Search for $K^+$ decays to a muon and invisible particles

The NA62 collaboration Cortina Gil, Eduardo ; Minucci, Elisa ; Padolski, Sergey ; et al.
Phys.Lett.B 816 (2021) 136259, 2021.
Inspire Record 1843945 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.103974

The NA62 experiment at CERN reports searches for $K^+\to\mu^+N$ and $K^+\to\mu^+\nu X$ decays, where $N$ and $X$ are massive invisible particles, using the 2016-2018 data set. The $N$ particle is assumed to be a heavy neutral lepton, and the results are expressed as upper limits of ${\cal O}(10^{-8})$ of the neutrino mixing parameter $|U_{\mu4}|^2$ for $N$ masses in the range 200-384 MeV/$c^2$ and lifetime exceeding 50 ns. The $X$ particle is considered a scalar or vector hidden sector mediator decaying to an invisible final state, and upper limits of the decay branching fraction for $X$ masses in the range 10-370 MeV/$c^2$ are reported for the first time, ranging from ${\cal O}(10^{-5})$ to ${\cal O}(10^{-7})$. An improved upper limit of $1.0\times 10^{-6}$ is established at 90% CL on the $K^+\to\mu^+\nu\nu\bar\nu$ branching fraction.

1 data table

See caption of Fig 5.


Search for heavy neutral lepton production in $K^+$ decays

The NA62 collaboration Cortina Gil, Eduardo ; Minucci, Elisa ; Padolski, Sergey ; et al.
Phys.Lett.B 778 (2018) 137-145, 2018.
Inspire Record 1640276 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.81001

A search for heavy neutral lepton production in $K^+$ decays using a data sample collected with a minimum bias trigger by the NA62 experiment at CERN in 2015 is reported. Upper limits at the $10^{-7}$ to $10^{-6}$ level are established on the elements of the extended neutrino mixing matrix $|U_{\ell 4}|^2$ ($\ell=e,\mu$) for heavy neutral lepton mass in the range $170-448~{\rm MeV}/c^2$. This improves on the results from previous production searches in $K^+$ decays, setting more stringent limits and extending the mass range.

2 data tables

Upper limits on |U_e4|^2 vs assumed neutrino mass [MeV].

Upper limits on |U_mu4|^2 vs assumed neutrino mass [MeV].