Heavy neutrinos across the electroweak-to-multi-TeV frontier via novel ML-enhanced probes

Abstract We propose a new strategy to probe heavy neutrinos with non-universal fermion couplings at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) using a novel production mechanism and machine-learning algorithms. Focusing on proton–proton collisions at $$\sqrt{s} = 13.6~\textrm{TeV}$$ s = 13.6 TeV , we investigate final states containing a charged lepton, missing transverse energy, and two jets. For heavy neutrino masses below $$\mathcal {O}(1~\textrm{TeV})$$ O ( 1 TeV ) , production is dominated by the s channel process. At higher masses, vector boson fusion becomes the dominant production mechanism, with cross sections that decrease slowly as the heavy neutrino mass increases. We simulate both signal and Standard Model background events and employ gradient-boosted decision trees to optimize event classification. Assuming an integrated luminosity of $$3000~\mathrm {fb^{-1}}$$ 3000 fb - 1 , expected for the high-luminosity, and considering realistic statistical and systematic uncertainties, we find that heavy neutrinos in the mass range $$50~\textrm{GeV}$$ 50 GeV – $$10~\textrm{TeV}$$ 10 TeV can be probed with sensitivity to the mixing parameter $$|{V_{\ell N}}|^2$$ | V ℓ N | 2 spanning from $$\mathcal {O}(10^{-5})$$ O ( 10 - 5 ) to 1. This approach enhances the discovery potential for heavy neutrinos and provides a complementary pathway to existing search strategies.