Limits on muon-neutrino to tau-neutrino oscillations induced by a sterile neutrino state obtained by OPERA at the CNGS beam

Abstract

The OPERA experiment, exposed to the CERN to Gran Sasso $\hat{I}{½}_{\hat{I}}¼$ beam, collected data from 2008 to 2012. Four oscillated $\hat{I}{½}_{\ddot{I}}„$ Charged Current interaction candidates have been detected in appearance mode, which are consistent with $\hat{I}{½}_{\hat{I}}¼\to \hat{I}{½}_{\ddot{I}}„$ oscillations at the atmospheric $\hat{I}”m^2$ within the "standard" three-neutrino framework. In this paper, the OPERA $\hat{I}{½}_{\ddot{I}}„$ appearance results are used to derive limits on the mixing parameters of a massive sterile neutrino.

11 pages, 4 figures; reference to Planck result updated in the Introduction. Submitted to JHEP