DPF - PHENO 2024

Decaying Sterile Neutrinos at MicroBooNE

15 May 2024, 16:30

15m

David Lawrence Hall 107 (University of Pittsburgh)

Neutrino Physics Neutrino Physics

Speaker

Tao Zhou (Texas A&M University)

Description

Decaying sterile neutrino can mimic ${\nu }_{\mu }\to {\nu }_e$ oscillation signals at neutrino experiments. We revisit this possibility as a solution to the MiniBooNE and LSND puzzles in view of new data from MicroBooNE. Using MicroBooNE's search for an excess of ${\nu }_e$ in the Booster beam, we derive new limits in the parameter space of models where the sterile neutrino decays via mixing or higher-dimensional operators. In order to contextualize these limits, we also provide a comprehensive fit to the MiniBooNE neutrino and antineutrino data, including appearance and disappearance channels. We find that MicroBooNE excludes a large portion of the MiniBooNE-preferred parameter space at more than 95% C.L.

Presentation materials

TaoPheno2024_Final (1).pdf