Is there evidence for sterile neutrinos in IceCube data?

TL;DR

This paper investigates the potential existence of eV-mass sterile neutrinos by analyzing IceCube atmospheric neutrino data, considering various scenarios and uncertainties, and discusses how future data could clarify the issue.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of IceCube data for sterile neutrino evidence within 3+2 and 1+3+1 models, highlighting the impact of systematic uncertainties.

Findings

Evidence for sterile neutrinos varies with systematic treatment.

Future IceCube data can conclusively confirm or refute sterile neutrino existence.

Analysis constrains sterile neutrino parameter space.

Abstract

Data from the LSND and MiniBooNE experiments, and revised expectations of the antineutrino flux from nuclear reactors suggest the existence of eV-mass sterile neutrinos. 3+2 and 1+3+1 scenarios accommodate all relevant short-baseline neutrino data except for the low-energy MiniBooNE anomaly. We analyze the angular distribution of upward going atmospheric neutrino events in the IceCube-40 dataset for evidence of sterile neutrinos within these scenarios. Depending on how systematic uncertainties are handled, we find strong evidence for, or weak evidence against sterile neutrinos. We show that future IceCube data will definitively settle the issue.