PeV Sterile Masses from D-Brane Instantons -- Motivating Stringy Neutrino Options?

TL;DR

This paper proposes a string theory-based mechanism where non-perturbative instantonic effects generate PeV-scale sterile neutrino masses, potentially addressing neutrino and electroweak hierarchy issues without fine-tuning.

Contribution

It introduces a novel string compactification framework where instantonic interactions produce PeV-scale sterile neutrino masses relevant for the Neutrino Option.

Findings

Sterile neutrino masses can naturally be at PeV scale in certain string models.

The mechanism works across a broad range of string scales without fine-tuning.

Supports a unified approach to neutrino masses and electroweak hierarchy problems.

Abstract

We show that when sterile Majorana neutrino masses are generated non-perturbatively through instantonic interactions in certain classes of string compactifications (e.g. Type IIA orientifold models with intersecting D-branes), then the eigenvalue spectrum for the tree-level mass term $M_p$ can be within the preferred range of the Neutrino Option resolution to the electroweak (EW) hierarchy and neutrino mass problems of the Standard Model, i.e. $M_p \sim$ PeV. This mechanism holds without tuning for a broad range of string scales, thereby motivating a novel class of string-completed Neutrino Options spanning the light neutrino mass, EW, and deep ultraviolet scales.