Limits on sterile neutrino contributions to neutrinoless double beta decay

TL;DR

This paper calculates nuclear matrix elements for sterile neutrino exchange in neutrinoless double beta decay, providing limits on sterile neutrino properties across a wide mass range using the IBM-2 model.

Contribution

It introduces new calculations of nuclear matrix elements for arbitrary mass neutrinos in the IBM-2 framework and derives limits on sterile neutrino parameters from these calculations.

Findings

Limits on sterile neutrino masses from eV to TeV range.

Estimated half-lives for neutrinoless double beta decay with sterile neutrino exchange.

Nuclear matrix elements calculated for various neutrino masses.

Abstract

Nuclear matrix elements (NME) for exchange of arbitrary mass neutrinos are calculated in the interacting boson model (IBM-2). By combining the NME with the phase space factors (PSF), expected half-lives for neutrinos of mass $m_N$ and coupling $U_{eN}$ are estimated. Limits on sterile neutrinos with masses in the eV, keV, MeV-GeV, and TeV range are given.