Quasi-Sterile Neutrinos from Dark Sectors I. BSM matter effects in neutrino oscillations and the short-baseline anomalies
Daniele S. M. Alves, William C. Louis, Patrick G. deNiverville
备注：
39 pages; 12 figures; comments welcome. V2: new figure and brief discussion added on resonant effects in solar/atmospheric neutrino propagation through the Earth; brief comment added on possible effects of new CP-violating phases in the full model; matches content of published version in JHEP
Quasi-sterile neutrinos are a natural consequence of dark sectors interacting with the Standard Model (SM) sector via neutrino- and vector-portals. Essentially, quasi-sterile neutrinos are light dark sector fermions with two generic properties: (i) they mix with the active neutrinos of the SM, and (ii) they are charged under a vector mediator that couples feebly to SM matter. Various interesting phenomenological consequences result from this class of particles. In this article, we investigate one such consequence: new, beyond the SM matter effects that can alter in-medium neutrino oscillations. In particular, for special windows of energy and matter densities, active neutrinos can resonantly oscillate into sterile neutrinos. We take advantage of this feature to build a quasi-sterile neutrino model that can explain the MiniBooNE and LSND anomalies, while remaining compatible with observations from long-baseline reactor- and accelerator-based neutrino experiments. This model is also likely compatible with the recent results reported by the MicroBooNE collaboration (albeit we cannot precisely quantify this claim due to a lack of information in MicroBooNE's public data releases to date). Implications for solar neutrinos and $ν_e$ disappearance searches are also briefly discussed.
The direct searches for Beyond Standard Model (BSM) particles have been constraining their mass scale to the extent where it is now becoming consensual that such particles are likely to be above the energy reach of the LHC. Meanwhile, the studies of indirect probes of BSM physics, with all their diversity, have been progressing both in accurracy and in setting up observables with reduced theoretical uncertainties. The observation of flavour anomalies in $b$ hadron decays represents an important part of the program of indirect detection of BSM physics. Several benchmark analyses involving lepto…
The MiniBooNE experiment has observed a significant excess of electron neutrinos in a muon neutrino beam at source-detector distances too short to be compatible with standard neutrino oscillations. The most straightforward explanation for this signal in terms of oscillations between Standard Model neutrinos and a new, sterile, neutrino, is disfavored by null results from experiments looking for muon neutrino disappearance. Here, we discuss the possibility that MiniBooNE data are instead explained by a sterile neutrino that decays quickly back into active neutrinos plus a light boson. The flavo…
We examine the compatibility between existing experimental data and a recently proposed explanation of the LSND and MiniBooNE anomalies, given in terms of a sterile neutrino $N$ whose decay is dominated by a radiative mode. We find that current experimental data on $τ\rightarrow μννγ$ decays are compatible with the sterile neutrino parameters required for the explanation of the anomalies, but $K\rightarrow μνγ$ shows a marginal tension with those parameters. We also propose experimental cuts on radiative $K$ decays that could test the sterile neutrino hypothesis better. Finally, we study the c…
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…
We show how, in the $B-L$ extension of the SM (BLSM) with an Inverse Seesaw (IS) mechanism for neutrino mass generation, a light $Z'$ state with moderate couplings to SM objects, hence `dark' in its nature, can be associated, in conjunction with light sterile neutrinos, to some present day data anomalies, such as the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon as well as a possible signal indicating the existence of sterile neutrinos in neutrino beam experiments.
We explore the hypothesis that the unexplained data from LSND and MiniBooNE are evidence for a new, heavy neutrino mass-eigenstate that mixes with the muon-type neutrino and decays into an electron-type neutrino and a new, very light scalar particle. We consider two different decay scenarios, one with Majorana neutrinos, one with Dirac neutrinos; both fit the data equally well. We find a reasonable, albeit not excellent, fit to the data of MiniBooNE and LSND. The decaying-sterile-neutrino hypothesis, however, cleanly evades constraints from disappearance searches and precision measurements of …
Baksan Experiment on Sterile Neutrino (BEST) is presently at the stage of production of the artificial neutrino source Cr-51, the gallium exposure will start in July and proceed for three months. While aiming specifically at investigating the Gallium neutrino anomaly (SAGE and GALLEX experiments), BEST can do more and it is tempting to estimate its ability in testing sterile neutrino explanation of antineutrino (reactor) anomalies. We observe a moderate sensitivity to the region in model parameter space (sterile neutrino mass and mixing with active electron neutrino) outlined by the old reacto…
Recently the MiniBooNE Collaboration has confirmed its anomalous excess in (anti)muon- to (anti)electron-neutrino oscillation data. Combined with long-standing results from the LSND experiment this amounts to a 6.1 sigma evidence for new physics beyond the Standard Model. In this paper we develop a framework with 3 active and 3 sterile neutrinos with altered dispersion relations that provides a mechanism to explain these anomalies without being in conflict with the absence of anomalous neutrino disappearance in other neutrino oscillation experiments.
We study two possible explanations for short baseline neutrino oscillation anomalies, such as the LSND and MiniBooNE anti-neutrino data, and for the reactor anomaly. The first scenario is the mini-seesaw mechanism with two eV-scale sterile neutrinos. We present both analytic formulas and numerical results showing that this scenario could account for the short baseline and reactor anomalies and is consistent with the observed masses and mixings of the three active neutrinos. We also show that this scenario could arise naturally from an effective theory containing a TeV-scale VEV, which could be…
Several neutrino experiments have reported results that are potentially inconsistent with our current understanding of the lepton sector. A candidate solution to these so-called short-baseline anomalies is postulating the existence of new, eV-scale, mostly sterile neutrinos that mix with the active neutrinos. This hypothesis, however, is strongly disfavored once one considers all neutrino data, especially those that constrain the disappearance of muon and electron neutrinos at short-baselines. Here, we show that if the sterile-active mixing parameters depend on the energy-scales that character…
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…
Results from the LSND and MiniBooNE experiments have been interpreted as evidence for a sterile neutrino with a mass near the electronvolt scale. Here we propose to test such a scenario by measuring the coherent elastic scattering rate of neutrinos from a pulsed spallation source. Coherent scattering is universal across all active neutrino flavors, and thus can provide a measurement of the total Standard Model neutrino flux. By performing measurements over different baselines and making use of timing information, it is possible to significantly reduce the systematic uncertainties and to indepe…
In this paper we provide a combined explanation of charged- and neutral-current $B$-physics anomalies assuming the presence of a light sterile neutrino $N_R$ which contributes to the $B \to D^{(*)} τν$ processes. We focus in particular on two simplified models, where the mediator of the flavour anomalies is either a vector leptoquark $U_1^μ\sim ({\bf 3}, {\bf 1}, 2/3)$ or a scalar leptoquark $S_1 \sim ({\bf \bar 3}, {\bf 1}, 1/3)$. We find that $U_1^μ$ can successfully reproduce the required deviations from the Standard Model while being at the same time compatible with all other flavour and p…
The experimental observation of neutrino oscillations profoundly impacted the physics of neutrinos, from being well understood theoretically to requiring new physics beyond the standard model of particle physics. Indeed, the mystery of neutrino masses implies the presence of new particles never observed before, often called sterile neutrinos, as they would not undergo standard weak interactions. And while neutrino oscillation measurements entered the precision era, reaching percent-level precision, many experimental results show significant discrepancies with the standard model, at baselines m…
We discuss the possibility to explain the anomalies in short-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments in terms of sterile neutrinos. We work in a 3+1 framework and pay special attention to recent new data from reactor experiments, IceCube and MINOS+. We find that results from the DANSS and NEOS reactor experiments support the sterile neutrino explanation of the reactor anomaly, based on an analysis that relies solely on the relative comparison of measured reactor spectra. Global data from the $ν_e$ disappearance channel favour sterile neutrino oscillations at the $3σ$ level with $Δm^2_{41} \a…
A number of experimental anomalies involving neutrinos hint towards the existence of at least an extra (a very light) sterile neutrino. However, such a species, appreciably mixing with the active neutrinos, is disfavored by different cosmological observations like Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN), Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) and Large Scale Structure (LSS). Recently, it was shown that the presence of additional interactions in the sterile neutrino sector via light bosonic mediators can make the scenario cosmologically viable by suppressing the production of the sterile neutrinos from activ…
We study a large extra dimension model with active and sterile Dirac neutrinos. The sterile neutrino masses stem from compactification of an extra dimension with radius $R$ and are chosen to have masses around eV or keV, in order to explain short-baseline anomalies or act as warm dark matter candidates. We study the effect of the sterile neutrino Kaluza-Klein tower in short-baseline oscillation experiments and in the beta spectrum as measurable by KATRIN-like experiments.
Sterile neutrinos with a mass in the eV range have been invoked as a possible explanation of a variety of short baseline (SBL) neutrino oscillation anomalies. However, if one considers neutrino oscillations between active and sterile neutrinos, such neutrinos would have been fully thermalised in the early universe, and would be therefore in strong conflict with cosmological bounds. In this study we first update cosmological bounds on the mass and energy density of eV-scale sterile neutrinos. We then perform an updated study of a previously proposed model in which the sterile neutrino couples t…
A generalized phenomenological (3 + 2 + 1)-model with three active and three sterile neutrinos is considered for the calculation of the neutrino oscillation characteristics at normal mass hierarchy of active neutrinos and significant splitting between the mass of one sterile neutrino and the masses of other two sterile neutrinos. A new parametrization and a certain form of the general neutrino mixing matrix for active and sterile neutrinos are suggested taking into account the possible violation of CP invariance in the lepton sector. The test values of the neutrino masses and the mixing parame…
Several anomalies observed in short-baseline neutrino experiments indicate that the standard 3-flavor framework may be incomplete and point towards the existence of light sterile neutrinos. Here, we present a concise review of the status of the neutrino oscillations within the 3+1 scheme, which is a minimal extension of the standard 3-flavor framework with one sterile neutrino species. We emphasize the potential role of LBL experiments in the searches of CP violation connected to sterile neutrinos and their complementarity with the SBL experiments.
This thesis covers a few successes of the SM and its limitations. The limitations implement that the SM must be expanded to explain the observables which can not be addressed by the SM such as mass of neutrinos, a few of anomalies, DM, DE, etc. In order to extend the SM, we take the model-dependent approach and a minimal extension to the SM. For the minimal extension, we make use of vector-like family, SM-like scalar (plus a singlet flavon), and $U(1)^\prime$ symmetry. A first BSM model in my first work is to explain both the electron and muon anomalous magnetic moments at the same time, while…
We present a dark sector model that reproduces the KOTO, MiniBooNE and muon anomalous magnetic moment anomalies. The dark sector is comprised of a light scalar singlet $S$ that has a large coupling to a slightly heavier sterile neutrino that mixes with the active neutrinos. The scalar couples to standard model fermions via Yukawa couplings, and to photons via a higher-dimensional coupling. The KOTO signal is a result of the flavor-changing penguin process $K_L \to π^0 S$ followed by the decay of $S$ to neutrinos. The sterile neutrino produced in neutrino-nucleus scattering at MiniBooNE decays …
Anomalies in short baseline experiments have been interpreted as evidence for additional neutrino mass states with large mass splittings from the known, active flavors. This explanation mandates a corresponding signature in the muon neutrino disappearance channel, which has yet to be observed. Searches for muon neutrino disappearance at the IceCube neutrino telescope presently provide the strongest limits in the space of mixing angles for eV-scale sterile neutrinos. This proceeding for the Very Large Volume Neutrino Telescopes (VLVnT) Workshop summarizes the IceCube analyses that have searched…
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 …
Using the most recent atmospheric neutrino data, as well as short-baseline, long-baseline and tritium $β$-decay data we show that the joint interpretation of the LSND, solar and atmospheric neutrino anomalies in (3+1) sterile neutrino schemes is severely disfavored, in contrast to the theoretically favored (2+2) schemes.
Solar neutrino experiments are highly sensitive to sources of $ν\to\overlineν$ conversions in the $^8$B neutrino flux. In this work we adapt these searches to non-minimal sterile neutrino models recently proposed to explain the LSND, MiniBooNE, and reactor anomalies. The production of such sterile neutrinos in the Sun, followed the decay chain $ν_4 \to νϕ\to νν\overlineν$ with a new scalar $ϕ$ results in upper limits for the neutrino mixing $|U_{e4}|^2$ at the per mille level. We conclude that a simultaneous explanations of all anomalies is in tension with KamLAND, Super-Kamiokande, and Borexi…
We interpret the neutrino anomalies in neutrino oscillation experiments and the high energy neutrino events at IceCube in terms of neutrino oscillations in an extension of the standard model where three sterile neutrinos are introduced so as to make two light neutrinos to be Pseudo-Dirac particles and a light neutrino to be a Majorana particle. Our model is different from the so-called $3+n$ model with $n$ sterile neutrinos suggested to interpret short baseline anomalies in terms of neutrino oscillations. While the Pontecorvo-Maki-Nakagawa-Sakata (PMNS) matrix in $3+n$ model is simply extended…
The universality of the weak interactions can be tested in semileptonic $b \to c$ transitions, and in particular in the ratios $R(D^{(*)}) \equiv Γ(B \rightarrow D^{(*)} τν)/Γ(B \rightarrow D^{(*)} \ell ν)$ (where $\ell = μ$ or $e$). Due to the recent differences between the experimental measurements of these observables by BaBar, Belle and LHCb on the one hand and the Standard Model predicted values on the other hand, we study the predicted ratios $R(D^{(*)}) = Γ(B \rightarrow D^{(*)} τ+$ "missing" $)/Γ(B \rightarrow D^{(*)} \ell ν)$ in scenarios with an additional sterile heavy neutrino of m…
Several different experiments have hinted to the existence of "anomalies" in the neutrino sector, implying the possible presence of additional sterile neutrinos or of other options. A definitive experimental search, capable to clarify either in favour or against all these anomalies at the appropriate > 5 sigma level has been proposed by the ICARUS-NESSIE Collaboration. The technique is based on two innovative concepts, namely (1) a large mass Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LAr-TPC) now in full operation at LNGS and (2) the search for spectral differences in two identical detectors at di…
Hints for the existence of a sterile neutrino at nuclear reactors are reexamined using two updated predictions for the fluxes of antineutrinos produced in fissions. These new predictions diverge in their preference for the rate deficit anomaly, relative to previous analyses, but the anomaly in the ratios of measured antineutrino spectra persists. We comment on upcoming experiments and their ability to probe the preferred region of the sterile-neutrino parameter space in the electron neutrino disappearance channel.
The existence of light sterile neutrinos is a long standing question for particle physics. Several experimental ``anomalies'' could be explained by introducing ~eV mass scaled light sterile neutrinos. Many experiments are actively hunting for such light sterile neutrinos through neutrino oscillation. For long baseline experiments, matter effect needs to be treated carefully for precise neutrino oscillation probability calculation. However, it is usually time-consuming or analytical complexity. In this manuscript we adopt the Jacobi-like method to diagonalize the Hermitian Hamiltonian matrix an…
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.
The Short BaseLine (SBL) neutrino oscillation anomalies hint at the presence of a sterile neutrino with a mass of around 1 eV. However, such a neutrino is incompatible with cosmological data, in particular observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropies. However, this conclusion can change by invoking new physics. One possibility is to introduce a secret interaction in the sterile neutrino sector mediated by a light pseudoscalar. In this pseudoscalar model, CMB data prefer a sterile neutrino mass that is fully compatible with the mass ranges suggested by SBL anomalies. In ad…
The existence of sterile neutrino is hinted by simultaneous explanation of diverse neutrino anomalies. We suggest that the quasi Goldstone fermions (QGF) arising in supersymmetric theory as a result of spontaneous breaking of global symmetry like the Peccei-Quinn symmetry or the lepton number symmetry can play a role of the sterile neutrino. The smallness of mass of QGF ($m_S \sim 10^{-3}-10$ eV) can be related to the specific choice of superpotential or Kähler potential (e.g., no-scale kinetic terms for certain superfields). Mixing of QGF with neutrinos implies the $R$-parity violation. It ca…
Series of short baseline neutrino oscillation experiments provided unexpected results, and now they are called short baseline anomalies, and all indicates an existence of sterile neutrinos with a mass scale around 1~eV. The signals of short baseline anomalies are reported from 4 different classes of experiments. However, at this moment, there is no convincing theoretical model to explain such sterile neutrinos, and a single experiment to confirm 1~eV sterile neutrinos may be challenging. In this short note, we describe classes of short baseline neutrino oscillation experiments and their goals.
This report has been prepared as part of the US Community Study on the Future of Particle Physics (Snowmass 2021) by the Snowmass Neutrino Frontier Topical Group NF02 Conveners, and it is based on the NF02 Topical Group-contributed White Paper on Light Sterile Neutrino Searches and Related Phenomenology.
Anomalies in several short-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments suggest the possible existence of sterile neutrinos at about eV scale having appreciable mixing with the already known three neutrinos. We find that if such a light sterile neutrino exists, through a combined study of the leptonic decays of $μ^-$, $τ^-$, $π^-$ and $K^-$, some semi-leptonic decays of $τ^-$ and the invisible decay width of the $Z$ boson, it is possible to constrain the relevant mixing matrix elements. Furthermore, we compare the constraints, derived by using the method presented here, with the experimental resu…
The existence of light sterile neutrinos, as predicted in several models, can help to explain a number of observations starting from dark mater to recent anomalies in short baseline experiments. In this paper we consider two models - Left-Right Symmetric Zee model and Extended Seesaw model, that can naturally accommodate the presence of light sterile neutrinos in the eV to MeV mass scale. We perform a detailed study on the neutrinoless double beta decay process which receives major contributions from diagrams involving these light sterile neutrinos. Considering a number of theoretical and expe…
The field of particle physics is at the crossroads. The discovery of a Higgs-like boson completed the Standard Model (SM), but the lacking observation of convincing resonances Beyond the SM (BSM) offers no guidance for the future of particle physics. On the other hand, the motivation for New Physics has not diminished and is, in fact, reinforced by several striking anomalous results in many experiments. Here we summarise the status of the most significant anomalies, including the most recent results for the flavour anomalies, the multi-lepton anomalies at the LHC, the Higgs-like excess at arou…
Light sterile neutrinos have been motivated by anomalies observed in short-baseline neutrino experiments.Among them, radioactive-source and reactor experiments have provided evidence and constraints, respectively, for electron neutrino disappearance compatible with an eV-scale neutrino. The results from these observations are seemingly in conflict. This letter brings into focus the assumption that the neutrino wave packet can be approximated as a plane wave, which is adopted in all analyses of such experiments. We demonstrate that the damping of oscillations, e.g., due to a finite wave packet …
We examine the MiniBooNE neutrino, MiniBooNE antineutrino and LSND antineutrino data sets in a two-neutrino $\stackrel{\tiny{(-)}}ν_μ\rightarrow\stackrel{\tiny{(-)}}ν_e$ oscillation approximation subject to non-standard matter effects. We assume those effects can be parametrized by an $L$-independent effective potential, $V_s=\pm A_s$, experienced only by an intermediate, non-weakly-interacting (sterile) neutrino state which we assume participates in the oscillation, where $+/-$ corresponds to neutrino/antineutrino propagation. We discuss the mathematical framework in which such oscillations a…
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.
We propose a four-neutrino model which can reconcile the existing data coming from underground experiments in terms of neutrino oscillations, together with the hint from the LSND experiment and a possible neutrino contribution to the hot dark matter of the Universe. It applies the idea that extra compact dimensions, probed only by gravity and possibly gauge-singlet fields, can lower the fundamental scales such as the Planck, string or unification scales. Our fourth light neutrino $ν_s$ ($s$ for sterile) is identified with the zero mode of the Kaluza-Klein states. To first approximation ν_steri…
Although the framework for oscillations of the three neutrino flavors in the Standard Model has been convincingly established, indications persist that it may be incomplete. Challenges are coming from the LSND and MiniBooNe short-baseline experiments, from the neutrino sources used in the Gallex and Sage solar neutrino experiments and, more recently,from an a-posteriori analysis of reactor neutrino experiments. One way to accommodate the reported "anomalies", if real, is to introduce one or more sterile neutrinos in the mass range $δm^2 \sim 1 eV^2$. TeV atmospheric neutrinos propagating throu…
Most of the neutrino oscillation results can be explained by the three-neutrino paradigm. However several anomalies in short baseline oscillation data could be interpreted by invoking a hypothetical fourth neutrino, separated from the three standard neutrinos by a squared mass difference of more than 0.1 eV$^2$. This new neutrino, often called sterile, would not feel standard model interactions but mix with the others. Such a scenario calling for new physics beyond the standard model has to be either ruled out or confirmed with new data. After a brief review of the anomalous oscillation result…
We review the status of light sterile neutrino searches, motivated by the original Short BaseLine (SBL) anomalies. Here, we discuss how sterile neutrino properties can be constrained by different types of neutrino oscillation experiments (considering appearance or disappearance probes in different oscillation channels) and non-oscillation measurements. These latter include experiments aiming at obtaining a value for the absolute scale of neutrino masses ($β$ decay probes) and the indirect constraints that we could obtain from cosmological observations.
Of late, a number of instances of neutrino flux anomalies observed at short-baselines have given traction to the hypothesis of adding new neutrino flavours to our Standard Model set, albeit ones not associated with a partnered lepton. Anomalies observed at LSND, MiniBooNE and at short distances from nuclear reactors have suggested the existence of sterile mass states with masses on the scale of $\sim1\text{eV}$, prompting further investigations. Subsequently, Fermilab is set to host a Short-Baseline Neutrino (SBN) oscillation program which will cross-check each of these anomalies by deploying …
The ANITA experiment has seen anomalous Earth emergent showers of EeV energies which cannot be explained with Standard Model interactions. In addition, tests of lepton flavor universality in $ R(D^{(\ast)})$ and $R(K^{(\ast)})$ have shown significant deviations from theoretical predictions. It is known that, among single leptoquark solutions, only the chiral vector leptoquark $U_1 \sim (\mathbf{3}, \mathbf{1} , 2/3)$ can simultaneously address the discrepancies. In this paper, we show that the leptoquark motivated by flavor anomalies coupled to a sterile neutrino can also explain the ANITA Ano…
We propose a new model-agnostic search strategy for physics beyond the standard model (BSM) at the LHC, based on a novel application of neural density estimation to anomaly detection. Our approach, which we call Classifying Anomalies THrough Outer Density Estimation (CATHODE), assumes the BSM signal is localized in a signal region (defined e.g. using invariant mass). By training a conditional density estimator on a collection of additional features outside the signal region, interpolating it into the signal region, and sampling from it, we produce a collection of events that follow the backgro…
Light sterile neutrinos are a popular extension of the Standard Model and are being discussed as a possible explanation for various neutrino oscillation anomalies, including the LSND, MiniBooNE, Reactor and Gallium anomalies. In order to avoid inconsistencies with constraints derived from disappearance experiments and cosmology, altered dispersion relations - which may originate from extra dimensions - have been proposed as a possible solution, dubbed as "neutrino shortcuts in the extra dimension". In this paper we develop a neutrino mass model with an asymmetrically warped extra dimension and…
We investigate resonant active-sterile neutrino oscillations emergent from the interplay between matter, CPT- and Lorentz-violating coefficients with different energy dependences. Novel and experimentally accessible resonant neutrino oscillation phenomenologies are predicted and possible implications for observed, but yet unexplained, neutrino oscillation anomalies such as LSND and MiniBooNE are discussed.
The MiniBooNE collaboration recently released a report claiming have observed an excess of electron and anti-electron neutrino with significance of $4.8 \, σ$ C.L. corroborating, in this way, the long-standing LSND anomaly. Combined LSND and MiniBooNE analysis reach a significance of $6.0\, σ$ C.L. Such a result, if confirmed by future experiments, will cause considerable impact on particle physics since that such anomalies, when interpreted in terms of neutrino oscillation, require the existence of at least one light sterile neutrino. It happens that, on according to standard scenarios, such …
The hot and dense early Universe combined with the promise of high-precision cosmological observations provide an intriguing laboratory for Beyond Standard Model (BSM) physics. We simulate the early Universe to examine the effects of the decay of thermally populated sterile neutrino states into Standard Model products around the time of weak decoupling. These decays deposit a significant amount of entropy into the plasma as well as produce a population of high-energy out-of-equilibrium active neutrinos. As a result, we can constrain these models by their inferred value of $N_{\rm eff}$, the ef…
Light sterile neutrinos of mass about an eV with mixing $\tilde U_{ls}$ of a few percent to active neutrinos may solve some anomalies shown in experimental data related to neutrino oscillation. How to have light sterile neutrinos is one of the theoretical problems which have attracted a lot of attentions. In this article we show that such an eV scale light sterile neutrino candidate can be obtained in a seesaw model in which the right-handed neutrinos satisfy a softly-broken Friedberg-Lee (FL) symmetry. In this model a right-handed neutrino is guaranteed by the FL symmetry to be light comparin…
