Sterile neutrinos facing kaon physics experiments

Abstract

We discuss weak kaon decays in a scenario in which the Standard Model is extended by massive sterile fermions. After revisiting the analytical expressions for leptonic and semileptonic decays we derive the expressions for decay rates with two neutrinos in the final state. By using a simple effective model with only one sterile neutrino, compatible with all current experimental bounds and general theoretical constraints, we conduct a thorough numerical analysis which reveals that the impact of the presence of massive sterile neutrinos on kaon weak decays is very small, less than $1\%$ on decay rates. The only exception is $\mathcal{B}(K_L\to \nu \nu )$, which can go up to $\mathcal{O}(10^{-10})$, thus possibly within the reach of the KOTO experiment. In other words, if all the future measurements of weak kaon decays turn out to be compatible with the Standard Model predictions, this would not rule out the existence of massive light sterile neutrinos with non-negligible active-sterile mixing. Instead, for a sterile neutrino of mass below $m_K$, one might obtain a huge enhancement of $\mathcal{B}(K_L\to \nu \nu )$, otherwise negligibly small in the Standard Model.

32 pages, 11 plots in 6 figures, version published in PRD

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• Addressing the Majorana vs. Dirac Question with Neutrino Decays
• GeV-scale neutrinos: interactions with mesons and DUNE sensitivity
• Probing low energy scalar leptoquarks by the leptonic $W$ and $Z$ couplings
• Snowmass White Paper: Beyond the Standard Model effects on Neutrino Flavor
• General neutrino interactions with sterile neutrinos in light of coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering and meson invisible decays
• Effective lepton flavor violating $\mathbf{H}{\mathbf{\ell }}_{\mathbf{i}}{\mathbf{\ell }}_{\mathbf{j}}$ vertex from right-handed neutrinos within the mass insertion approximation
• Dark Matter and Neutrino Mass from the Smallest Non-Abelian Chiral Dark Sector
• Anomalies in (semi)-leptonic $B$ decays $B^{\pm }\to {\tau }^{\pm }\nu$, $B^{\pm }\to D{\tau }^{\pm }\nu$ and $B^{\pm }\to D^{\ast }{\tau }^{\pm }\nu$, and possible resolution with sterile neutrino
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• Testing electroweak scale seesaw models at $e^{-}\gamma$ and $\gamma \gamma$ colliders
• Sterile neutrino and leptonic decays of the pseudoscalar mesons
• Testing tree level TeV scale seesaw scenarios in $\mu$TRISTAN
• Indirect search of Heavy Neutral Leptons using the DUNE Near Detector
• New Physics Searches at Kaon and Hyperon Factories