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Using the full LHC Run 2 data set recorded by ATLAS, the search finds no heavy neutral leptons of mass 8-65 GeV with electron- or muon-neutrino mixing above |U_e|^2 = 8e-5 or |U_mu|^2 = 5e-5, with strongest limits near 1e-5 at 15-30 GeV.

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The ATLAS search finds no evidence of heavy neutral leptons in W boson decays and sets the strongest limits to date on their mixing with electron and muon neutrinos in the 15-30 GeV mass range.

T0 review reviewed 2026-08-05 challenge →

load-bearing objection Clean, incremental ATLAS search: full Run 2 prompt HNL limits, no new technique, no obvious flaws; deserves normal refereeing.

arxiv 2508.20929 v2 pith:T2L3ZO5D submitted 2025-08-28 hep-ex

Search for heavy neutral leptons in decays of W bosons produced in 13 TeV pp collisions using prompt signatures in the ATLAS detector

ATLAS Collaboration This is my paper
classification hep-ex
keywords heavy neutral leptonsMajorana neutrinoslepton number violationsame-charge lepton pairsW boson decayLHC Run 295% confidence limitsprompt signatures
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal T4 reserved

The pith

A machine-rendered reading of the paper's core claim, the machinery that carries it, and where it could break.

The reading

The paper searches for heavy neutral leptons (HNLs, right-handed neutrino partners predicted in seesaw and leptogenesis models) with masses between 8 and 65 GeV, produced in W boson decays in 140 fb^-1 of 13 TeV proton-proton collisions. It looks for prompt decays into three charged leptons plus a neutrino, requiring a same-flavour same-charge lepton pair to exploit the Majorana nature of the HNL and suppress Standard Model backgrounds. No significant excess over background is observed. The analysis therefore excludes electron- and muon-neutrino mixing strengths above 8e-5 and 5e-5 respectively across the full mass range, and reaches its best exclusions of about 1.1e-5 (electron) and 5e-6 (muon) in the 15-30 GeV window. If correct, this closes the prompt-decay gap between earlier partial-run and displaced-vertex searches for HNLs below the electroweak scale.

Core claim

The central claim, stated in the paper's own terms, is that no heavy neutral lepton mixing with electron or muon neutrinos at a strength above the quoted bounds exists in the 8-65 GeV mass range. The search uses a simplified single-HNL model with lepton number violation: W -> l N, N -> l' l'' nu, giving three charged leptons, with the same-flavour pair carrying the same charge. The observed yields in nine signal regions are consistent with backgrounds, with the largest deviation a 1.7 sigma excess in one electron region. Limits derived with the CLs method exclude |U_e|^2 > 8e-5 and |U_mu|^2 > 5e-5 over the full mass range, with the strongest constraints |U_e|^2 < 1.1e-5 and |U_mu|^2 < 5e-6 f

What carries the argument

The signal-defining object is the same-flavour same-charge (SFSC) lepton pair, which is nearly background-free in the Standard Model and directly encodes the lepton-number-violating Majorana decay of the HNL. The analysis optimises nine signal regions around kinematic variables built from the leptons and missing transverse momentum, including a W-boson mass constraint (the m_test discriminant) that separates signal from top-quark and diboson background. Fake and non-prompt leptons, the dominant background, are estimated with a data-driven matrix method; signal efficiencies for HNL masses below 15 GeV are obtained by reweighting lifetime distributions from Monte Carlo samples generated at cta

Load-bearing premise

The low-mass limits assume that signal efficiencies for intermediate HNL lifetimes can be obtained by reweighting Monte Carlo samples generated at only two proper decay lengths (0.1 mm and 1 mm), with a uniform 18% uncertainty covering the interpolation; if that reweighting is inaccurate, the 8-15 GeV exclusions would shift.

What would settle it

Generate dedicated HNL signal events at an intermediate proper decay length (e.g., ctau = 0.3 mm) for masses 8-15 GeV and reconstruct them with the same full detector simulation as the ctau = 0.1 mm sample; a reconstructed efficiency differing by more than 18% from the reweighted prediction would invalidate the low-mass limits. Alternatively, a persistent excess above the predicted background in the combined signal regions, currently 44 observed versus 30 +/- 5 expected, would contradict the null claim.

Watch this falsifier. Get emailed when new claim-graph text bears on it.

If this is right

  • The full-mass-range exclusions supersede the previous ATLAS prompt search on partial Run 2 data and extend prompt coverage into the 20-65 GeV region.
  • Combined with displaced-vertex and long-lived searches, no HNL with masses 8-65 GeV and mixings above roughly 1e-5 remains allowed in either prompt or long-lived channels.
  • Within the single-HNL simplified model, the result directly constrains the parameter space used for leptogenesis and sterile-neutrino dark matter scenarios with sub-electroweak HNL masses.
  • The limits can be reinterpreted in realistic multi-HNL oscillation models by translating the single-flavour mixing bounds into effective flavour-mixing combinations, as the paper notes.

Where Pith is reading between the lines

These are editorial extensions of the paper, not claims the author makes directly.

  • The 44 observed events versus 30 +/- 5 expected, with the largest excess in the electron-channel signal region SRE3 (1.7 sigma), suggests a slight background underprediction; if the fake-lepton matrix method misses a component, the electron-channel limits would weaken more than the muon-channel limits.
  • The low-mass exclusions (8-15 GeV) rest on only two simulated decay lengths; a dedicated full-simulation sample at an intermediate ctau (around 0.3 mm) would directly test the 18% reweighting uncertainty and could sharpen the low-mass boundary.
  • The explicit veto of three-lepton same-flavour topologies leaves tau-neutrino mixing unexplored; a dedicated tau-flavour search would be the natural complement to this strategy.
  • With future larger data sets, the same same-charge-lepton selection could push sensitivity toward |U|^2 ~ 1e-6 in the 10-40 GeV window, provided trigger efficiency and fake-lepton systematics keep pace.
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Editorial analysis

A structured set of objections, weighed in public.

Desk editor's note, referee report, simulated authors' rebuttal, and a circularity audit.

Referee Report

0 major / 4 minor

Summary. The paper presents a search for heavy neutral leptons (HNLs) produced in W-boson decays using the full ATLAS Run 2 dataset of 140 fb^-1 of 13 TeV pp collisions. The search targets prompt, lepton-number-violating signatures: final states with two same-charge same-flavour leptons or three leptons, vetoing three-lepton same-flavour topologies. Backgrounds are estimated through a combination of MC simulation for prompt SM processes and data-driven methods for fake/non-prompt leptons and electron charge-flip, with validation in nine dedicated validation regions. No significant excess is observed; the largest local excess is 1.7 sigma in signal region SRE3. The results are interpreted as 95% CL limits on the HNL mixing parameters |U_e|^2 and |U_mu|^2 for HNL masses 8-65 GeV. The paper claims to exclude |U_e|^2 > 8e-5 and |U_mu|^2 > 5.0e-5 in the full mass range, with strongest limits of |U_e|^2 < 1.1e-5 and |U_mu|^2 < 5e-6 at masses around 15-30 GeV.

Significance. If the limits are correct, this search provides a substantial improvement over the previous ATLAS prompt search based on a partial Run 2 dataset and is competitive with the recent CMS prompt search, placing the strongest prompt-signature constraints on |U_e|^2 and |U_mu|^2 for HNL masses in the 15-30 GeV region. The analysis is technically thorough: the background decomposition is detailed, the data-driven matrix method is validated in nine VRs with agreement within 2 sigma, the systematic uncertainties are propagated through a full profile-likelihood fit with correlated nuisance parameters, and the CLs procedure is used for limits. The paper is clearly written and the internal consistency is strong. The main limitations are the use of fast simulation for signal and the lifetime reweighting for low-mass signal samples, both of which are addressed with assigned systematic uncertainties and appear conservative where the simulation does not directly cover the parameter space.

minor comments (4)
  1. [Section 7] The sentence 'A uniform 18% uncertainty is applied to the low-mass HNL signal points to take account of uncertainties in the lifetime reweighting technique discussed in Section 8' refers to the lifetime reweighting described in Section 3, not Section 8. Please correct the cross-reference.
  2. [Abstract / Conclusion / Section 8.3] The abstract and conclusion state that the strongest muon limit |U_mu|^2 < 5e-6 applies in the mass range 15-30 GeV, while Section 8.3 specifies 20-30 GeV. Please align these statements, or clarify whether the limit also holds at 15 GeV.
  3. [Section 3 / Section 8.3] The description of the low-mass lifetime reweighting is terse. It would be helpful to state explicitly how the signal efficiency is obtained for ctau values below 0.1 mm (presumably the 0.1 mm sample is used, which is conservative) and for values between 0.1 and 1 mm (reweighted samples). The sentence in Section 8.3 'For each nominal and intermediate HNL decay length, a limit on the mixing parameter is derived' is ambiguous; clarify that the limit is extracted by scanning |U|^2 and interpolating the signal efficiency as a function of ctau.
  4. [Section 8.3 / Figure 4] The claim of exclusion in the full continuous mass range 8-65 GeV is based on limits at discrete mass points (8, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 65 GeV). Please state how the limits are interpolated between these points and confirm that the quoted full-range bound is the maximum limit across the tested masses.

Circularity Check

0 steps flagged

No significant circularity: the exclusion limits are derived from observed event counts, simulated signal, and data-driven background estimates; no fitted parameter is renamed as a prediction.

full rationale

The paper's central claim—95% CL exclusion limits on |U_e|^2 and |U_mu|^2 for HNL masses 8–65 GeV—is obtained by comparing observed event yields in the signal regions against predicted background plus simulated signal. The background prediction is either MC-normalized to independent cross sections (WZ, ZZ, VVV, top processes) or estimated from data with the matrix method for fake/non-prompt leptons, validated in nine VRs within 2 sigma. The signal prediction uses an external HeavyN model with the W production cross section taken from an independent ATLAS measurement ([75], sigma(pp->W)xB(W->lnu)=20.6±0.7 nb), not fitted to the search data. The lifetime reweighting for low-mass signal samples (Section 3) is a modeling technique with an assigned 18% uncertainty; it does not define the excluded mixing values, since the most stringent limits are quoted at masses where simulated ctau values bracket the relevant lifetimes, and any inefficiency in the reweighting would only weaken, not manufacture, an exclusion. No step in the chain defines the predicted quantity in terms of the observed limit, and no fitted parameter is subsequently presented as a prediction. Self-citations to prior ATLAS results appear only as methodology references (e.g., Ref. [72] for reweighting) and as comparison points; they are not load-bearing for the exclusion claim itself. The analysis is therefore self-contained with respect to its central result.

Axiom & Free-Parameter Ledger

3 free parameters · 4 axioms · 0 invented entities

The central claim rests on the single-HNL model, on the accuracy of MC simulation and luminosity, and on measured calibration quantities for the matrix method. No new particles or forces are introduced by this paper.

free parameters (3)
  • Fake/non-prompt lepton probability zeta (muon, electron, pT/eta dependent) = 5-30% electrons, 6-20% muons
    Measured from data control regions (Section 6.3) and used in the matrix method to estimate the dominant background.
  • Prompt lepton selection efficiency epsilon = 75-99% depending on pT
    Derived from simulated ttbar events with scale-factor corrections (Section 6.3); affects matrix method coefficients.
  • Electron charge-flip probability xi = 0.03-0.07%
    Used for charge-flip background estimate (Section 6.2), derived from Z->ee MC corrected with data factors.
axioms (4)
  • domain assumption The simplified single-HNL model (one HNL mixing with one lepton flavour, lepton-number-violating decays only) describes the signal.
    Adopted in Section 1 as customary for experimental searches; the limits are set in that model and would differ in realistic multi-HNL models.
  • domain assumption ATLAS detector simulation and the MC generators listed in Table 1 accurately model the SM backgrounds.
    Used throughout for background and signal predictions; systematic uncertainties attempt to cover inaccuracies.
  • domain assumption The HNL decay width and lifetime computed by Refs. [73,74] are correct.
    Used to generate signal and to convert limits into mixing parameters; an error would shift the limits.
  • domain assumption The integrated luminosity of 140 fb^-1 with 0.83% uncertainty is correct.
    From the LUCID-2 measurement [35]; affects normalization of all simulated samples.

reviewed 2026-08-05 · how reviews work

0 comments
Cite this review

Pith. "Pith review of Search for heavy neutral leptons in decays of W bosons produced in 13 TeV pp collisions using prompt signatures in the ATLAS detector." pith.science (2026). https://pith.science/paper/T2L3ZO5D

@misc{pith2026250820929,
  author       = {Pith},
  title        = {Pith review of: Search for heavy neutral leptons in decays of W bosons produced in 13 TeV pp collisions using prompt signatures in the ATLAS detector},
  year         = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://pith.science/paper/T2L3ZO5D}},
  note         = {Machine review of arXiv:2508.20929}
}
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abstract

The existence of right-handed neutrinos with Majorana masses below the electroweak scale could help address the origins of neutrino masses, the matter-antimatter asymmetry, and dark matter. In this paper, leptonic decays of W bosons from 140 fb$^{-1}$ of 13 TeV proton-proton collisions at the LHC, reconstructed in the ATLAS experiment, are used to search for heavy neutral leptons produced through their mixing with muon or electron neutrinos in a scenario with lepton number violation. The search is conducted using prompt leptonic decay signatures. The considered final states require two same-charge leptons or three leptons, while vetoing three-lepton same-flavour topologies. No significant excess over the expected Standard Model backgrounds is found, leading to constraints on the heavy neutral lepton's mixing with muon and electron neutrinos for heavy-neutral-lepton masses. The analysis excludes $|U_{e}|^2$ values above $8\times 10^{-5}$ and $|U_{\mu}|^2$ values above $5.0 \times 10^{-5}$ in the full mass range of 8-65 GeV. The strongest constraints are placed on heavy-neutral-lepton masses in the range 15-30 GeV of $|U_{e}|^2 < 1.1 \times 10^{-5}$ and $|U_{\mu}|^2 < 5 \times 10^{-6}$.

discussion (0)

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This paper was first reviewed by deepseek-v4-flash on August 5, 2026.