Constraints on NJL four-fermion effective interactions from neutrinoless double beta decay

Abstract

We study the contribution of a heavy right-handed Majorana neutrino to neutrinoless double beta decay ($0\nu \beta \beta$) via four-fermion effective interactions of Nambu-Jona-Lasinio (NJL) type. In this physical scenario, the sterile neutrino contributes to the nuclear transition through gauge, contact, and mixed interactions. Using the lower limit on the half-life of $0\nu \beta \beta$ from the KamLAND-Zen experiment, we then constrain the effective right-handed coupling between the sterile neutrino and the $W$ boson: ${\mathcal{G}}_R^W$. Eventually, we show that the obtained bounds are compatible with those found in the literature, which highlights the complementarity of this type of phenomenological study with high-energy experiments.

19 pages, 6 figures. Version published by JHEP; typos corrected, minor style changes, 3 repeated references removed, Acknowledgments section added