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

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Title: Search for heavy neutral leptons in decays of W bosons produced in 13 TeV pp collisions using prompt signatures in the ATLAS detector.
Authors: Aad, G.1 (AUTHOR), Aakvaag, E.2 (AUTHOR), Abbott, B.3 (AUTHOR), Abdelhameed, S.4 (AUTHOR), Abeling, K.5 (AUTHOR), Abicht, N. J.6 (AUTHOR), Abidi, S. H.7 (AUTHOR), Aboelela, M.8 (AUTHOR), Aboulhorma, A.9 (AUTHOR), Abramowicz, H.10 (AUTHOR), Abulaiti, Y.11 (AUTHOR), Acharya, B. S.12,13,14 (AUTHOR), Ackermann, A.15 (AUTHOR), Adam Bourdarios, C.16 (AUTHOR), Adamczyk, L.17 (AUTHOR), Addepalli, S. V.18 (AUTHOR), Addison, M. J.19 (AUTHOR), Adelman, J.20 (AUTHOR), Adiguzel, A.21 (AUTHOR), Adye, T.22 (AUTHOR)
Source: European Physical Journal C -- Particles & Fields. Feb2026, Vol. 86 Issue 2, p1-32. 32p.
Subjects: Sterile neutrinos, Particle decays, Particle detectors, Lepton number, Collisions (Nuclear physics), Neutrino oscillation
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 × 10 - 5 and | U μ | 2 values above 5.0 × 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 × 10 - 5 and | U μ | 2 < 5 × 10 - 6 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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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 × 10 - 5 and | U μ | 2 values above 5.0 × 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 × 10 - 5 and | U μ | 2 < 5 × 10 - 6 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:14346044
DOI:10.1140/epjc/s10052-025-15191-w