Light Sterile Neutrinos, Left-Right Symmetry, and $0\nu\beta\beta$ Decay

Abstract

We investigate neutrinoless double beta ($0\nu\beta\beta$) decay rates in minimal left-right symmetric models in presence of relatively light right-handed neutrinos. By use of an effective field theory approach, we systematically include all contributions in the model as well as the dependence of the decay amplitude on the masses of right-handed neutrinos. In type-I and type-II seesaw scenarios, we analyze the impact of right-handed neutrinos heavier than about 10 MeV, showing that this effect can lead to a detection of $0\nu\beta\beta$ decay in the next-generation experiments even for the normal hierarchy and a relatively large right-handed scale set by the mass of hypothetical right-handed gauge bosons. Finally, we comment on a possible connection between light right-handed neutrinos and the strong CP problem.