Higgs phenomenology as a probe of sterile neutrinos

Abstract

Physics beyond the Standard Model can manifest itself as both new light states and heavy degrees of freedom. In this paper, we assume that the former comprise only a sterile neutrino, $N$. Therefore, the most agnostic description of the new physics is given by an effective field theory built upon the Standard Model fields as well as $N$. We show that Higgs phenomenology provides a sensitive and potentially crucial tool to constrain effective gauge interactions of sterile neutrinos, not yet probed by current experiments. In parallel, this motivates a range of new Higgs decay channels with clean signatures as candidates for the next LHC runs, including $h\to \gamma +p_T^{\text{miss}}$ and $h\to \gamma \gamma +p_T^{\text{miss}}$.

arXiv comment11 pages, 5 figures, 1 table; several comments and references added; typos corrected; matches version published in PRD

References in corpus (45)

• Observation of a new particle in the search for the Standard Model Higgs boson with the ATLAS detector at the LHC
• Observation of a new boson at a mass of 125 GeV with the CMS experiment at the LHC
• The automated computation of tree-level and next-to-leading order differential cross sections, and their matching to parton shower simulations
• FastJet user manual
• Dimension-Six Terms in the Standard Model Lagrangian
• Herwig++ Physics and Manual
• UFO - The Universal FeynRules Output
• Combined Measurement of the Higgs Boson Mass in $pp$ Collisions at $\sqrt{s}=7$ and 8 TeV with the ATLAS and CMS Experiments
• Herwig 7.0 / Herwig++ 3.0 Release Note
• Rivet user manual
• ROOT - A C++ Framework for Petabyte Data Storage, Statistical Analysis and Visualization
• The Standard Model as an Effective Field Theory
• Novel Supersymmetric SO(10) Seesaw Mechanism
• Measurement of electron-neutrino electron elastic scattering
• Low-Energy Effective Field Theory below the Electroweak Scale: Anomalous Dimensions
• Dynamical Left-Right Symmetry Breaking
• Left-Right Symmetry Breaking in NJL Approach
• Heavy Majorana Neutrinos in the Effective Lagrangian Description: Application to Hadron Colliders
• Operators up to Dimension Seven in Standard Model Effective Field Theory Extended with Sterile Neutrinos
• Dipole portal to heavy neutral leptons
• Right-handed neutrino magnetic moments
• Model Independent Bounds on Magnetic Moments of Majorana Neutrinos
• HEPData: a repository for high energy physics data
• Measurements of the W production cross sections in association with jets with the ATLAS detector
• Dimension Seven Operators in Standard Model with Right handed Neutrinos
• Measurements of Wgamma and Zgamma production in pp collisions at sqrt{s}= 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC
• The seesaw portal in testable models of neutrino masses
• BasisGen: automatic generation of operator bases
• Measurement of the inclusive isolated prompt photon cross section in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV with the ATLAS detector
• Measurements of $Z\gamma$ and $Z\gamma \gamma$ production in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=$ 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector
• Observing Dirac neutrinos in the cosmic microwave background
• Probing neutrino transition magnetic moments with coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering
• Updating neutrino magnetic moment constraints
• Novel SM-like Higgs decay into displaced heavy neutrino pairs in U(1)' models
• Constraining new physics with collider measurements of Standard Model signatures
• Probing heavy neutrino oscillations in rare W boson decays
• Probes of the Standard Model effective field theory extended with a right-handed neutrino
• Charged Fermions Below 100 GeV
• Digamma, what next?
• Majorana neutrino decay in an Effective Approach
• Majorana neutrinos and lepton-number-violating signals in top-quark and W-boson rare decays
• Measurement of the cross section for isolated-photon plus jet production in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV using the ATLAS detector
• An operator basis for the Standard Model with an added scalar singlet
• Search for new physics in final states with a single photon and missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=$ 13 TeV
• Search for dark photons in decays of Higgs bosons produced in association with Z bosons in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=$ 13 TeV

Cited by in corpus (37)

• Robust Independent Validation of Experiment and Theory: Rivet version 3
• Reinterpretation of LHC Results for New Physics: Status and Recommendations after Run 2
• Operator Bases in Effective Field Theories with Sterile Neutrinos: $d\le 9$
• Long-lived Sterile Neutrinos at the LHC in Effective Field Theory
• Explaining the MiniBooNE excess by a decaying sterile neutrino with mass in the 250 MeV range
• Dirac neutrinos and $N_{\mathrm{eff}}$
• Heavy neutral leptons in effective field theory and the high-luminosity LHC
• Testing new physics models with global comparisons to collider measurements: the Contur toolkit
• One-loop running of dimension-six Higgs-neutrino operators and implications of a large neutrino dipole moment
• Search for Long-Lived Heavy Neutrinos at the LHC with a VBF Trigger
• Long-lived Sterile Neutrinos at Belle II in Effective Field Theory
• The see-saw portal at future Higgs Factories
• Probing right-handed neutrinos dipole operators
• Long-lived heavy neutral leptons at the LHC: four-fermion single-$N_R$ operators
• Assessment of the Dimension-5 Seesaw Portal and Impact of Exotic Higgs Decays on Non-Pointing Photon Searches
• Anomalous dimensions from gauge couplings in SMEFT with right-handed neutrinos
• The physics potential of a reactor neutrino experiment with Skipper-CCDs: Searching for new physics with light mediators
• The see-saw portal at future Higgs factories: the role of dimension six operators
• Long-lived neutral fermions at the DUNE near detector
• Probing New Physics with Long-Range Neutrino Interactions: An Effective Field Theory Approach
• Probing active-sterile neutrino transition magnetic moments at LEP and CEPC
• The effective field theory of low scale see-saw at colliders
• Minimal flavor violation in the see-saw portal
• Re-examining $N_R$-EFT Upto Dimension Six
• Lepton collider probes for Majorana neutrino effective interactions
• Probing the Nature of Neutrinos with a New Force
• Testing Neutrino Dipole Portal by Long-lived Particle Detectors at the LHC
• The Geometric $\nu$SMEFT: Operators and Connections
• Light sterile neutrinos and lepton-number-violating kaon decays in effective field theory
• Illuminating the dark: mono-$\gamma$ signals at NA62
• Neutrino dipole portal at electron colliders
• Angular and polarization observables for Majorana-mediated B decays with effective interactions
• Sensitivity prospects for lepton-trijet signals in the $\nu$SMEFT at the LHeC
• Constraining the SMEFT Extended with Sterile Neutrinos at FCC-ee
• Future collider sensitivities to $\nu$SMEFT interactions
• Di-decay signature of new physics particles at intensity frontier experiments
• Sensitivity of $W$-boson measurements to low-mass right-handed neutrinos