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Flavors of Astrophysical Neutrinos with Active-Sterile Mixing
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology · Submitted 2 Sep 2020
abstract compiled · 2026-09-23 · no language-model review
The authors' main claim We extend these bounds to the case of active-sterile neutrino mixing.
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The paper's own sentences, arranged. Each label is drawn from a closed vocabulary; the number beside it is the probability the classifier gave that label. Numbers in the tables are the authors', checked by code. No sentence in this record was written by a model.
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The abstract, sentence by sentence
We revisit the flavor composition of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos observed at neutrino telescopes. Assuming unitary time evolution of the neutrino flavor states, the flavor composition observable at Earth is related to the initial composition at their sources via oscillation-averaged flavor transitions. In a previous study we derived general bounds on the flavor composition of TeV-PeV astrophysical neutrinos assuming three-flavor unitary mixing. We extend these bounds to the case of active-sterile neutrino mixing. Our bounds are analytical, derived based only on the unitarity of the mixing, and do not require sampling over the values of the unknown active-sterile mixing parameters. These bounds apply to any extended active-sterile neutrino mixing scenario where energy-dependent nonstandard flavor mixing dominates over the standard mixing observed in accelerator, reactor, and atmospheric neutrino oscillations.
background contribution method result interpretation main claim
| # | sentence | role | the authors' own work | states the main conclusion | strength |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| s0 | We revisit the flavor composition of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos observed at neutrino telescopes. | background 0.54 | 0.74 | 0.03 | unclear 0.56 |
| s1 | Assuming unitary time evolution of the neutrino flavor states, the flavor composition observable at Earth is related to the initial composition at their sources via oscillation-averaged flavor transitions. | background 0.94 | 0.10 | 0.06 | asserted 0.99 |
| s2 | In a previous study we derived general bounds on the flavor composition of TeV-PeV astrophysical neutrinos assuming three-flavor unitary mixing. | background 0.93 | 0.79 | 0.05 | asserted 1.00 |
| s3 | We extend these bounds to the case of active-sterile neutrino mixing. | contribution 1.00 | 0.90 | 0.16 | asserted 0.99 |
| s4 | Our bounds are analytical, derived based only on the unitarity of the mixing, and do not require sampling over the values of the unknown active-sterile mixing parameters. | method 0.79 | 0.94 | 0.24 | asserted 1.00 |
| s5 | These bounds apply to any extended active-sterile neutrino mixing scenario where energy-dependent nonstandard flavor mixing dominates over the standard mixing observed in accelerator, reactor, and atmospheric neutrino oscillations. | limitation 0.63 | 0.50 | 0.26 | asserted 1.00 |
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The paper
Original abstract
We revisit the flavor composition of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos observed at neutrino telescopes. Assuming unitary time evolution of the neutrino flavor states, the flavor composition observable at Earth is related to the initial composition at their sources via oscillation-averaged flavor transitions. In a previous study we derived general bounds on the flavor composition of TeV-PeV astrophysical neutrinos assuming three-flavor unitary mixing. We extend these bounds to the case of active-sterile neutrino mixing. Our bounds are analytical, derived based only on the unitarity of the mixing, and do not require sampling over the values of the unknown active-sterile mixing parameters. These bounds apply to any extended active-sterile neutrino mixing scenario where energy-dependent nonstandard flavor mixing dominates over the standard mixing observed in accelerator, reactor, and atmospheric neutrino oscillations.
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References
How the literature uses it
13 arXiv papers cite this in 22 sentences
Papers citing it · 14 sentences without a confident label
Cites it as background 6 papers
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For the 3+1 scenario under consideration $𝕌$ is a $4 ×4$ unitary mixing with 16 degrees of freedom: 6 mixing angles and 3 Dirac phases [ref] .
Oscillations of sterile neutrinos from dark matter decay eliminates the IceCube-Fermi tension · Boltzmann transport · 0.93
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Therefore, the flavor of a single neutrino tells us very little about its history, but the flavor composition of the ensemble of detected neutrinos—, the proportion of $ν_e$, $ν_μ$, and $ν_τ$ in the diffuse neutrino flux that reaches Earth—carries crucial information about their production mechanisms, the identity of the neutrino sources, propagation effects, and even potential new physics [ref] .
Identifying Energy-Dependent Flavor Transitions in High-Energy Astrophysical Neutrino Measurements · Introduction · 0.83
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Although exotic mechanisms like heavy dark matter decay [ref] , leptoquark interactions [ref] , or sterile neutrinos [ref] can produce substantial tau-neutrino fluxes, we focus strictly on the standard paradigm.
Are neutrinos Majorana? Fixed-target and high-energy astrophysical searches decide · The flavor composition at the sources · 0.81
What it cites · 103 sentences without a confident label
Builds on 1 paper
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To overcome this issue, in Ref. [ref] we analytically derived the accessible space of flavor compositions that can be expected from this class of models, assuming oscillations between the three active flavors.
Unitarity Bounds of Astrophysical Neutrinos · Introduction · 0.80
Uses the method or tool of 1 paper
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We follow closely the procedure outlined in Ref. [ref] by first identifying all local extrema $Q$ of Eq. ([ref]) that saturate the (technically) simple boundaries ([ref]), i.e., either $Q_αi = 0$ or 1, and then finding the global maximum among them.
Unitarity Bounds of Astrophysical Neutrinos · Unitarity Bounds · 0.99
Uses data or values from 1 paper
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The grey-shaded areas in Fig. [ref] indicate the preferred regions of flavor composition measured by IceCube [ref] at the $68%$ and $95%$ confidence levels (C.L.s).
A combined maximum-likelihood analysis of the high-energy astrophysical neutrino flux measured with IceCube · Discussion · 0.93
Compares with 1 paper
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The solid contours show our new 3+1 unitarity bounds; the dashed contours show the three-flavor neutrino bounds from our previous study [ref] .
Unitarity Bounds of Astrophysical Neutrinos · Introduction · 0.85
Cites as background 23 papers
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After emission from the source, neutrinos undergo flavor oscillations en route to Earth, which change the flavor composition with which they arrive at the detector [ref] .
Flavor Ratios of Astrophysical Neutrinos: Implications for Precision Measurements · Introduction · 0.81
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After emission from the source, neutrinos undergo flavor oscillations en route to Earth, which change the flavor composition with which they arrive at the detector [ref] .
Measuring Flavor Ratios of High-Energy Astrophysical Neutrinos · Introduction · 0.81
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After emission from the source, neutrinos undergo flavor oscillations en route to Earth, which change the flavor composition with which they arrive at the detector [ref] .
Towards Determination of the Initial Flavor Composition of Ultrahigh-energy Neutrino Fluxes with Neutrino Telescopes · Introduction · 0.81
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