1 research outputs found
Majorana vs Pseudo-Dirac Neutrinos at the ILC
Neutrino masses could originate in seesaw models testable at colliders, with
light mediators and an approximate lepton number symmetry. The minimal model of
this type contains two quasi-degenerate Majorana fermions forming a
pseudo-Dirac pair. An important question is to what extent future colliders
will have sensitivity to the splitting between the Majorana components, since
this quantity signals the breaking of lepton number and is connected to the
light neutrino masses. We consider the production of these neutral heavy
leptons at the ILC, where their displaced decays provide a golden signal: a
forward-backward charge asymmetry, which depends crucially on the mass
splitting between the two Majorana components. We show that this observable can
constrain the mass splitting to values much lower than current bounds from
neutrinoless double beta decay and natural loop corrections.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures; v2: Minor changes, version accepted for
publication in EPJ