MeV-scale Seesaw and Leptogenesis

Abstract

We study the type-I seesaw model with three right-handed neutrinos and Majorana masses below the pion mass. In this mass range, the model parameter space is not only strongly constrained by the requirement to explain the light neutrino masses, but also by experimental searches and cosmological considerations. In the existing literature, three disjoint regions of potentially viable parameter space have been identified. In one of them, all heavy neutrinos decay shortly before big bang nucleosynthesis. In the other two regions, one of the heavy neutrinos either decays between BBN and the CMB decoupling or is quasi-stable. We show that previously unaccounted constraints from photodisintegration of nuclei practically rule out all relevant decays that happen between BBN and the CMB decoupling. Quite remarkably, if all heavy neutrinos decay before BBN, the baryon asymmetry of the universe can be quite generically explained by low-scale leptogenesis, i.e. without further tuning in addition to what is needed to avoid experimental and cosmological constraints. This motivates searches for heavy neutrinos in pion decay experiments.

arXiv comment19 pages, 5 figures, matches published version

References in corpus (69)

• Sterile Neutrinos as Dark Matter
• Oscillating neutrinos and mu --> e, gamma
• The $\nu$MSM, Dark Matter and Baryon Asymmetry of the Universe
• The $\nu$MSM, Dark Matter and Neutrino Masses
• The Search for Heavy Majorana Neutrinos
• The T2K Experiment
• A New Dark Matter Candidate: Non-thermal Sterile Neutrinos
• The role of sterile neutrinos in cosmology and astrophysics
• Baryogenesis via neutrino oscillations
• Right-Handed Neutrinos at LHC and the Mechanism of Neutrino Mass Generation
• Matter and Antimatter in the Universe
• Big Bang Nucleosynthesis Constraints on Hadronically and Electromagnetically Decaying Relic Neutral Particles
• FASER: ForwArd Search ExpeRiment at the LHC
• The Sphaleron Rate in the Minimal Standard Model
• Sterile Neutrino Dark Matter
• The Phenomenology of Right Handed Neutrinos
• Dark Matter, Baryogenesis and Neutrino Oscillations from Right Handed Neutrinos
• The NuMI Neutrino Beam
• A possible symmetry of the $\nu$MSM
• General Constraints on Dark Matter Decay from the Cosmic Microwave Background
• Cosmological constraints on exotic injection of electromagnetic energy
• The nuMSM, leptonic asymmetries, and properties of singlet fermions
• Heavy sterile neutrinos: Bounds from big-bang nucleosynthesis and SN 1987A
• Is there a supernova bound on axions?
• See-Saw Energy Scale and the LSND Anomaly
• Higgs doublet decay as the origin of the baryon asymmetry
• Electromagnetic Cascade in the Early Universe and its Application to the Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis
• Constraints on Sterile Neutrinos in the MeV to GeV Mass Range
• Testable Baryogenesis in Seesaw Models
• Combining Experimental and Cosmological Constraints on Heavy Neutrinos
• Restrictions on the lifetime of sterile neutrinos from primordial nucleosynthesis
• Testing the low scale seesaw and leptogenesis
• The seesaw portal in testable models of neutrino masses
• Limits on the Mixing of Tau Neutrino to Heavy Neutrinos
• Experimental bounds on sterile neutrino mixing angles
• BBN constraints on MeV-scale dark sectors. Part II. Electromagnetic decays
• Cosmological and astrophysical bounds on a heavy sterile neutrino and the KARMEN anomaly
• Constraining dark matter late-time energy injection: decays and p-wave annihilations
• Heavy Neutral Leptons from low-scale seesaws at the DUNE Near Detector
• Mixing of Active and Sterile Neutrinos
• White Paper on New Opportunities at the Next-Generation Neutrino Experiments (Part 1: BSM Neutrino Physics and Dark Matter)
• ARS Leptogenesis
• The masses of active neutrinos in the nuMSM from X-ray astronomy
• An Extended Analysis of Heavy Neutral Leptons during Big Bang Nucleosynthesis
• Probing Leptogenesis at Future Colliders
• A frequentist analysis of three right-handed neutrinos with GAMBIT
• NA62 sensitivity to heavy neutral leptons in the low scale seesaw model
• Supernova bound on keV-mass sterile neutrinos reexamined
• Updated CMB, X- and gamma-ray constraints on majoron dark matter
• Effective Majorana mass matrix from tau and pseudoscalar meson lepton number violating decays
• Revisiting cosmological bounds on sterile neutrinos
• Low-scale leptogenesis with three heavy neutrinos
• $N_{\mathrm{eff}}$ in low-scale seesaw models versus the lightest neutrino mass
• Search for Heavy Neutrinos in $\pi \to \mu \nu$ Decay
• Production of keV Sterile Neutrinos in Supernovae: New Constraints and Gamma Ray Observables
• Improved Constraints on Sterile Neutrinos in the MeV to GeV Mass Range
• Big Bang Nucleosynthesis constraints on sterile neutrino and lepton asymmetry of the Universe
• Neutrinoless double $\beta$ decay and low scale leptogenesis
• On Lepton Number Violation in Heavy Neutrino Decays at Colliders
• Heavy sterile neutrino emission in core-collapse supernovae: Constraints and signatures
• Neutrino Signal of Collapse-Induced Thermonuclear Supernovae: The Case for Prompt Black Hole Formation in SN1987A
• Lifting the core-collapse supernova bounds on keV-mass sterile neutrinos
• Sterile neutrino dark matter via coinciding resonances
• CMB anisotropy and BBN constraints on pre-recombination decay of dark matter to visible particles
• GeV-scale hot sterile neutrino oscillations: a numerical solution
• Parameter space of baryogenesis in the $\nu$MSM
• Sterile neutrino dark matter via GeV-scale leptogenesis?
• Low-scale seesaw models versus $N_{\mathrm{eff}}$
• Kinetic equations for sterile neutrinos from thermal fluctuations

Cited by in corpus (21)

• Feebly-Interacting Particles:FIPs 2020 Workshop Report
• The Present and Future Status of Heavy Neutral Leptons
• Improved BBN constraints on Heavy Neutral Leptons
• Mapping the viable parameter space for testable leptogenesis
• An allowed window for heavy neutral leptons below the kaon mass
• Massive sterile neutrinos in the early universe: From thermal decoupling to cosmological constraints
• HECATE: A long lived particle detector concept for the FCC-ee or CEPC
• Neutrino mass and asymmetric dark matter: study with inert Higgs doublet and high scale validity
• Low-Energy Supernovae Bounds on Sterile Neutrinos
• Low-scale Resonant Leptogenesis in $SU(5)$ GUT with ${\mathcal{T}}_{13}$ Family Symmetry
• Freeze-in and freeze-out generation of lepton asymmetries after baryogenesis in the $\nu$MSM
• Low-scale leptogenesis with flavour and CP symmetries
• Confronting the low-scale seesaw and leptogenesis with neutrinoless double beta decay
• On the collider-testability of the type-I seesaw model with 3 right-handed neutrinos
• No Hiding in the Dark: Cosmological Bounds on Heavy Neutral Leptons with Dark Decay Channels
• Prospects for Heavy Neutral Lepton Searches at Short and Medium Baseline Reactor Experiments
• Probing Solar Heavy Neutrinos with Heliospheric Electrons
• Reconciling resonant leptogenesis and baryogenesis via neutrino oscillations
• Investigation of Electron Backscattering on Silicon Drift Detectors for the Sterile Neutrino Search with TRISTAN
• Investigations of Charge Collection and Signal Timing in a multi-pixel Silicon Drift Detector
• From oversimplified to overlooked: the case for exploring Rich Dark Sectors