The existence of an eV-scale sterile neutrino has been proposed to explain several anomalous experimental results obtained over the course of the past 25 years. The first search for such a sterile neutrino conducted with data from KM3NeT/ORCA — a water Cherenkov neutrino telescope under construction at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea — is reported in this paper. GeV-scale atmospheric neutrino oscillations are measured by reconstructing the energy and arrival direction of up-going neutrinos that have traversed the Earth. This study is based on a data sample containing 5828 neutrino candidates collected with 6 detection units (5% of the complete detector), corresponding to an exposure of 433 kton-years. From the expected effect of an eV-scale sterile neutrino on the first νμ → ντ standard oscillation maximum, simultaneous constraints are put on the magnitude of the Uμ4 and Uτ4 mixing elements assuming Δm412≥1 eV2. The results are compatible with the absence of mixing between active neutrinos and a sterile state, with |Uμ4|2 < 0.138 and |Uτ4|2 < 0.076 at a 90% confidence level. Such constraints are compatible with the results reported by other long-baseline experiments, and indicate that with KM3NeT/ORCA it is possible to bring crucial contributions to sterile neutrino searches in the coming years.

Search for an eV-scale sterile neutrino with the first six detection units of KM3NeT/ORCA / Adriani O., Albert A., Alhebsi A.R., Alshalloudi S., Alshamsi M., Alves Garre S., Ameli F., Andre M., Aphecetche L., Ardid M., Ardid S., Aublin J., Badaracco F., Bailly-Salins L., Baret B., Bariego-Quintana A., Becherini Y., Bendahman M., Benfenati Gualandi F., Benhassi M., et al.. - In: JOURNAL OF HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS. - ISSN 1029-8479. - ELETTRONICO. - 2026:(2026), pp. 80.0-80.0. [10.1007/JHEP02(2026)080]

Search for an eV-scale sterile neutrino with the first six detection units of KM3NeT/ORCA

Adriani O.;Berti E.;Betti P.;Biagi S.;Bottai S.;Cecchini V.;Celli S.;Distefano C.;Langella A.;Markou C.;Muller R.;Musumeci M.;Pacini L.;Parmar A.;Sanfilippo S.;Scaringella M.;Simonelli A.;Starodubtsev O.;Valsecchi V.;Vannuccini E.;Viola S.;
2026

Abstract

The existence of an eV-scale sterile neutrino has been proposed to explain several anomalous experimental results obtained over the course of the past 25 years. The first search for such a sterile neutrino conducted with data from KM3NeT/ORCA — a water Cherenkov neutrino telescope under construction at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea — is reported in this paper. GeV-scale atmospheric neutrino oscillations are measured by reconstructing the energy and arrival direction of up-going neutrinos that have traversed the Earth. This study is based on a data sample containing 5828 neutrino candidates collected with 6 detection units (5% of the complete detector), corresponding to an exposure of 433 kton-years. From the expected effect of an eV-scale sterile neutrino on the first νμ → ντ standard oscillation maximum, simultaneous constraints are put on the magnitude of the Uμ4 and Uτ4 mixing elements assuming Δm412≥1 eV2. The results are compatible with the absence of mixing between active neutrinos and a sterile state, with |Uμ4|2 < 0.138 and |Uτ4|2 < 0.076 at a 90% confidence level. Such constraints are compatible with the results reported by other long-baseline experiments, and indicate that with KM3NeT/ORCA it is possible to bring crucial contributions to sterile neutrino searches in the coming years.
2026
2026
0
0
Adriani O.; Albert A.; Alhebsi A.R.; Alshalloudi S.; Alshamsi M.; Alves Garre S.; Ameli F.; Andre M.; Aphecetche L.; Ardid M.; Ardid S.; Aublin J.; Ba...espandi
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Utilizza questo identificatore per citare o creare un link a questa risorsa: https://hdl.handle.net/2158/1500301
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