Model Independent Explorations of Majorana Neutrino Mass Origins

TL;DR

This paper surveys model-independent experimental probes of Majorana neutrino mass origins, analyzing radiative mass generation, and explores a low-scale seesaw model with sterile neutrinos, connecting theoretical predictions with current and future experimental constraints.

Contribution

It systematically analyzes radiatively generated neutrino masses from effective operators and demonstrates the utility of a low-scale seesaw mechanism with sterile neutrinos.

Findings

Many models are already constrained by current data.

Future experiments will probe more models.

Predictions for neutrinoless double beta decay and sterile neutrino phenomenology.

Abstract

The scale of neutrino mass generation may be too large to explore directly, but useful information may still be extracted from independent experimental channels. Here I survey various model independent probes of Majorana neutrino mass origins. An introduction to the concepts relevant to the analysis is followed by a discussion of the physical ranges of neutrino parameters within the context of standard and non-standard interactions. Armed with this, I move on to systematically analyze the properties of radiatively generated neutrino masses induced by nonrenormalizable lepton number violating effective operators of mass dimensions five through eleven. By fitting these to the observed light mass scale, I extract predictions for neutrino mixing as well as neutrinoless double beta decay, rare meson/tau decays and collider phenomenology. I find that many such models are already constrained by current data and many more will be probed in the near future. I then move on demonstrate the utility of a low scale seesaw mechanism via a viable sterile neutrino model that satisfies all oscillation data as well as solves problems associated with supernova kicks and heavy element nucleosynthesis. From this I extract predictions for tritium and neutrinoless double beta decay searches.