The effective Lagrangian for the seesaw model of neutrino mass and leptogenesis

The effective Lagrangian for the seesaw model is derived including effects due to CP-violation. Besides the usual dimension-5 operator responsible for light neutrino masses, a dimension-6 operator is obtained. For three or less heavy neutrino generations, the inclusion of both operators is necessary and sufficient for all independent physical parameters of the high-energy seesaw Lagrangian to appear in the low-energy effective theory, including the CP-odd phases relevant for leptogenesis. The dimension-6 operator implies exotic low-energy couplings for light neutrinos, providing a link between the high-energy physics and low-energy observables. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.