eV-Scale Sterile Neutrino Search Using Eight Years of Atmospheric Muon Neutrino Data from the IceCube Neutrino Observatory

Abstract

The results of a 3 þ 1 sterile neutrino search using eight years of data from the IceCube Neutrino Observatory are presented. A total of 305 735 muon neutrino events are analyzed in reconstructed energyzenith space to test for signatures of a matter-enhanced oscillation that would occur given a sterile neutrino state with a mass-squared differences between 0.01 and 100 eV 2. The best-fit point is found to be at sin 2 ð2θ 24 Þ ¼ 0.10 and Δm 2 41 ¼ 4.5 eV 2 , which is consistent with the no sterile neutrino hypothesis with a p value of 8.0%.

Searching for eV-scale sterile neutrinos with eight years of atmospheric neutrinos at the IceCube Neutrino Telescope

“…For analysis I, a Bayesian model comparison is also constructed, as reported in Ref. [115]. This paper provides detailed information on both frequentist and Bayesian analysis techniques and results.…”

“…We have also performed a Bayesian model selection analysis reported in Ref. [115]. In order to avoid dependence on the physics parameter priors we compare each physics parameter point to the no sterile neutrino hypothesis.…”

“…This paper aims to provide a comprehensive explanation of the search for sterile neutrinos with the IceCube eight-year high-energy neutrino data set presented in Ref. [115]. Further information can be found in Refs.…”

Sterile neutrinos with altered dispersion relations as an explanation for neutrino anomalies

“…[32]) indicate that there is almost no statistics in the energy range below 200 MeV at Super Kamiokande. Additonally, a recent Ice-Cube analysis [8] found hints for an additional oscillation over the m 2 ∼ 8 eV 2 mass gap, which is a slight indication of deviation from the 3ν picture. To either exclude or confirm the model proposed in this article, we recommend a reanalysis of the current sub-GeV data in atmospheric experiments.…”

“…Moreover, several other anomalies, like the the Reactor- [4] and Gallium anomalies [5] also provide hints for new physics or additional sterile neutrinos. At the same time atmospheric neutrino experiments [6][7][8] or accelerator experiments [9][10][11] searching for ν μ disappearance do not show any deviation from the standard three neutrino picture and yield stringent a e-mail: dominik.doering@tu-dortmund.de (corresponding author) b e-mail: heinrich.paes@tu-dortmund.de c e-mail: philipp.sicking@tu-dortmund.de d e-mail: tom.weiler@vanderbilt.edu constraints on additional sterile neutrinos that rule out the most simple models.…”