English

What if a specific neutrinoless double beta decay is absent

High Energy Physics - Phenomenology 2021-06-23 v2 High Energy Physics - Experiment

Abstract

We consider the seesaw model with two right-handed neutrinos N1N_1 and N2N_2 which masses are hierarchical, and investigate their contribution to the neutrinoless double beta (0νββ0 \nu \beta \beta) decay. Although the lepton number is broken by the Majorana masses of right-handed neutrinos, such decay processes can be absent in some cases. We present a possibility where the lighter N1N_1 gives a destructive contribution to that of active neutrinos by choosing the specific mixing elements of N1N_1, while N2N_2 is sufficiently heavy not to contribute to the 0νββ0 \nu \beta \beta decay. In this case the mixing elements of N1N_1 in the charged current interaction are determined by its mass and the Majorana phase of active neutrinos. We then study the impacts of such a possibility on the direct search for N1N_1. In addition, we discuss the consequence of the case when the 0νββ0 \nu \beta \beta decay in one specific nucleus is absent.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2012.13186,
  title  = {What if a specific neutrinoless double beta decay is absent},
  author = {Takehiko Asaka and Hiroyuki Ishida and Kazuki Tanaka},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2012.13186},
  year   = {2021}
}

Comments

20 pages, 10 figures; v2: version accepted by PTEP

R2 v1 2026-06-23T21:22:06.132Z