reference.

Neutrinos play an intriguing role in modern physics linking central questions of particle physics, cosmology and astrophysics. The contributions in this book reflect the present status of neutrino physics with emphasis on non-accelerator or beyond-accelerator experiments. Since a nonvanishing neutrino mass would yield an important boundary condition for GUT, SUSY or Superstring models and since neutrinos are the best candidates for dark matter in the universe, the many efforts to look for a neutrino mass, ranging from neutrino oscillation experiments using reactors, accelerators or the sun as neutrino sources, to tritium decay experiments and the search for neutrinoless double beta decay, are described in some detail. One of the sections is devoted to neutrinos from collapsing stars, including the supernova SN 1987 A. Possibilities for detecting cosmological neutrinos are discussed and an outlook to future experiments is given.