Analysis of KATRIN data using Bayesian inference

Abstract

The KATRIN (KArlsruhe TRItium Neutrino) experiment will be analyzing the tritium beta-spectrum to determine the mass of the neutrino with a sensitivity of 0.2 eV (90% C.L.). This approach to a measurement of the absolute value of the neutrino mass relies only on the principle of energy conservation and can in some sense be called model-independent as compared to cosmology and neutrino-less double beta decay. However by model independent we only mean in case of the minimal extension of the standard model. One should therefore also analyse the data for non-standard couplings to e.g. righthanded or sterile neutrinos. As an alternative to the frequentist minimization methods used in the analysis of the earlier experiments in Mainz and Troitsk we have been investigating Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods which are very well suited for probing multi-parameter spaces. We found that implementing the KATRIN chi squared function in the COSMOMC package - an MCMC code using Bayesian parameter inference - solved the task at hand very nicely.

28 pages, 12 figures

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• Detecting sterile neutrinos with KATRIN like experiments
• Light Sterile Neutrinos: Status and Perspectives
• Sterile neutrinos and right-handed currents in KATRIN
• Short-Baseline Electron Neutrino Oscillation Length After Troitsk
• Unstable Cosmic Neutrino Capture
• Light sterile neutrino sensitivity of 163Ho experiments
• Dynamical generation of neutrino mass scales
• Lepton Flavor Violation and Neutrino Masses from $A_5$ and CP in the Non-Universal MSSM
• Statistical sensitivity on right-handed currents in presence of eV scale sterile neutrinos with KATRIN
• A Model of Neutrino Anomalies and IceCube data
• Oscillations Beyond Three-Neutrino Mixing