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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.17857 |
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| _version_ | 1866915686831357952 |
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| author | Lavignac, Stéphane Medina, Anibal D. Mileo, Nicolás I. Tanco, Santiago |
| author_facet | Lavignac, Stéphane Medina, Anibal D. Mileo, Nicolás I. Tanco, Santiago |
| contents | We study the sensitivity of displaced vertex searches at the LHC to heavy neutral leptons (also known as sterile neutrinos) that are produced in pairs with an electroweak-size cross section. We work within the context of a supersymmetric model in which the sterile neutrino is produced along with Standard Model particles in higgsino decays. By making use of model-independent reconstruction efficiencies provided by the ATLAS collaboration in their search for displaced vertices with multiple jets, we obtain constraints on this model from $139$ fb$^{-1}$ of data collected by ATLAS during the LHC Run~2, and assess the discovery reach of Run~3 and of the high-luminosity LHC (HL-LHC). Depending on the higgsino mass parameter, sterile neutrino masses between $20~\mathrm{GeV}$ and $230~\mathrm{GeV}$ and active-sterile neutrino mixings in the range $4 \times 10^{-14} \lesssim V^2_N \lesssim 3 \times 10^{-10}$ can be excluded. At the HL-LHC, discovery-level significances could be reached for sterile neutrinos masses up to $295~\mathrm{GeV}$ and values of $V^2_N$ down to $3 \times 10^{-14}$. Finally, moving away from the supersymmetric scenario, we study to which extent these results can be generalized to a broader class of models in which the sterile neutrinos are produced in the decays of heavier particles that are themselves pair-produced with an electroweak-size cross section. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_17857 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Probing electroweak pair production of heavy neutral leptons with displaced vertices at the LHC Lavignac, Stéphane Medina, Anibal D. Mileo, Nicolás I. Tanco, Santiago High Energy Physics - Phenomenology We study the sensitivity of displaced vertex searches at the LHC to heavy neutral leptons (also known as sterile neutrinos) that are produced in pairs with an electroweak-size cross section. We work within the context of a supersymmetric model in which the sterile neutrino is produced along with Standard Model particles in higgsino decays. By making use of model-independent reconstruction efficiencies provided by the ATLAS collaboration in their search for displaced vertices with multiple jets, we obtain constraints on this model from $139$ fb$^{-1}$ of data collected by ATLAS during the LHC Run~2, and assess the discovery reach of Run~3 and of the high-luminosity LHC (HL-LHC). Depending on the higgsino mass parameter, sterile neutrino masses between $20~\mathrm{GeV}$ and $230~\mathrm{GeV}$ and active-sterile neutrino mixings in the range $4 \times 10^{-14} \lesssim V^2_N \lesssim 3 \times 10^{-10}$ can be excluded. At the HL-LHC, discovery-level significances could be reached for sterile neutrinos masses up to $295~\mathrm{GeV}$ and values of $V^2_N$ down to $3 \times 10^{-14}$. Finally, moving away from the supersymmetric scenario, we study to which extent these results can be generalized to a broader class of models in which the sterile neutrinos are produced in the decays of heavier particles that are themselves pair-produced with an electroweak-size cross section. |
| title | Probing electroweak pair production of heavy neutral leptons with displaced vertices at the LHC |
| topic | High Energy Physics - Phenomenology |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.17857 |