KATRIN Sensitivity to keV Sterile Neutrinos with the TRISTAN Detector Upgrade

TL;DR

KATRIN, with its upgraded TRISTAN detector, aims to detect keV-scale sterile neutrinos by analyzing beta decay spectra, potentially probing mixing amplitudes down to 10^{-6} in 4-13 keV mass range.

Contribution

This paper presents the projected sensitivity of KATRIN to keV sterile neutrinos using a new silicon detector array and simulation framework.

Findings

KATRIN can probe mixing amplitudes of |U_{e4}|^2 ~ 10^{-6} in 4-13 keV range.

Four months of data collection can significantly extend previous laboratory search limits.

Systematic uncertainties can reduce sensitivity by a factor of 10-50.

Abstract

Sterile neutrinos in the keV mass range are a well-motivated extension of the Standard Model and viable dark matter candidates. Their existence can be probed in laboratory experiments, as the admixture of a sterile state would induce a characteristic kink-like distortion in the $\beta$-decay electron energy spectrum. The KATRIN experiment is designed to measure the effective electron neutrino mass with sub-eV sensitivity by analyzing the endpoint region of the tritium $\beta$-decay spectrum. Following the completion of its neutrino mass program, KATRIN will extend its physics reach to the search for keV-scale sterile neutrinos. This effort will be enabled by the TRISTAN detector, a newly developed silicon drift detector array optimized for differential measurements at high rates and energies well below the endpoint. In this article, we present the projected sensitivity of KATRIN to keV-scale sterile neutrinos using a dedicated simulation framework. With four months of detector livetime, KATRIN has the statistical power to probe mixing amplitudes at the level of $|U_{e4}|^2 \sim 10^{-6}$ for sterile neutrino masses in the (4$-$13) keV range, significantly extending the reach of previous laboratory searches. The major experimental systematic uncertainties investigated in this work reduces the sensitivity by a factor of 10$-$50 over the same mass range.