The MiniBooNE collaboration recently reported further evidence for the existence of sterile neutrinos, implying substantial mixing with the left-handed active neutrinos and at a comparable mass scale. I argue that while sterile neutrinos may arise naturally in large volume string models, they prove more of a challenge in heterotic-string models that replicate the Grand Unified Theory structure of the Standard Model matter states. Sterile neutrinos in heterotic-string models may imply the existence of an additional Abelian gauge symmetry of order 10-100TeV.
Renewed interest in GeV-scale sterile neutrinos capable of explaining active neutrino oscillations via see-saw type I mechanism has been expressed in several proposals of direct searches. Given this activity we estimate the minimal values of sterile-active mixing angles provided one, two, or three sterile neutrinos are lighter than D-meson.
This work estimates the probability of $μ$ to $e$ neutrino oscillation with two sterile neutrinos using a 5x5 U-matrix, an extension of the previous estimate with one sterile neutrino and a 4x4 U-matrix. The sterile neutrino-active neutrino mass differences and the mixing angles of the two sterile neutrinos with the three active neutrinos are taken from recent publications, and the oscillation probability for one sterile neutrino is compared to the previous estimate.
The sterile neutrino solutions to different irregular results and observations in neutrino physics are studied. It is pointed out that introducing sterile neutrinos helps to solve simultaneously the observed anomalies. It is argued that sterile neutrinos can solve the conflict between dark matter neutrinos, LSND result and supernova nucleosynthesis. Other supernova constraints for sterile neutrinos are revised. Possibilities to avoid the big bang nucleosynthesis constraints for sterile neutrinos are explored. It is claimed that sterile neutrinos can solve the crisis in big bang nucleosynthesis…
This is an extension of estimates of the probability of $ν$ to $e$ neutrino oscillation with one sterile neutrino to three sterile neutrinos, using a 6x6 matrix. Since the mixing angle for only one sterile neutrino has been experimentally determined, we estimate the $ν$ to $e$ neutrino oscillation probability with different mixing angles for two of the sterile neutrinos.
This brief report is an extension of a prediction of neutrino oscillation with a sterile neutrino using parameters of the sterile neutrino mass and mixing angle recently extracted from experiment.
We obtain non-linear kinetic equations for sterile neutrino occupancies and lepton minus baryon numbers by matching real time correlation functions of thermal fluctuations computed in an effective description to those computed in thermal quantum field theory. After expanding in the sterile-neutrino Yukawa couplings, the coefficients in the equations are written as real time correlation functions of Standard Model operators. Our kinetic equations are valid for an arbitrary number of sterile neutrinos of any mass spectrum. They can be used to describe, e.g., low-scale leptogenesis via neutrino o…
Using a 3 + 1 neutrino model with one sterile and the three standard active neutrinos with a 4x4 unitary transformation matrix, U, relating flavor to mass neutrino states, the probability of $ν_μ$ to $ν_e$ transition is estimated using sterile-active neutrino masses determined by MiniBooNE and other experiments and sterile-active neutrino angles in the 4x4 U matrix.
The notion of sterile neutrinos is discussed. The schemes of mixing of four massive neutrinos, which imply the existence of sterile neutrinos, are briefly considered. Several model independent methods that allow to reveal possible transitions of solar neutrinos into sterile states are presented.
Seesaw mechanism constrains from below mixing between active and sterile neutrinos for fixed sterile neutrino masses. Signal events associated with sterile neutrino decays inside a detector at fixed target experiment are suppressed by the mixing angle to the power of four. Therefore sensitivity of experiments such as SHiP and DUNE should take into account minimal possible values of the mixing angles. We extend the previous study of this subject arXiv:1312.2887 to a more general case of non-zero CP-violating phases in the neutrino sector. Namely, we provide numerical estimate of minimal value o…
We consider the possibility that there exist sterile neutrinos which are closely degenerate in mass with the active neutrinos and mixed with them. We investigate the effects of this kind of active-sterile neutrino mixing on the composition of supernova neutrino flux at the Earth. If an adiabatic MSW-transition between active and sterile neutrinos takes place, it could dramatically diminish the electron neutrino flux.
Recently neutrino oscillation experiments have shown that it is very likely that there are one or two sterile neutrinos. In this review neutrino oscillations with one, two, three sterile and three active neutrinos, and parameters that are consistent with experiments, are reviewed.
We derive the neutrino oscillation probabilities including sterile neutrinos by using the Dirac equation. If neutrinos have both the Dirac and the Majorana mass terms, left-handed neutrino $ν_L$ and right-handed anti-neutrino $ν_R^c$ enter the same multiplet and can transfer each other. Sterile neutrinos have been introduced by hand as the fourth generation neutrino in many papers, however, we can understand sterile neutrinos naturally in the framework of three generations. We also point out that the oscillations into sterile neutrinos strongly suggest the existence of both the Dirac and the M…
We study the production of heavy sterile neutrino $N$, $e^+ e^- \to N ν({\bar ν})$, at the Circular Electron Positron Collider(CEPC) and its $ljj$ signal in its decay to three charged fermions. We study background events for this process which are mainly events coming from W pair production. We study the production of a single heavy sterile neutrino and the sensitivity of CEPC to the mixing of sterile neutrino with active neutrinos. We study the production of two degenerate heavy sterile neutrinos in a low energy see-saw model by taking into account the constraints on mixings of sterile neutri…
We calculate the effect of sterile neutrinos and nonstandard neutrino interactions on the flux of active neutrinos from the Earth's crust and mantle taking matter effect into account in both cases. For simple Earth model and using previous emission flux estimates at the source, we find that for reasonable choice of parameters for both the sterile neutrino and nonstandard interaction, the effect on the neutrino flux is a few percent or less.
We review probes of heavy sterile neutrinos, focusing on direct experimental searches and neutrinoless double beta decay. Working in a phenomenological parametrization, we emphasize the importance of the nature of sterile neutrinos in interpreting neutrinoless double beta decay searches. While current constraints on the active-sterile neutrino mixing are already stringent, we highlight planned future efforts that will probe regimes motivated by the lightness of active neutrinos.
Searches for light sterile neutrinos are motivated by the unexpected observation of electron neutrino appearance in short-baseline experiments, such as the Liquid Scintillator Neutrino Detector (LSND) and the Mini Booster Neutrino Experiment (MiniBooNE). In light of these unexpected results, a campaign using natural and anthropogenic sources to find light -- mass-squared-difference around 1 eV$^{2}$ -- sterile neutrinos is underway. Among the natural sources, atmospheric neutrinos provide a unique gateway to search for sterile neutrinos due to the broad range of baseline-to-energy ratios, $L/E…
We address the phenomenology of light sterile neutrinos, with emphasis on short-baseline neutrino oscillations. After a review of the observed short-baseline neutrino oscillation anomalies, we discuss the global fit of the data and the current appearance-disappearance tension. We also review briefly the effects of light sterile neutrinos in $β$ decay, neutrinoless double-$β$ decay and cosmology. Finally, we discuss the future perspective in the search for the effects of eV-scale sterile neutrinos.
By numerically solving the appropriate Boltzmann equations, we study the production of sterile neutrinos in models with low reheating temperatures. We take into account the production in oscillations as well as in direct decays and compute the sterile neutrino primordial spectrum, the effective number of neutrino species, and the sterile neutrino contribution to the mass density of the Universe as a function of the mixing and the reheating parameters. It is shown that sterile neutrinos with non-negligible mixing angles do not necessarily lead to $N_ν\sim 4$ and that sterile neutrinos may have …
Experiments measuring the parameters of active neutrino oscillations can also search for the sterile neutrinos in a part of sterile neutrino parameter space. In this paper, we analyze the prospects for the sterile neutrino search in the upcoming experiment DUNE for the sterile neutrinos with masses at GeV scale. As it relies on the still-undecided design of the Near Detector, we provide the expected number of the sterile neutrino decays in the Near Detector volume. Our most optimistic predictions show that the corresponding limit on mixing can be approximately of the same order as the previous…
Sterile neutrinos of keV masses are one of the most promising candidates for the warm dark matter, which could solve the small-scale problems encountered in the scenario of cold dark matter. We present a detailed study of the production of such sterile neutrinos in a supernova core, and derive stringent bounds on the active-sterile neutrino mixing angles and sterile neutrino masses based on the standard energy-loss argument.
Light sterile neutrinos contributions both for active neutrinos oscillations and neutrinoless double beta decay characteristics are estimated in the framework of the phenomenological model with three active and three sterile neutrinos assuming the Majorana nature of neutrino. Appearance and survival probabilities for active neutrinos with contributions of eV-sterile neutrinos in application to the short-baseline anomalies in neutrino data are obtained at the same test values of the model parameters. Modified graphical dependences for the survival probability of electron neutrinos/antineutrinos…
This is a pedagogical introduction to the main concepts of the sterile neutrino - a hypothetical particle, coined to resolve some anomalies in neutrino data and retain consistency with observed widths of the $W$ and $Z$ bosons. We briefly review existing anomalies and the oscillation parameters that best describe these data. We discuss in more detail how sterile neutrino can be observed, as well as the consequences of its possible existence. In particular, we pay attention to a possible loss of coherence in a model of neutrino oscillations with sterile neutrinos, where this effect might be of …
We explore the sensitivity of displaced vertex searches at LHCb for testing sterile neutrino extensions of the Standard Model towards explaining the observed neutrino masses. We derive estimates for the constraints on sterile neutrino parameters from a recently published displaced vertex search at LHCb based on run 1 data. They yield the currently most stringent limit on active-sterile neutrino mixing in the sterile neutrino mass range between 4.5 GeV and 10 GeV. Furthermore, we present forecasts for the sensitivities that could be obtained from the run 2 data and also for the high-luminosity …
Light sterile neutrinos represent a well-motivated extension of the 3-neutrino paradigm. However, the impressive agreement between standard cosmology and data casts doubts on their existence. Here we present a class of scenarios that robustly avoids this tension. In these models the sterile neutrinos are light, chiral states of a new sector interacting with the Standard Model via the right-handed neutrino portal and, crucially, active-sterile neutrino oscillations require a phase transition in the hidden sector. We explore the hidden-couplings/critical-temperature plane and identify regions wh…
We consider a simple extension of the Standard Model (SM) by a complex scalar doublet and a singlet along with three sterile neutrinos. The sterile neutrinos mix with the SM neutrinos to produce three light neutrino states consistent with the oscillation data and three heavy sterile states. The lightest sterile neutrino has lifetime longer than the age of the Universe and can provide correct dark matter relic abundance. Utilizing tree-level flavor changing interactions of a light scalar with mass~$\sim\mathcal{O}(100)$~MeV along with sterile neutrinos, we can explain the anomalous magnetic mom…
The three massless active (doublet) neutrinos may mix with two heavy and one \underline {light} sterile (singlet) neutrinos so that the induced masses and mixings among the former are able to explain the present data on atmospheric and solar neutrino oscillations. If the LSND result is also to be explained, one active neutrino mass eigenstate must mix with the light sterile neutrino. A specific model is proposed with the spontaneous and soft explicit breaking of a new global $U(1)_S$ symmetry so that a sterile neutrino will decay into an active antineutrino and a nearly massless pseudo-Majoron…
We compare the solutions to the short baseline neutrino anomaly based on oscillations to sterile neutrinos and the Stochastic Neutrino Mixing Mechanism (SNMM) through an analysis of the present neutrino data. The SNMM suggests worse fits than a 3 + 1 sterile neutrino model, although it cannot be discarded by present data. We propose an experiment to distinguish between both solutions, based on placing a $^8$Li source inside a 5kton-yr detector (like SNO). We studied the sensitivity of such an experiment, which makes it possible to discriminate within $2σ$ the SNMM from the 3+1 sterile hypothes…
Neutrino asymmetry generation from active-sterile neutrino oscillations in the early Universe has different important cosmological effects. We discuss its basic features and present recent results on the borders of the generation for mixing angles $\sin^2 2θ_0\leq 10^{-7}$.
Sterile neutrino models with new gauge interactions in the sterile sector are phenomenologically interesting since they can lead to novel effects in neutrino oscillation experiments, in cosmology and in dark matter detectors, possibly even explaining some of the observed anomalies in these experiments. Here, we use data from neutrino oscillation experiments, in particular from MiniBooNE, MINOS and solar neutrino experiments, to constrain such models. We focus in particular on the case where the sterile sector gauge boson $A'$ couples also to Standard Model particles (for instance to the baryon…
In this work we consider the standard model extended with singlet sterile neutrinos with mass in the eV range and mixed with the active neutrinos. The active-sterile neutrino mixing renders new contributions to the invisible Z decay width which, in the case of light sterile neutrinos, depends on the active-sterile mixing matrix elements only. We then use the current experimental value of the invisible Z decay width to obtain bounds on these mixing matrix elements for both (3+1) and (3+2) models.
Sterile neutrinos of mass up to a few tens of TeV can saturate the present experimental bound of neutrinoless double beta decay process. Due to the updated nuclear matrix elements, the bound on mass and mixing angle is now improved by one order of magnitude. We have performed a detailed analysis of neutrinoless double beta decay for the minimal Type I seesaw scenario. We have shown that in spite of the naive expectation that the light neutrinos give the dominant contribution, sterile neutrinos can saturate the present experimental bound of neutrinoless double beta decay process. However, in or…
We consider active-sterile neutrino conversions in a supernova in the presence of random magnetic field domains. For large enough fields the magnetization of the medium may enhance the active to sterile neutrino conversion rates. Neglecting neutrino transition magnetic moments we show that for KeV neutrino mass squared differences these limits may overcome those that would apply in the isotropic case.
In this paper, we study the effect of active-neutrino-sterile-neutrino mixing in the expected high-energy astrophysical neutrino flavor content. Non-unitarity in the measurement of the three active neutrinos can be due to the existence of sterile neutrino states. We introduce the concept of the four-flavor tetrahedron in order to visualize the lack of unitarity in the astrophysical neutrino three-flavor triangle. We demonstrate that active-sterile neutrino mixings modify the allowed region of the astrophysical flavor ratio from the standard case. However, a projection of the four-flavor tetrah…
Neutrino-neutrino interactions, as mediated by standard model Z exchange, can drastically enhance the Dodelson-Widrow mechanism for the production of sterile neutrinos in the region of temperature $5-15$MeV. For a sterile mass in the KeV region with the usual type of active-sterile neutrino coupling, the production can be copious enough to provide ample dark matter, even when the active-sterile coupling is small enough to avoid the bounds set by laboratory results.
We present a supersymmetric axion model in which the fermionic superpartner of axion, i.e. the axino, corresponds to a sterile neutrino which would accommodate the LSND data with atmospheric and solar neutrino oscillations.
A linearly polarized laser beam acquires its circular polarization by interacting with a neutrino beam for the reason that the gauge-couplings of left-handed neutrinos are parity-violated. Based on this phenomena, we study the oscillations of active and sterile neutrinos in short baseline neutrino experiments. Using the total fluxes of active and sterile neutrinos in the $3+1$ framework, we show that the rate of generating circular polarization oscillates as a function of the distance $L$ neutrinos propagating from the source to the detector. By measuring such oscillation, one can possibly det…
Model-building issues raised by the prospect of light sterile neutrinos are discussed in a pedagogical way. I first review the na\"ıve proposal that sterile neutrinos be identified with ``right handed neutrinos''. A critical discussion of the simple expedient of adding three gauge singlet fermions to the usual minimal standard model matter content is followed by an examination of right handed neutrinos in extended theories. I introduce the terminology of ``fully sterile'' and ``weakly sterile'' to classify varieties usually conflated under the sterile neutrino banner. After introducing the con…
We analyse the sensitivity of the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) to a sterile neutrino, combining information from both the Near Detector (ND) and the Far Detector (FD). DUNE's sterile exclusion reach is affected by taking into account the information on the neutrino production point, in contrast to assuming a point-like neutrino source. Visible differences remain after taking into account energy bin-to-bin uncorrelated systematics.
A phenomenological model with active and sterile neutrinos is used for calculations of neutrino oscillation characteristics at the normal mass hierarchy of active neutrinos. Taking into account the contributions of sterile neutrinos, appearance and survival probabilities for active neutrinos are calculated. Modified graphical dependencies for the probability of appearance of electron neutrinos/antineutrinos in muon neutrino/antineutrino beams as a function of the ratio of the distance to the neutrino energy and other model parameters are obtained. It is shown that in the case of a certain type…
In this paper, we calculate the relic abundance of the dark matter particles when they can annihilate into sterile neutrinos with the mass $\lesssim 100 \text{ GeV}$ in a simple model. Unlike the usual standard calculations, the sterile neutrino may fall out of the thermal equilibrium with the thermal bath before the dark matter freezes out. In such a case, if the Yukawa coupling $y_N$ between the Higgs and the sterile neutrino is small, this process gives rise to a larger $Ω_{\text{DM}} h^2$ so we need a larger coupling between the dark matter and the sterile neutrino for a correct relic abun…
On the basis of the experimental data allowing existence of the anomalies going beyond the minimally extended Standard Model with three active neutrinos with different masses, we consider the generalized model with three active and three sterile neutrinos, one of which is relatively heavy ((3+1+2)-model). We study the basic characteristics that are used to describe the massive active and sterile neutrinos, the methods to determine the absolute scale of neutrino masses and the neutrino mass estimates based on the available experimental data. Taking into account the possible contributions of the…
We explore the possibility of generating a non-zero $U_{e3}$ element of the neutrino mixing matrix from tribimaximal neutrino mixing by adding a light sterile neutrino to the active neutrinos. Small active-sterile mixing can provide the necessary deviation from tribimaximal mixing to generate a non-zero $θ_{13}$ and atmospheric mixing $θ_{23}$ different from maximal. Assuming no CP-violation, we study the phenomenological impact of sterile neutrinos in the context of current neutrino oscillation data. The tribimaximal pattern is broken in such a manner that the second column of tribimaximal mi…
We explore the possibility that the 3 active (doublet) neutrinos have nearly degenerate masses which are split only by the usual seesaw mechanism from 3 sterile (singlet) neutrinos in the presence of a softly broken $A_4$ symmetry. We take the unconventional view that the sterile neutrinos may be light, i.e. less than 1 keV, and discuss some very interesting and novel phenomenology, including a connection between the LSND neutrino data and solar neutrino oscillations.
We investigate the impact of a fourth sterile neutrino at reactor and Spallation Neutron Source neutrino detectors. Specifically, we explore the discovery potential of the TEXONO and COHERENT experiments to subleading sterile neutrino effects through the measurement of the coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering event rate. Our dedicated $χ^2$-sensitivity analysis employs realistic nuclear structure calculations adequate for high purity sub-keV threshold Germanium detectors.
Light sterile neutrinos with a mass around 1 eV have been studied for many years as a possible explanation of the so called short-baseline neutrino oscillation anomalies. Recently, several neutrino oscillation experiments reported preferences for non-zero values of the mixing angles and squared mass differences for active-sterile mixing, which however are not always in agreement. I will review our current knowledge on the light sterile neutrino in the 3+1 model, starting with a separate discussion on the status of the most relevant searches and then analyzing the problems that arise when combi…
We propose the minimal supersymmetric sterile neutrino model (MSSNM) where the sterile neutrino masses are about 1 eV, while the active neutrino masses and the mixings among the active and sterile neutrinos are generated during late time phase transition. All the current experimental neutrino data include the LSND can be explained simultaneously, and the constraints on the sterile neutrinos from the big bang nucleosynthesis and large scale structure can be evaded. To realize the MSSNM naturally, we consider the supersymmetric intermediate-scale U(1)' model, the low energy U(1)' model with a se…
We explore the possibility of a single generation of $keV$ scale sterile neutrino ($m_S$) as a dark matter candidate within the minimal extended seesaw (MES) framework and it's influence in neutrinoless double beta decay ($0νββ$) study. Three hierarchical right-handed neutrinos were considered to explain neutrino mass. We also address baryogenesis via the mechanism of thermal leptogenesis considering the decay of the lightest RH neutrino to a lepton and Higgs doublet. A generic model based on $A_4\times Z_4\times Z_3$ flavor symmetry is constructed to explain both normal and inverted hierarchy…
We point out that there is a serious cosmological problem in the supersymmetric standard model if a sterile neutrino is responsible for the solar neutrino oscillation, and propose a possible solution to this problem. We show that our solution induces naturally a mass of order 10^{-4} eV for the sterile neutrino, which is deeply related to the mechanism of supersymmetry breaking.
We revise the bounds on heavy sterile neutrinos, especially in the case of their mixing with muon neutrinos in the charged current. We summarize the present experimental limits, and we reanalyze the existing data from the accelerator neutrino experiments and from Super-Kamiokande to set new bounds on a heavy sterile neutrino in the range of masses from 8 MeV to 390 MeV. We also discuss how the future accelerator neutrino experiments can improve the present limits.
We obtain tree-level estimates of various differential branching ratios of heavy baryon decays with massive sterile neutrinos $ν_{x}$ in the final state. Heavy sterile neutrinos can be searched for in heavy baryon decays with missing mass as a signature as well as in fixed target experiments, where heavy baryon decays contribute to sterile neutrino production, with sterile neutrino decays as a signature. Generally, charmed baryons are found to be less promising than charmed mesons, in contrast to b-hadrons. In the latter case, branching ratios of beauty mesons and baryons into sterile neutrino…
The resonant production of keV sterile-neutrino dark matter mainly takes place during the QCD epoch of the early universe. It has been argued that it could be strongly affected by the opacities (or damping rates) of active neutrinos, which receive non-perturbative QCD-contributions. We find that for lepton asymmetries $ n_{ L_α} /s $ below $ 10 ^ { -6 } $ the opacities significantly affect the sterile-neutrino yield, but that for larger asymmetries, which are necessary for producing a significant fraction of the dark matter, the yield is insensitive to changes of the opacities. Thus non-pertur…
We propose that a hierarchical spectrum of sterile neutrinos (eV, keV, $10^{13-15}$ GeV) is considered to as the explanations for MiniBooNE and LSND oscillation anomalies, dark matter, and baryon asymmetry of the universe (BAU) respectively. The scenario can also realize the smallness of active neutrino masses by seesaw mechanism.
Recent neutrino oscillation results have evoked renewed interest in sterile neutrino oscillation models. This paper reviews the data from MiniBooNE and short-baseline reactor antineutrino experiments within the context of sterile neutrinos. The results are incorporated into combined fits to test the viability of sterile neutrino oscillation models, which are later expanded to address matter effects. Finally, future experiments that can resolve the questions that have been raised are discussed.
The recent Xenon1T excess can be explained by solar neutrino scattering with electron via a light mediator, either scalar or vector, in addition to many other explanations from the dark sector. Since only the recoil electron is observable, a keV sterile neutrino instead of an active neutrino can appear in the final state. The sterile neutrino allows pseudoscalar mediator to explain the Xenon1T excess which was thought impossible. In addition, nonzero recoil energy lower bound arises from the sterile neutrino mass, which can be used to testify if the sterile neutrino is massive or not. We also …
The quasi-degeneracy of heavier sterile neutrino masses in the Neutrino Minimal Standard Model ($ν$MSM) facilitates the production of lepton asymmetry below the electroweak scale. The first order loop corrections to this mass-difference has been computed in this work along with a numerical estimate of the contribution.
