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Abstract Sterile neutrinos can be produced through mixing with active neutrinos in the hot, dense core of a core-collapse supernova (SN). The standard bounds on the active-sterile mixing (sin2θ) from SN arise from SN1987A energy-loss, requiringEloss< 1052erg. In this work, we discuss a novel bound on sterile neutrino parameter space arising from the energy deposition through its decays inside the SN envelope. Using the observed underluminous SN IIP population, this energy deposition is constrained to be below ∼ 1050erg. Focusing on sterile neutrino mixing only with tau neutrino, for heavy sterile massesmsin the range 100 – 500 MeV, we find stringent constraints on sin2θτreaching two orders of magnitude lower than those from the SN1987A energy loss argument, thereby probing the mixing angles required for Type-I seesaw mechanism. Similar bounds will also be applicable to sterile mixing only with muons (sin2θμ).
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Probing the sterile neutrino dipole portal with SN1987A and low-energy supernovae
Beyond the Standard Model electromagnetic properties of neutrinos may lead to copious production of sterile neutrinos in the hot and dense core of a core-collapse supernova. In this work, we focus on the active-sterile transition magnetic moment portal for heavy sterile neutrinos. Firstly, we revisit the SN1987A cooling bounds for dipole portal using the integrated luminosity method, which yields more reliable results (especially in the trapping regime) compared to the previously explored via emissivity loss, also known as the Raffelt criterion. Secondly, we obtain strong bounds on the dipole coupling strength reaching as low as 10^{-11} /GeV from energy deposition, i.e., constrained from the observation of explosion energies of underluminous Type IIP supernovae. In addition, we find that sterile neutrino production from Primakoff upscattering off of a proton dominates over scattering off of an electron for low sterile neutrino masses.
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- PAR ID:
- 10537134
- Publisher / Repository:
- American Physical Society
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Physical Review D
- Volume:
- 110
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 2470-0010
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.110.015007
