Abstract
At present, cosmological observations set the most stringent bound on the neutrino mass scale. Within the standard cosmological model (ΛCDM), the Planck collaboration reports ∑mv< 0.12 eV at 95 % CL. This bound, taken at face value, excludes many neutrino mass models. However, unstable neutrinos, with lifetimes shorter than the age of the universe τν ≲ tU, represent a particle physics avenue to relax this constraint. Motivated by this fact, we present a taxonomy of neutrino decay modes, categorizing them in terms of particle content and final decay products. Taking into account the relevant phenomenological bounds, our analysis shows that 2-body decaying neutrinos into BSM particles are a promising option to relax cosmological neutrino mass bounds. We then build a simple extension of the type I seesaw scenario by adding one sterile state ν4 and a Goldstone boson ϕ, in which νi→ ν4ϕ decays can loosen the neutrino mass bounds up to ∑mv ∼ 1 eV, without spoiling the light neutrino mass generation mechanism. Remarkably, this is possible for a large range of the right-handed neutrino masses, from the electroweak up to the GUT scale. We successfully implement this idea in the context of minimal neutrino mass models based on a U(1)μ−τ flavor symmetry, which are otherwise in tension with the current bound on ∑mv.
Dirac neutrino mass models with a modular S4 symmetry