- Physical Review Journals
All JournalsPhysics Magazine

Physical Review D

Reuse & Permissions

It is not necessary to obtain permission to reuse this article or its components as it is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI are maintained. Please note that some figures may have been included with permission from other third parties. It is your responsibility to obtain the proper permission from the rights holder directly for these figures.

Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation
  • Open Access

Constraining the pseudo-Dirac nature of neutrinos using astrophysical neutrino flavor data

Chee Sheng Fong* and Yago Porto†

  • *Contact author: sheng.fong@ufabc.edu.br
  • †Contact author: yago.porto@ufabc.edu.br
PDF

Phys. Rev. D 112, 063001 – Published 3 September, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/yc27-61w5

Abstract

The three Standard Model neutrinos can have Majorana mass or strictly Dirac mass, but both scenarios are practically indistinguishable in neutrino oscillation experiments. If they are pseudo-Dirac, however, there will be new mass splittings among the pseudo-Dirac pairs, potentially leaving traces in neutrino oscillation phenomena. In this work, we use flavor ratios of astrophysical neutrinos to discriminate different possible mass spectra of pseudo-Dirac neutrinos. We show that it will be possible to impose robust bounds of order δm32≲10−12  eV2 on the new mass squared splitting involving the third pseudo-Dirac mass eigenstates (those with the least electron flavor composition) with the future experiment IceCube-Gen2. The derived sensitivity is robust because it only assumes an extragalactic origin for the astrophysical neutrinos and hierarchical pseudo-Dirac mass spectrum. In case the neutrino sources are known in the future, such bounds can potentially improve by up to five orders of magnitude, reaching δm32≲10−17  eV2.

View figure in article

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (75)

  1. P. F. de Salas, D. V. Forero, S. Gariazzo, P. Martínez-Miravé, O. Mena, C. A. Ternes, M. Tórtola, and J. W. F. Valle, J. High Energy Phys. 02 (2021) 071.
  2. I. Esteban, M. C. Gonzalez-Garcia, M. Maltoni, T. Schwetz, and A. Zhou, J. High Energy Phys. 09 (2020) 178.
  3. G. Adhikari et al. (nEXO Collaboration), J. Phys. G 49, 015104 (2022).
  4. G. Anamiati, R. M. Fonseca, and M. Hirsch, Phys. Rev. D 97, 095008 (2018).
  5. G. Anamiati, V. De Romeri, M. Hirsch, C. A. Ternes, and M. Tórtola, Phys. Rev. D 100, 035032 (2019).
  6. C. S. Fong, T. Gregoire, and A. Tonero, Phys. Lett. B 816, 136175 (2021).
  7. M. Kobayashi and C. S. Lim, Phys. Rev. D 64, 013003 (2001).
  8. M. Cirelli, G. Marandella, A. Strumia, and F. Vissani, Nucl. Phys. B708, 215 (2005).
  9. A. de Gouvea, W.-C. Huang, and J. Jenkins, Phys. Rev. D 80, 073007 (2009).
  10. S. Ansarifard and Y. Farzan, Phys. Rev. D 107, 075029 (2023).
  11. J. Franklin, Y. F. Perez-Gonzalez, and J. Turner, Phys. Rev. D 108, 035010 (2023).
  12. R. M. Crocker, F. Melia, and R. R. Volkas, Astrophys. J. Suppl. Ser. 130, 339 (2000).
  13. R. M. Crocker, F. Melia, and R. R. Volkas, Astrophys. J. Suppl. Ser. 141, 147 (2002).
  14. A. Esmaili, Phys. Rev. D 81, 013006 (2010).
  15. A. Esmaili and Y. Farzan, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 12 (2012) 014.
  16. A. S. Joshipura, S. Mohanty, and S. Pakvasa, Phys. Rev. D 89, 033003 (2014).
  17. I. M. Shoemaker and K. Murase, Phys. Rev. D 93, 085004 (2016).
  18. V. Brdar and R. S. L. Hansen, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 02 (2019) 023.
  19. A. De Gouvêa, I. Martinez-Soler, Y. F. Perez-Gonzalez, and M. Sen, Phys. Rev. D 102, 123012 (2020).
  20. I. Martinez-Soler, Y. F. Perez-Gonzalez, and M. Sen, Phys. Rev. D 105, 095019 (2022).
  21. T. Rink and M. Sen, Phys. Lett. B 851, 138558 (2024).
  22. K. Carloni, I. Martínez-Soler, C. A. Arguelles, K. S. Babu, and P. S. B. Dev, Phys. Rev. D 109, L051702 (2024).
  23. K. Dixit, L. S. Miranda, and S. Razzaque, arXiv:2406.06476.
  24. Y. H. Ahn, S. K. Kang, and C. S. Kim, J. High Energy Phys. 10 (2016) 092.
  25. S. Pakvasa, Mod. Phys. Lett. A 19, 1163 (2004).
  26. C. A. Argüelles, F. Halzen, and N. Kurahashi, Phys. Rev. X 15, 030501 (2025).
  27. M. Ahlers and F. Halzen, Prog. Part. Nucl. Phys. 102, 73 (2018).
  28. M. G. Aartsen et al. (IceCube Collaboration), Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 021103 (2013).
  29. IceCube Collaboration, Science 342, 1242856 (2013).
  30. M. G. Aartsen et al. (IceCube Collaboration), Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 101101 (2014).
  31. M. G. Aartsen et al. (IceCube Collaboration), Astrophys. J. 809, 98 (2015).
  32. M. G. Aartsen et al. (IceCube Collaboration), Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 081102 (2015).
  33. M. G. Aartsen et al. (IceCube Collaboration), Astrophys. J. 833, 3 (2016).
  34. R. Abbasi et al. (IceCube Collaboration), Eur. Phys. J. C 82, 1031 (2022).
  35. R. Abbasi et al. (IceCube Collaboration), Phys. Rev. D 104, 022002 (2021).
  36. R. Abbasi et al. (IceCube Collaboration), Astrophys. J. 928, 50 (2022).
  37. A. Albert et al. (ANTARES Collaboration), Astrophys. J. Lett. 853, L7 (2018).
  38. V. A. Allakhverdyan et al. (Baikal-GVD Collaboration), Phys. Rev. D 107, 042005 (2023).
  39. M. G. Aartsen et al. (IceCube Collaboration), Science 361, 147 (2018).
  40. M. G. Aartsen et al. (IceCube, Fermi-LAT, MAGIC, AGILE, ASAS-SN, HAWC, H.E.S.S., INTEGRAL, Kanata, Kiso, Kapteyn, Liverpool Telescope, Subaru, Swift NuSTAR, VERITAS, VLA/17B-403 Collaborations), Science 361, eaat1378 (2018).
  41. X. Rodrigues, S. Garrappa, S. Gao, V. S. Paliya, A. Franckowiak, and W. Winter, Astrophys. J. 912, 54 (2021).
  42. R. Abbasi et al. (IceCube Collaboration), Science 378, 538 (2022).
  43. A. Albert et al. (ANTARES, OVRO Collaborations), Astrophys. J. 964, 3 (2024).
  44. N. Kurahashi, K. Murase, and M. Santander, Annu. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci. 72, 365 (2022).
  45. S. Troitsky, Usp. Fiz. Nauk 194, 371 (2024).
  46. M. Ahlers, Y. Bai, V. Barger, and R. Lu, Phys. Rev. D 93, 013009 (2016).
  47. R. Abbasi et al. (IceCube Collaboration), Science 380, adc9818 (2023).
  48. M. Bustamante, Nat. Rev. Phys. 6, 8 (2024).
  49. M. Ajello et al., Astrophys. J. 780, 73 (2014).
  50. A. Capanema, A. Esmaili, and P. D. Serpico, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 02 (2021) 037.
  51. M. G. Aartsen et al. (IceCube-Gen2 Collaboration), J. Phys. G 48, 060501 (2021).
  52. R. Abbasi et al. (IceCube-Gen2 Collaboration), Proc. Sci. ICRC2023 (2023) 1123 [arXiv:2308.15220].
  53. A. M. Hopkins and J. F. Beacom, Astrophys. J. 651, 142 (2006).
  54. P. Keranen, J. Maalampi, M. Myyrylainen, and J. Riittinen, Phys. Lett. B 574, 162 (2003).
  55. J. F. Beacom, N. F. Bell, D. Hooper, J. G. Learned, S. Pakvasa, and T. J. Weiler, Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 011101 (2004).
  56. N. Aghanim et al. (Planck Collaboration), Astron. Astrophys. 641, A6 (2020); 652, C4(E) (2021).
  57. S. Paiano, M. Landoni, R. Falomo, A. Treves, R. Scarpa, and C. Righi, Astrophys. J. 837, 144 (2017).
  58. S. H. Margolis, D. N. Schramm, and R. Silberberg, Astrophys. J. 221, 990 (1978).
  59. F. W. Stecker, Astrophys. J. 228, 919 (1979).
  60. A. Mucke, R. Engel, J. P. Rachen, R. J. Protheroe, and T. Stanev, Comput. Phys. Commun. 124, 290 (2000).
  61. S. R. Kelner, F. A. Aharonian, and V. V. Bugayov, Phys. Rev. D 74, 034018 (2006); 79, 039901(E) (2009).
  62. S. Hummer, M. Ruger, F. Spanier, and W. Winter, Astrophys. J. 721, 630 (2010).
  63. S. L. Glashow, Phys. Rev. 118, 316 (1960).
  64. A. Bhattacharya, R. Gandhi, W. Rodejohann, and A. Watanabe, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 10 (2011) 017.
  65. G.-y. Huang, M. Lindner, and N. Volmer, J. High Energy Phys. 11 (2023) 164.
  66. Q. Liu, N. Song, and A. C. Vincent, Phys. Rev. D 108, 043022 (2023).
  67. IceCube Collaboration, Nature (London) 591, 220 (2021); IceCube Collaboration592, E11 (2021).
  68. J. P. Rachen and P. Meszaros, Phys. Rev. D 58, 123005 (1998).
  69. T. Kashti and E. Waxman, Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 181101 (2005).
  70. M. Kachelriess, S. Ostapchenko, and R. Tomas, Phys. Rev. D 77, 023007 (2008).
  71. S. Hummer, M. Maltoni, W. Winter, and C. Yaguna, Astropart. Phys. 34, 205 (2010).
  72. W. Winter, Phys. Rev. D 90, 103003 (2014).
  73. P. S. B. Dev, S. Jana, and Y. Porto, arXiv:2312.17315.
  74. N. Song, S. W. Li, C. A. Argüelles, M. Bustamante, and A. C. Vincent, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 04 (2021) 054.
  75. P. S. B. Dev, P. A. N. Machado, and I. Martinez-Soler, Phys. Lett. B 862, 139306 (2025).

Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. D 112, 063001– Published 3 September, 2025
  • Received 1 August 2024
  • Accepted 1 August 2025
Crossmark - Check for updates button
Creative Commons Logo

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by SCOAP3.

Published by the American Physical Society

Sign In to Your Journals Account

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation