Limits on heavy neutral leptons, Z ′ bosons and majorons from high-energy supernova neutrinos

Abstract

Abstract Light hypothetical particles with masses up to O 100 $$ \mathcal{O}(100) $$ MeV can be produced in the core of supernovae. Their subsequent decays to neutrinos can produce a flux component with higher energies than the standard flux. We study the impact of heavy neutral leptons, Z ′ bosons, in particular U 1 L μ − L τ $$ \textrm{U}{(1)}_{L_{\mu }-{L}_{\tau }} $$ and U(1) B−L gauge bosons, and majorons coupled to neutrinos flavor-dependently. We obtain new strong limits on these particles from no events of high-energy SN 1987A neutrinos and their future sensitivities from observations of galactic supernova neutrinos.

Keywords

• Neutrino Interactions
• New Light Particles
• Sterile or Heavy Neutrinos
• Non-Standard Neutrino Properties