Nonzero Neutrino Masses Research Articles

Massive neutrinos and cosmic composition

Cosmological data probe massive neutrinos via their effects on the geometry of the Universe and the growth of structure, both of which are degenerate with the late-time expansion history. We clarify the nature of these degeneracies and the individual roles of both probes in neutrino mass inference. Geometry is strongly sensitive to neutrino masses: within ΛCDM, the primary cosmic microwave background anisotropies alone impose that the matter fraction Ω m must increase fivefold with increasing neutrino mass. Moreover, large-scale structure observables, like weak lensing of the CMB, are dimensionless and thus depend not on the matter density (as often quoted) but in fact the matter fraction. We explore the consequential impact of this distinction on the interplay between probes of structure, low-redshift distances, and CMB anisotropies. We derive constraints on the neutrino's masses independently from their suppression of structure and impact on geometry, showing that the latter is at least as important as the former. While the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument's recent baryon acoustic oscillation data place stringent bounds largely deriving from their geometric incompatibility with massive neutrinos, all recent type Ia supernova datasets drive marginal preferences for nonzero neutrino masses because they prefer substantially larger matter fractions. Recent CMB lensing data, however, neither exclude neutrinos' suppression of structure nor constrain it strongly enough to discriminate between mass hierarchies. Current data thus evince not a need for modified dynamics of neutrino perturbations or structure growth but rather an inconsistent compatibility with massive neutrinos' impact on the expansion history. We identify two of DESI's measurements that strongly influence its constraints, and we also discuss neutrino mass measurements in models that alter the sound horizon.

The origin of the 95 GeV excess in the flavor-dependent U(1)X\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$U(1)_X$$\\end{document} model

This study investigates the excesses observed in the CMS diphoton and ditau data around 95GeV\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$95~{\ extrm{GeV}}$$\\end{document} within the framework of the flavor-dependent U(1)X\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$U(1)_X$$\\end{document} model. The model introduces a singlet scalar to explain the nonzero neutrino masses. This newly introduced Higgs interacts directly with the quark sector, motivated by the aim to explain the flavor numbers of the fermion sector. Additionally, it undergoes mixing with the SM-like Higgs boson. The study suggests that designating this singlet Higgs state in this model as the lightest Higgs boson holds great potential for explaining the excesses around 95GeV.\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$95~{\ extrm{GeV}}.$$\\end{document} In the calculations, we maintained the masses of the lightest and next-to-lightest Higgs bosons at around 95GeV\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$95~{\ extrm{GeV}}$$\\end{document} and 125GeV\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$125~{\ extrm{GeV}}$$\\end{document} respectively. It was found that the theoretical predictions on the signal strengthes μ(h95)γγ,\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\mu (h_{95})_{\\gamma \\gamma },$$\\end{document}μ(h95)ττ\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\mu (h_{95})_{\ au \ au }$$\\end{document} in the flavor-dependent U(1)X\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$U(1)_X$$\\end{document} model can be fitted well to the excesses observed at CMS.

Leptoquark-mediated two-loop neutrino mass in unified theory

Scalar leptoquarks naturally arise within unified theories, offering a promising avenue for addressing one of the most significant challenges of the Standard Model–the existence of non-zero neutrino masses. In this work, we present a unified theory based on the SU(5) gauge group, where neutrino mass appears at the two-loop level via the propagation of scalar leptoquarks. Due to the unified framework, the charged fermion and neutrino masses and mixings are entangled and determined by a common set of Yukawa couplings. These exotic particles not only shed light on the neutrino mass generation mechanism but also help to achieve the unification of gauge couplings and are expected to lead to substantial lepton flavor violating rates, offering tangible opportunities for experimental verification. Reproducing the observed neutrino mass scale necessitates that a set of leptoquarks reside a few orders of magnitude below the unification scale–a specific feature of the proposed scenario. Moreover, maximizing the unification scale implies TeV scale new physics states, making them accessible at colliders. The diverse roles that leptoquarks play highlight the elegance and predictive ability of the proposed unified model.

Radiative neutrino mass with electroweak scale Majorana dark matter in the Scotogenic model

Non-zero neutrino mass and dark matter (DM) overshadow the success of the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics. The most straightforward extension of the SM to explain these two issues is the Scotogenic model, where the SM particle spectrum extends with three isospin singlet right-handed neutrinos and one doublet scalar, all odd under a Z2 symmetry. The neutrino masses and mixings result from the Weinberg operator induced at one-loop level. The particle spectrum of this model contains a few weakly interacting stable massive particles, each of which can be a good candidate for DM. In this work, we have considered the lightest right-handed neutrino as DM candidate. The Yukawa couplings that give rise to the observed flavor mixings in the neutrino sector also lead to flavor violation in the SM charged lepton sector and hence, get tightly constrained from the charged lepton flavor violating (CLFV) observables. The same Yukawa couplings also contribute to the DM annihilation in the early universe and hence, determine the relic density of the DM. In this work, we address the tension between the constraints from CLFV observables and measured DM relic density to obtain the large Yukawa couplings with the help of a parameterization that reduces the phenomenology relevant parameters to merely three and enhances the detection prospect at the collider experiments. We have explored the parameter space consistent with current CLFV bounds, the observed DM relic density, and the absolute neutrino mass limit. To search for these scenarios, we have identified two promising signals at the proposed lepton colliders: the mono-photon plus missing energy and di-lepton plus missing energy signals. We have studied the collider phenomenology of these signatures and estimated the 5σ detection required luminosity for the center of mass energies at 500 GeV and 1 TeV.

Neutrino charge radius and electromagnetic dipole moments via scalar and vector leptoquarks

The one-loop contribution of scalar and vector leptoquarks (LQs) to the electromagnetic properties (NEPs) of massive Dirac neutrinos is presented via an effective Lagrangian approach. For the contribution of gauge LQs to the effective neutrino charge radius defined in Bernabeu et al. (Phys Rev Lett 89:101802, 2002. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.89.101802 [Erratum: Phys Rev Lett 89:229902 (2002)]), we considered a Yang–Mills scenario and used the background field method for the calculation. Analytical results for nonzero neutrino mass are presented, which can be useful to obtain the NEPs of heavy neutrinos, out of which approximate expressions are obtained for light neutrinos. For the numerical analysis we concentrate on the only renormalizable scalar and vector LQ representations that do not need extra symmetries to forbid tree-level proton decay. Constraints on the parameter space consistent with current experimental data are then discussed and it is found that the scalar R~2\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${\\widetilde{R}}_2$$\\end{document} and the vector U1\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$U_1$$\\end{document} representations could yield the largest LQ contributions to the NEPs: for LQ couplings to both left- and right handed neutrinos of the order of O(1) and a LQ mass of 1.5-2 TeV, the magnetic dipole moment (MDM) of a Dirac neutrino with a mass in the eV scale can be of the order of 10-9\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$10^{-9}$$\\end{document}–10-10\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$10^{-10}$$\\end{document}μB\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\mu _B$$\\end{document}, whereas its neutrino electric dipole moment (EDM) can reach values as high as 10-20\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$10^{-20}$$\\end{document}–10-19\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$10^{-19}$$\\end{document} ecm. On the other hand, the effective NCR can reach values up to 10-35\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$10^{-35}$$\\end{document} cm2\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^2$$\\end{document} even if LQs do not couple to right-handed neutrinos, in which case the EDM vanishes and the contribution to the MDM would be negligible.

Bilinear R-parity violating supersymmetry under the light of neutrino oscillation, Higgs and flavor data

In this work, we explore a well motivated beyond the Standard Model scenario, namely, R-parity violating Supersymmetry, in the context of light neutrino masses and mixing. We assume that the R-parity is only broken by the lepton number violating bilinear term. We try to fit two non-zero neutrino mass square differences and three mixing angle values obtained from the global χ2 analysis of neutrino oscillation data. We have also taken into account the updated data of the standard model (SM) Higgs mass and its coupling strengths with other SM particles from LHC Run-II along with low energy flavor violating constraints like rare b-hadron decays. We have used a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) analysis to constrain the new physics parameter space. While doing so, we ensure that all the existing collider constraints are duly taken into account. Through our analysis, we have derived the most stringent constraints possible to date with existing data on the 9 bilinear R-parity violating parameters along with μ and tan β. We further explore the possibility of explaining the anomalous muon (g - 2) measurement staying within the parameter space allowed by neutrino, Higgs and flavor data while satisfying the collider constraints as well. We find that there still remains a small sub-TeV parameter space where the required excess can be obtained.

Solar neutrinos and ν2 visible decays to ν1

Experimental bounds on the neutrino lifetime depend on the nature of the neutrinos and the details of the potentially new physics responsible for neutrino decay. In the case where the decays involve active neutrinos in the final state, the neutrino masses also qualitatively impact how these manifest themselves experimentally. In order to further understand the impact of nonzero neutrino masses, we explore how observations of solar neutrinos constrain a very simple toy model. We assume that neutrinos are Dirac fermions and there is a new massless scalar that couples to neutrinos such that a heavy neutrino—ν2 with mass m2—can decay into a lighter neutrino—ν1 with mass m1—and a massless scalar. We find that the constraints on the new physics coupling depend, sometimes significantly, on the ratio of the daughter-to-parent neutrino masses and that, for large-enough values of the new physics coupling, the “dark side” of the solar neutrino parameter space—sin2 θ12∼0.7—provides a reasonable fit to solar neutrino data, if only B8 or Be7 neutrino data alone are considered, but no allowed region is found in the combined analysis. Our results generalize to other neutrino-decay scenarios, including those that mediate ν2→ν1ν¯3ν3 when the neutrino mass ordering is inverted mass and m2>m1≫m3, the mass of ν3. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Sphaleron in the Higgs Triplet Model

The Higgs triplet model (HTM) extends the Standard Model (SM) by one complex triplet scalar (also known as the type-II seesaw model), offering a simple and viable way to account for nonzero neutrino masses. On the other hand, the nontrivial couplings of the triplet to the gauge fields and to the SM Higgs field are expected to influence the topological vacuum structure of the SM, and consequently, the energy and the field configuration of the electroweak sphaleron. The sphaleron process plays a crucial role in dynamically generating the baryon asymmetry of the Universe. In this work, we study the vacuum structure of the gauge and Higgs fields and calculate the saddle-point sphaleron configuration in the HTM. The coupled nonlinear equations of motion of the sphaleron are solved using the spectral method. We find the inclusion of the triplet scalar could in principle significantly change the sphaleron energy compared with the SM. Nevertheless, at zero temperature, the current stringent experimental constraint on the vacuum expectation value of the triplet suppresses the difference. Interestingly, we find that there still exists some narrow parameter space where the sphaleron energy can be enhanced up to 30% compared with the SM case.

Neutrino-Axion Couplings and the neutrino-mass

The Peccei and Quinn axions are low-mass pseudo-scalar neutral bosons whose existence was proposed to explain for the spontaneous breaking of the CP invariance in the early Universe. In the minimal (SU(2) left ⊗ U(1)) version of the leptonic sector of the electroweak lagrangian flavor neutrinos are massive. They are described as linear combinations of neutrino mass eigenstates and they oscillates between flavor states. However the mass mechanism which gives their masses is still unknown. In this talk we discuss a possible mechanism to explain for non-zero neutrino masses, which is based on the treatment of neutrino-axion interactions.

Status of the search for a muon EDM using the frozen-spin technique

Despite the many successes of the Standard Model of particle physics, there are still several physical observations that it cannot explain, such as the matter-antimatter asymmetry, non-zero neutrino masses, and the microscopic nature of dark matter. To address these limitations, extensions to the standard model are necessary, and searches for electric dipole moments (EDMs) of leptons are valuable test. The search for a muon EDM is the only search on a bare lepton of the second generation, complementing the searches for an EDM of the electron using polar molecules. A non-zero EDM of the muon would indicate Charge-Parity symmetry violation beyond the standard model. A dedicated experimental search for the muon EDM is being set up at PSI using the frozen-spin technique. In this technique, the anomalous spin precession of the muons in a storage ring is suppressed by applying an electric field in the radial direction. The muon EDM experiment will take place in two phases: the first phase will demonstrate the frozen-spin technique using a precursor experiment with 28 MeV/c muons, while the second phase will make use of 125 MeV/c muons, which could search for the muon EDM with a sensitivity of 6 × 10-23 e·cm. In this talk, we describe the precursor experiment at PSI and provide an update on the status of the experiment.

One-loop corrections to the neutrino mass in the axion–neutrino coupling scheme

The coupling between neutral scalar axions and neutrinos is discussed as a possible mechanism responsible for a nonzero neutrino mass. We add to the conventional Peccei and Queen zeroth-order approach, that is the breaking of the U(1) symmetry at the axion level added to the fourth component of the neutrino current, one-loop corrections assuming the composite nature of flavor neutrinos. The calculations are performed for the three active neutrino flavors.

(Selected Few) Anomalies in Particle Physics

The Standard Model (SM) of particle physics has been widely successful in describing experimental results. Despite of its success, the theory, among many other issues, does not explain the non-zero neutrino masses, the nature of dark matter, and the matter-antimatter asymmetry observed in our Universe. It is, therefore, often regarded as a low-energy effective theory and new physics, physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM), must exist. However, neither indirect searches through precision measurements or direct searches of signatures predicted by BSM models have yielded any conclusive evidences of new physics. The vast majority of experimental measurements agree with the SM predictions and all searches have turned out to be negative resulting in bounds on new physics. Nevertheless, there are several reported experimental anomalies which warrant followups and further investigations. Maybe one or a few of them will be confirmed with more data and survive the scrutiny. In this talk, I will highlight a few of these, selected by my personal prejudices.

WIMPy leptogenesis in non-standard cosmologies

We study the possibility of generating baryon asymmetry of the universe from dark matter (DM) annihilations during non-standard cosmological epochs. Considering the DM to be of weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) type, the generation of baryon asymmetry via leptogenesis route is studied where WIMP DM annihilation produces a non-zero lepton asymmetry. Adopting a minimal particle physics model to realise this along with non-zero light neutrino masses, we consider three different types of non-standard cosmic history namely, (i) fast expanding universe, (ii) early matter domination and (iii) scalar-tensor theory of gravity. By solving the appropriate Boltzmann equations incorporating such non-standard history, we find that the allowed parameter space consistent with DM relic and observed baryon asymmetry gets enlarged with the possibility of lower DM mass in some scenarios. While such lighter DM can face further scrutiny at direct search experiments, the non-standard epochs offer complementary probes on their own.

Neutrino masses, flavor anomalies, and muon g−2 from dark loops

The lepton sector of the Standard Model is at present haunted by several intriguing anomalies, including an emerging pattern of deviations in $b \to s \ell \ell$ processes, with hints of lepton flavor universality violation, and a discrepancy in the muon anomalous magnetic moment. More importantly, it cannot explain neutrino oscillation data, which necessarily imply the existence of non-zero neutrino masses and lepton mixings. We propose a model that accommodates all the aforecited anomalies, induces neutrino masses and provides a testable dark matter candidate. This is achieved by introducing a dark sector contributing to the observables of interest at the 1-loop level. Our setup provides a very economical explanation to all these open questions in particle physics and is compatible with the current experimental constraints.

Search for heavy Majorana neutrinos at future lepton colliders* *Supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (12235008, 11875179), and the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province, China (ZR2021QA040)

A nonzero neutrino mass may be a sign of new physics beyond the standard model (SM). To explain the small neutrino mass, we can extend the SM using right-handed Majorana neutrinos in a low-scale seesaw mechanism, and the CP violation effect can be induced due to the CP phase in the interference of heavy Majorana neutrinos. The existence of heavy Majorana neutrinos may lead to lepton number violation processes, which can be used to search for the signals of heavy Majorana neutrinos. In this paper, we focus on the CP violation effect related to two generations of heavy Majorana neutrinos at GeV GeV in the pair production of W bosons and rare decays. It is valuable to investigate Majorana neutrino production signals and the related CP violation effects in rare W boson decays at future lepton colliders.

Neutrino Physics

The observation of neutrino oscillations is firm evidence of non-zero neutrino mass. Neutrino mass and mixing have been studied by neutrino oscillation experiments so far. One of the remaining questions is whether neutrinos violate CP symmetry. Exploring new CP violation is also a subject of kaon physics. There are other common physics topics between neutrino and kaon experiments. In this talk, recent progress and future prospects of neutrino experiments for topics related to kaon physics will be discussed.

The present and future status of heavy neutral leptons

The existence of nonzero neutrino masses points to the likely existence of multiple Standard Model neutral fermions. When such states are heavy enough that they cannot be produced in oscillations, they are referred to as heavy neutral leptons (HNLs). In this white paper, we discuss the present experimental status of HNLs including colliders, beta decay, accelerators, as well as astrophysical and cosmological impacts. We discuss the importance of continuing to search for HNLs, and its potential impact on our understanding of key fundamental questions, and additionally we outline the future prospects for next-generation future experiments or upcoming accelerator run scenarios.

Unified origin of dark matter self interactions and low scale leptogenesis

We propose a novel and minimal framework where a light scalar field can give rise to dark matter (DM) self-interactions, while enhancing the CP symmetry required for successful baryon asymmetry of the Universe via leptogenesis route. For demonstration purpose we choose to work in a scotogenic seesaw scenario where the lightest among the right handed neutrinos (RHN), introduced for generating light neutrino masses radiatively, play the role of DM while the heavier two can play non-trivial roles in generating DM relic as well as lepton asymmetry. While dark matter self-interactions mediated by an additional singlet scalar can alleviate the small scale issues of cold dark matter paradigm, the same scalar can give rise to new one-loop decay processes of heavy RHN into standard model leptons providing an enhanced contribution to CP asymmetry, even with sub-TeV scale RHN mass. The thermally under-abundant relic of DM due to large annihilation rates into its light mediator receives a late non-thermal contribution from a heavier RHN. With only five new particles involved in the scotogenic seesaw, each having non-trivial roles in generating DM relic and baryon asymmetry, the model can explain non-zero neutrino mass while being verifiable at different experiments related to DM direct detection, flavour physics and colliders. The mechanism we demonstrated here by using a scotogenic seesaw scenario is also applicable to other models.

Astrophysical, phenomenological and experimental predictions of neutrino masses, traces of new physics

The crucial phenomenological and experimental predictions for new physics are outlined, where the number of problems of the Standard Model (neutrino masses and oscillations, dark matter, baryon asymmetry of the Universe, leptonic CP-violation) could find their solutions. The analogies between the cosmological neutrino mass scale from the early universe data and laboratory probes are discussed and the search for new physics and phenomena. It will be impossible to directly measure the masses of individual neutrinos from cosmology, but the discovery of a nonzero total neutrino mass in a future review is inevitable, as is the case with the neutrino mass hierarchy. Now neutrino physics has entered the era of precise measurements. The KATRIN experiment is known for directly measuring the neutrino mass until 2025 if its mass exceeds 0.20 eV. Several experiments are currently underway to observe double beta decay without neutrinos. In the future, if cosmological data indicate a smaller neutrino mass or a smaller sum of neutrino masses than the minimum allowed by the oscillations, this discrepancy will become an important argument in favor of new physics. A careful comparison of cosmological and laboratory results should always be made before combining them for a joint analysis.

A flavor-inspired radiative neutrino mass model

One of the most important discoveries in particle physics is the observation of nonzero neutrino masses, which dictates that the Standard Model (SM) is incomplete. Moreover, several pieces of evidence of lepton flavor universality violation (LFUV), gathered in the last few years, hint toward physics beyond the SM. TeV-scale scalar leptoquarks are the leading candidates for explaining these flavor anomalies in semileptonic charged and neutral current B-decays, the muon, and the electron magnetic dipole moments that can also participate in neutrino mass generation. In this work, we hypothesize that neutrino masses and LFUV have a common new physics origin and propose a new two-loop neutrino mass model that has the potential to resolve some of these flavor anomalies via leptoquarks and offers rich phenomenology. After deriving the neutrino mass formula for this newly-proposed model, we perform a detailed numerical analysis focusing on neutrino and charged lepton flavor violation phenomenology, where the latter provides stringent constraints on the Yukawa couplings and leptoquark masses. Finally, present and future bounds on the model’s parameter space are scrutinized with exemplified benchmark scenarios.