Heavy Neutrinos and the Kinematics of Tau Decays

Abstract

Searches for heavy neutrinos often rely on the possibility that the heavy neutrinos will decay to detectable particles. Interpreting the results of such searches requires a particular model for the heavy-neutrino decay. We present a method for placing limits on the probability that a tau can couple to a heavy neutrino, |U_tau4|^2, using only the kinematics of semi-leptonic tau decays, instead of a specific model. Our study suggests that B factories with large datasets, such a Belle and BaBar, may be able to place stringent limits on |U_tau4|^2 as low as O(10^-7 - 10^-3) when 100 MeV < m_4 < 1.2 GeV, utilizing minimal assumptions regarding the decay modes of heavy neutrinos.