Resonant Production of Light Sterile Neutrinos in Compact Binary Merger Remnants

Understand

The existence of eV-mass sterile neutrinos is not ruled out because of persistent experimental anomalies.

• Upcoming multi-messenger detections of neutron-star merger remnants could provide indirect constraints on the existence of these particles.
• We explore the active-sterile flavor conversion phenomenology in a two-flavor scenario (1 active + 1 sterile species) as a function of the sterile neutrino mixing parameters, neutrino emission angle from the accretion torus, and temporal evolution of the merger remnant.
• The torus geometry and the neutron richness of the remnant are responsible for the occurrence of multiple resonant active-sterile conversions.