Limiting the Parameter Space for Unstable eV-Scale Neutrinos Using IceCube Data
This Letter extends a recent IceCube sterile neutrino search to include unstable sterile neutrinos within the context of a model termed 3+1+Decay, which expands upon the 3+1 model by introducing sterile neutrino decay to invisible particles with coupling constant 𝑔$^2$. The model is attractive since it reduces tension between oscillation experiments within the global fits and with constraints that come from cosmological observables. The analysis uses 10.7 years of up-going muon neutrino data with energy 500 GeV to 100 TeV and with improved reconstruction and modeling of systematics. The best-fit point is found to be 𝑔$^2$ =0, sin$^2$(2𝜃$_{24}$) =0.16, and Δ𝑚$\\frac{2}{41}$ =3.5 eV$^2$, in agreement with the recent 3+1 sterile neutrino search. Values of 𝑔$^2$ ≥𝜋 are excluded at 95% confidence level. This result substantially limits decay parameter space indicated by recent global fits, disfavoring the decay scenario.
Authors
- D. A. Coloma Borja
- K. Dutta
- Y. Ashida
- N. M. Amin
- J. Carpio
- R. Babu
- S. Chattopadhyay
- K. Carloni
- X. Bai
- Z. g. Chen
- K. Fang
- C. Bellenghi
- W. Esmail
- J. Beise
- B. Benkel
- J. J. DeLaunay
- A. Connolly
- A. Balagopal V.
- C. Argüelles
- J. Böttcher
- J. Adams
- P. Eller
- J. C. Díaz-Vélez
- S. W. Barwick
- E. Blaufuss
- P. A. Evenson
- J. Y. Book Motzkin
- S. Eulig
- R. Bay
- V. Basu
- A. Eimer
- G. H. Collin
- A. Coleman
- IceCube Collaboration
- R. Engel
- K. L. Fan
- F. Bontempo
- S. K. Agarwalla
- R. Corley
- A. R. Fazely
- D. Delgado
- O. Botner
- J. Evans
- S. Deng
- M. Dittmer
- N. Chau
- B. A. Clark
- E. Ellinger
- E. Bernardini
- L. Bloom
- D. Berley
- S. BenZvi
- D. Z. Besson
- N. Feigl
- J. A. Aguilar
- L. Eidenschink
- T. Ehrhardt
- Z. Brisson-Tsavoussis
- B. Brinson
- K. Andeen
- H. Erpenbeck
- T. Delmeulle
- G. de Wasseige
- P. Behrens
- J. M. Alameddine
- D. Elsässer
- R. Abbasi
- S. N. Axani
- C. De Clercq
- L. Dueser
- R. T. Burley
- J. Becker Tjus
- M. A. Campana
- D. Butterfield
- J. Braun
- S. Bash
- S. Blot
- S. Athanasiadou
- J. Baines-Holmes
- S. Choi
- P. Coleman
- C. Boscolo Meneguolo
- D. Durnford
- P. Desiati
- M. Ahlers
- D. F. Cowen
- S. Ali
- D. Chirkin
- S. Böser
- A. Fedynitch
- J. M. Conrad
- K. Farrag
- I. Bodo
- A. Domi
- S. DiKerby
- J. J. Beatty
- L. Draper
- M. Ackermann
- K. D. de Vries
- M. A. DuVernois
Publication Details
- Journal
- KITopen
- Published
- 2026-09-17
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.5445/ir/1000197064
- Primary Topic
- Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00