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Abstract:
Usually considered a background for experimental searches for the
hypothetical neutrinoless double beta decay process, two-neutrino double
beta decay nevertheless provides a complementary probe of physics beyond
the Standard Model. In this paper we investigate how the presence of a
sterile neutrino, coupled to the Standard Model either via a left-handed
or right-handed current, affects the energy distribution and angular
correlation of the outgoing electrons in two-neutrino double beta decay.
We pay particular attention on the behavior of the energy distribution
at the kinematic end point and we estimate the current limits on the
active-sterile mixing and effective right-handed coupling using current
experimental data as a function of the sterile neutrino mass. We also
investigate the sensitivities of future experiments. Our results
complement the corresponding constraints on sterile neutrinos from
single beta decay measurements in the 0.1-10 MeV mass range.
