New Production Mechanism for Heavy Neutrinos at the LHC

Abstract

We study a new production mechanism for heavy neutrinos at the LHC, which dominates over the usually considered $s$-channel $W$-exchange diagram for heavy-neutrino masses larger than 100 - 200 GeV. The new mechanism is infrared-enhanced by $t$-channel $Wγ$-fusion processes. This has important implications for experimental tests of the seesaw mechanism of neutrino masses, and in particular, for the ongoing heavy neutrino searches at the LHC. We find that the direct collider limits on the light-to-heavy neutrino mixing can be significantly improved, when this new production channel is properly taken into account. The scope of this new mechanism can equally well be extended to other exotic searches at the LHC.

5 pages, 4 figures; version accepted by Phys. Rev. Lett