Active-sterile Neutrino Oscillations Research Articles

Constraints on pseudo-Dirac neutrinos using high-energy neutrinos from NGC 1068

Neutrinos can be pseudo-Dirac in Nature - they can be Majorana fermions while behaving effectively as Dirac fermions. Such scenarios predict active-sterile neutrino oscillations driven by a tiny mass-squared difference (δm2), which is an outcome of soft lepton number violation. Oscillations due to tiny δm2 can only take place over astrophysical baselines and hence are not accessible in terrestrial neutrino oscillation experiments. This implies that high-energy neutrinos coming from large distances can be naturally used to test this scenario. We use the recent observation of high-energy neutrinos from the active galactic nuclei NGC 1068 by the IceCube collaboration to rule out δm2 in the region [1.4×10−18,10−17]eV2 at more than 90% confidence level - one of the strongest limits to date on the values of δm2. We also discuss possible uncertainties which can reduce the sensitivity of these results.

Updated BBN constraints on non-equilibrium active-sterile neutrino oscillations

Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) offers impressive agreement between the predicted by theory and the observationally obtained abundances of primordially produced light elements and therefore it is used as one of the most reliable probes of the physics beyond Standard Model. The highly accurate recent determination of the primordial Deuterium and Helium-4 allows to provide updated and strengthened BBN constraints on beyond Standard Model Physics. We have provided numerical analysis of more than hundred BBN models with nonequilibrium electron-sterile neutrino oscillations with different oscillation parameters and we have constructed isohelium contours based on 1% and 3% Helium-4 uncertainty and different initial population of the sterile neutrino state. We present here updated and more strict BBN constraints on the parameters of non-equilibrium active-sterile neutrino oscillations considering several models of beyond Standard Model Physics.

Active-Sterile Neutrino Oscillations and Leptogenesis

We study coherent active-sterile neutrino oscillations as a possible source of leptogenesis. To this end, we add 3 gauge invariant Weyl_R neutrinos to the Standard Model with both Dirac and Majorana type mass terms. We find that the measured active neutrino masses and mixings, and successful baryogenesis via leptogenesis, may be achieved with fine-tuning, if at least one of the sterile neutrinos has a mass in the approximate range 0.14 to 1.1 GeV.

Active-sterile neutrino mixing constraints using reactor antineutrinos with the ISMRAN setup

In this work, we present an analysis of the sensitivity to the active-sterile neutrino mixing with the Indian Scintillator Matrix for Reactor Anti-Neutrino (ISMRAN) experimental set-up at very short baseline. In this article, we have considered the measurement of electron antineutrino induced events employing a single detector which can be placed either at a single position or moved between near and far positions from the given reactor core. Results extracted in the later case are independent of the theoretical prediction of the reactor anti-neutrino spectrum and detector related systematic uncertainties. Our analysis shows that the results obtained from the measurement carried out at a combination of the near and far detector positions are improved significantly at higher $\Delta m^{2}_{41}$ compared to the ones obtained with the measurement at a single detector position only. It is found that the best possible combination of near and far detector positions from a 100 MW$_{th}$ power DHRUVA research reactor core are 7 m and 9 m, respectively, for which ISMRAN set-up can exclude in the range 1.4 $eV^{2} \leq \Delta m^{2}_{41} \leq$ 4.0 $eV^{2}$ of reactor antineutrino anomaly region along with the present best-fit point of active-sterile neutrino oscillation parameters. At those combinations of detector positions, the ISMRAN set-up can observe the active sterile neutrino oscillation with a 95$\%$ confidence level provided that $\sin^{2}2\theta_{14}\geq 0.09$ at $\Delta m^{2}_{41}$ = 1 eV$^{2}$ for an exposure of 1 ton-yr. The active-sterile neutrino mixing sensitivity can be improved by about 22\% at the same exposure by placing the detector at near and far distances of 15 m and 17 m, respectively, from the compact proto-type fast breeder reactor (PFBR) facility which has a higher thermal power of 1250 MW$_{th}$.

Statistical significance of reactor antineutrino active-sterile oscillations

We performed Monte Carlo calculations of the statistical distribution of the $\chi^2$ test statistic used in the analysis of the data of the NEOS, DANSS, Bugey-3, and PROSPECT short-baseline reactor experiments. We show that the statistical significance of the NEOS and DANSS indications in favor of active-sterile neutrino oscillations is smaller than that obtained with the usual method based on the $\chi^2$ distribution. In the combined analysis of the data of the four experiments we find that the statistical significance of active-sterile neutrino oscillations is reduced from $2.4\sigma$ to $1.8\sigma$.

Sensitivity to light sterile neutrinos at ESSnuSB

We present a comprehensive analysis in the 3+1 active-sterile neutrino oscillation scenario for the sensitivity of the ESSnuSB experiment in the presence of light sterile neutrinos assuming both a far (FD) and a near (ND) detector. Our analysis show that when the ND is included, the results are significantly different compared to the ones obtained with the FD only. We find that the capability of ESSnuSB to constrain the sterile mixing parameters is sin2 2θμe∼ 10−4 for ∆m2 = 1 eV2 if the ND is included and it becomes sin2 2θμe∼ 10−2 without the ND. Furthermore, we show that the sensitivity can go down to sin2 2θμe∼ 10−3 for the most conservative choice of the systematics on the ND. Comparing the sensitivity with T2HK, T2HKK, and DUNE by considering the FD only, we find that the sensitivity of ESSnuSB is smaller for most of the parameter space. Studying the CP violation sensitivity, we find that if the ND is included, it can be larger in the 3+1 scenario than in the standard one. However, if the ND is not included, the sensitivity is smaller compared to the one in the standard scenario. We also find that the CP violation sensitivity due to δ13 is larger compared to the one induced by δ24. The sensitivities are slightly better for the dominant neutrino running ratio of ESSnuSB.

Active-sterile neutrino oscillations in the early Universe with the complete mixing matrix

In the framework of a 3+1 scheme with an additional inert state, we consider the thermalisation of sterile neutrinos in the early Universe taking into account the full 4 × 4 mixing matrix. The evolution of the neutrino energy distributions is found solving the momentum-dependent kinetic equations with full diagonal collision terms. The degree of thermalisation of the sterile state is shown in terms of the effective number of neutrinos, N eff, and its dependence on the three additional mixing angles (θ 14, θ 24, θ 34) and on the squared mass difference ∆m 2 41 is discussed. Our results are relevant for fixing the contribution of a fourth light neutrino species to the cosmological energy density, whose value is very well constrained by the final Planck analysis. For the preferred region of active-sterile mixing parameters from short-baseline neutrino experiments, we find that the fourth state is fully thermalised (N eff ≃ 4).

Exploring fake solutions in the sterile neutrino sector at long-baseline experiments

Active-sterile neutrino mixing is known to affect the neutrino oscillation probabilities at both short as well as long-baselines. In particular, constraints on active-sterile neutrino oscillation parameters can be obtained from long-baseline experiments such as T2HK and DUNE. We present here existence of fake solution in the appearance channel for the 3 + 1 scenario at long-baseline experiments. We show that the appearance probability is same for values of Delta m_{41}^2 for which the fast oscillations are averaged out and for Delta m_{41}^2=(1/2)Delta m_{31}^2. The fake solution does not appear for the disappearance channel.

Active–Sterile Neutrino Oscillations in Neutrino-driven Winds: Implications for Nucleosynthesis

Abstract A protoneutron star produced in a core-collapse supernova (CCSN) drives a wind by its intense neutrino emission. We implement active–sterile neutrino oscillations in a steady-state model of this neutrino-driven wind to study their effects on the dynamics and nucleosynthesis of the wind in a self-consistent manner. Using vacuum mixing parameters indicated by some experiments for a sterile ν s of ∼1 eV in mass, we observe interesting features of oscillations due to various feedback. For the higher ν s mass values, we find that oscillations can reduce the mass-loss rate and the wind velocity by a factor of ∼1.6–2.7 and change the electron fraction critical to nucleosynthesis by a significant to large amount. In the most dramatic cases, oscillations shift nucleosynthesis from dominant production of 45Sc to that of 86Kr and 90Zr during the early epochs of the CCSN evolution.

Active-sterile neutrino oscillations at INO-ICAL over a wide mass-squared range

We perform a detailed analysis for the prospects of detecting active-sterile oscillations involving a light sterile neutrino, over a large Δm412 range of 10−5 eV2 to 102 eV2, using 10 years of atmospheric neutrino data expected from the proposed 50 kt magnetized ICAL detector at the INO. This detector can observe the atmospheric νμ and {overline{nu}}_{mu } separately over a wide range of energies and baselines, making it sensitive to the magnitude and sign of Δm412 over a large range. If there is no light sterile neutrino, ICAL can place competitive upper limit on |Uμ4|2 ≲ 0.02 at 90% C.L. for Δm412 in the range (0.5−5)×10−3 eV2. For the same |Δm412| range, ICAL would be able to determine its sign, exploiting the Earth’s matter effect in μ− and μ+ events separately if there is indeed a light sterile neutrino in Nature. This would help identify the neutrino mass ordering in the four-neutrino mixing scenario.

Reactor fuel fraction information on the antineutrino anomaly

We analyzed the evolution data of the Daya Bay reactor neutrino experiment in terms of short-baseline active-sterile neutrino oscillations taking into account the theoretical uncertainties of the reactor antineutrino fluxes. We found that oscillations are disfavored at 2.6σ with respect to a suppression of the 235U reactor antineutrino flux and at 2.5σ with respect to variations of the 235U and 239Pu fluxes. On the other hand, the analysis of the rates of the short-baseline reactor neutrino experiments favor active-sterile neutrino oscillations and disfavor the suppression of the 235U flux at 3.1σ and variations of the 235U and 239Pu fluxes at 2.8σ. We also found that both the Daya Bay evolution data and the global rate data are well-fitted with composite hypotheses including variations of the 235U or 239Pu fluxes in addition to active-sterile neutrino oscillations. A combined analysis of the Daya Bay evolution data and the global rate data shows a slight preference for oscillations with respect to variations of the 235U and 239Pu fluxes. However, the best fits of the combined data are given by the composite models, with a preference for the model with an enhancement of the 239Pu flux and relatively large oscillations.

Improved determination of the U235 and Pu239 reactor antineutrino cross sections per fission

We present the results of a combined fit of the reactor antineutrino rates and the Daya Bay measurement of ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{f,235}$ and ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{f,239}$. The combined fit leads to a better determination of the two cross sections per fission: ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{f,235}=6.29\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.08$ and ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{f,239}=4.24\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.21$ in units of ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}43}\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{cm}}^{2}/\text{fission}$, with respective uncertainties of about 1.2% and 4.9%. Since the respective deviations from the theoretical cross sections per fission are $2.5\ensuremath{\sigma}$ and $0.7\ensuremath{\sigma}$, we conclude that, if the reactor antineutrino anomaly is not due to active-sterile neutrino oscillations, it is likely that it can be solved with a revaluation of the $^{235}\mathrm{U}$ reactor antineutrino flux. However, the $^{238}\mathrm{U}$, $^{239}\text{Pu}$, and $^{241}\mathrm{Pu}$ fluxes, which have larger uncertainties, could also be significantly different from the theoretical predictions.

Updated global 3+1 analysis of short-baseline neutrino oscillations

We present the results of an updated fit of short-baseline neutrino oscillation data in the framework of 3+1 active-sterile neutrino mixing. We first consider νe and {overline{nu}}_e disappearance in the light of the Gallium and reactor anomalies. We discuss the implications of the recent measurement of the reactor {overline{nu}}_e spectrum in the NEOS experiment, which shifts the allowed regions of the parameter space towards smaller values of |Ue4|2. The β-decay constraints of the Mainz and Troitsk experiments allow us to limit the oscillation length between about 2 cm and 7 m at 3σ for neutrinos with an energy of 1 MeV. The corresponding oscillations can be discovered in a model-independent way in ongoing reactor and source experiments by measuring νe and {overline{nu}}_e disappearance as a function of distance. We then consider the global fit of the data on short-baseline {}_{nu_{mu}}^{left(-right)}{to}_{nu_e}^{left(-right)} transitions in the light of the LSND anomaly, taking into account the constraints from {}_{nu_e}^{left(-right)} and {}_{nu_{mu}}^{left(-right)} disappearance experiments, including the recent data of the MINOS and IceCube experiments. The combination of the NEOS constraints on |Ue4|2 and the MINOS and IceCube constraints on |Uμ4|2 lead to an unacceptable appearance-disappearance tension which becomes tolerable only in a pragmatic fit which neglects the MiniBooNE low-energy anomaly. The minimization of the global χ2 in the space of the four mixing parameters Δm412, |Ue4|2, |Uμ4|2, and |Uτ4|2 leads to three allowed regions with narrow Δm412 widths at Δm412 ≈ 1.7 (best-fit), 1.3 (at 2σ), 2.4 (at 3σ) eV2. The effective amplitude of short-baseline {}_{nu_{mu}}^{left(-right)}{to}_{nu_e}^{left(-right)} oscillations is limited by 0.00048 ≲ sin2 2ϑeμ ≲ 0.0020 at 3σ. The restrictions of the allowed regions of the mixing parameters with respect to our previous global fits are mainly due to the NEOS constraints. We present a comparison of the allowed regions of the mixing parameters with the sensitivities of ongoing experiments, which show that it is likely that these experiments will determine in a definitive way if the reactor, Gallium and LSND anomalies are due to active-sterile neutrino oscillations or not.

Light sterile neutrinos from a late phase transition

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 where several sterile neutrinos can be accommodated. A late phase transition is usually preferred and may also ward off a potential threat posed by the formation of topologically stable defects.

Flavor ratios of extragalactic neutrinos and neutrino shortcuts in extra dimensions

The recent measurement of high energy extragalactic neutrinos by the IceCube Collaboration has opened a new window to probe non-standard neutrino properties. Among other effects, sterile neutrino altered dispersion relations (ADRs) due to shortcuts in an extra dimension can significantly affect astrophysical flavor ratios. We discuss two limiting cases of this effect, first active-sterile neutrino oscillations with a constant ADR potential and second an MSW-like resonant conversion arising from geodesics oscillating around the brane in an asymmetrically warped extra dimension. We demonstrate that the second case has the potential to suppress significantly the flux of specific flavors such as νμ or ντ at high energies.

Active-sterile neutrino oscillations in the early Universe with full collision terms

Sterile neutrinos are thermalised in the early Universe via oscillations with the active neutrinos for certain mixing parameters. The most detailed calculation of this thermalisation process involves the solution of the momentum-dependent quantum kinetic equations, which track the evolution of the neutrino phase space distributions. Until now the collision terms in the quantum kinetic equations have always been approximated using equilibrium distributions, but this approximation has never been checked numerically. In this work we revisit the sterile neutrino thermalisation calculation using the full collision term, and compare the results with various existing approximations in the literature. We find a better agreement than would naively be expected, but also identify some issues with these approximations that have not been appreciated previously. These include an unphysical production of neutrinos via scattering and the importance of redistributing momentum through scattering, as well as details of Pauli blocking. Finally, we devise a new approximation scheme, which improves upon some of the shortcomings of previous schemes.

Radiative emission of neutrino pairs in atoms and light sterile neutrinos

The process of Radiative Emission of Neutrino Pair (RENP) in atoms is sensitive to the absolute neutrino mass scale, the type of spectrum neutrino masses obey and the nature – Dirac or Majorana – of massive neutrinos. We analyse the possibility to test the hypothesis of existence of neutrinos with masses at the eV scale coupled to the electron in the weak charged lepton current in an RENP experiment. The presence of eV scale neutrinos in the neutrino mixing is associated with the existence of sterile neutrinos which mix with the active flavour neutrinos. At present there are a number of hints for active–sterile neutrino oscillations driven by Δm2∼1 eV2. We perform a detailed analysis of the RENP phenomenology within the “3+1” scheme with one sterile neutrino.

Day-night asymmetries in active-sterile solar neutrino oscillations

Day-night asymmetries in active-sterile solar neutrino oscillations are discussed in the general $3+N_{s}$ mixing framework with three active and N_s sterile neutrinos. Analytical expressions of the probability of neutrino flavor transitions in the Earth in the perturbative approximation and in the slab approximation are presented and the effects of active-sterile mixing and of the CP-violating phases are discussed. The accuracy of the analytical approximations and the properties of the day-night asymmetries are illustrated numerically in the 3+1 neutrino mixing framework.

CP-violating phases in active-sterile solar neutrino oscillations

The effects of $CP$-violating phases in active-sterile solar neutrino oscillations are discussed in a general scheme of $3+{N}_{s}$ mixing, without any constraint on the mixing between the three active and the ${N}_{s}$ sterile neutrinos, assuming only a realistic hierarchy of neutrino mass-squared differences. A generalized Parke formula describing the neutrino oscillation probabilities inside the Sun is calculated. The validity of the analytical calculation and the probability variation due to the unknown $CP$-violating phases are illustrated with a numerical calculation of the evolution equation in the case of $3+1$ neutrino mixing.

Multimomentum and multiflavor active-sterile neutrino oscillations in the early universe: Role of neutrino asymmetries and effects on nucleosynthesis

We perform a study of the flavour evolution in the early universe of a multi-flavour active-sterile neutrino system with parameters inspired by the short-baseline neutrino anomalies. In a neutrino-symmetric bath a "thermal" population of the sterile state would quickly grow, but in the presence of primordial neutrino asymmetries a self-suppression as well as a resonant sterile neutrino production can take place, depending on temperature and chosen parameters. In order to characterize these effects, we go beyond the usual average momentum and single mixing approximations and consider a multi-momentum and multi-flavour treatment of the kinetic equations. We find that the enhancement obtained in this case with respect to the average momentum approximation is significant, up to \sim 20 % of a degree of freedom. Such detailed and computationally demanding treatment further raises the asymmetry values required to significantly suppress the sterile neutrino production, up to large and preferentially net asymmetries |L_{\nu}| > O(10^{-2}). For such asymmetries, however, the active-sterile flavour conversions happen so late that significant distortions are produced in the electron (anti)neutrino spectra. The larger |L_{\nu}|, the more the impact of these distortions takes over as dominant cosmological effect, notably increasing the 4 He abundance in primordial nucleosynthesis (BBN). The standard expression of the primordial yields in terms of the effective number of neutrinos and asymmetries is also greatly altered. We numerically estimate the magnitude of such effects for a few representative cases and comment on possible implications for forthcoming cosmological measurements.