Search for an eV-scale sterile neutrino with the first six detection units of KM3NeT/ORCA
(2026) Journal of High Energy Physics — Vol. 02 (2026)
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- 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 ν$_{μ}$ → ν$_{τ}$ standard oscillation maximum, simultaneous constraints are put on the magnitude of the U$_{μ4}$ and U$_{τ4}$ mixing elements assuming $ \Delta {m}_{41}^2\ge 1 $ eV$^{2}$. The results are compatible with the absence of mixing between active neutrinos and a sterile state, with |U$_{μ4}$|$^{2}$ < 0.138 and |U$_{τ4}$|$^{2}$ < 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.[graphic not available: see fulltext]
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Clark, R., de Wasseige, G., Genton, E., Lamoureux, M., Lemaitre, V., Mauro, J., Scarnera, M., Myhr, P., KM3NeT, & et al. (2026). Search for an eV-scale sterile neutrino with the first six detection units of KM3NeT/ORCA. Journal of High Energy Physics, 02. https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP02(2026)080 (Original work published 2026)