Possible manifestations of the existence of a fourth-generation neutrino

A fourth generation of fermions predicted by the phenomenological heterotic string models can possess a new, strictly conserved charge. Among other things, this leads to the hypothesis of the existence of a fourth massive stable neutrino. A comparison of this hypothesis with the data obtained in the DAMA underground experiment to search for massive weakly-interacting cosmic particles with hidden mass and with the EGRET measurements of the >1 GeV galactic gamma-ray background gives a value m approximate to 50 GeV for the possible mass of the fourth neutrino. It is shown that the hypothesis can be checked in accelerator experiments. The positron signal from annihilation of massive relic neutrinos in the galaxy is calculated. A search for this signal is is within the reach of planned cosmic-ray investigations. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-3640(99)00206-6].