Invisible Z decay width bounds on active-sterile neutrino mixing in the (3+1) and (3+2) models

Abstract

In this work we consider the standard model extended with singlet sterile neutrinos with mass in the eV range and mixed with the active neutrinos. The active-sterile neutrino mixing renders new contributions to the invisible Z decay width which, in the case of light sterile neutrinos, depends on the active-sterile mixing matrix elements only. We then use the current experimental value of the invisible Z decay width to obtain bounds on these mixing matrix elements for both (3+1) and (3+2) models.

10 pages, 5 figures