Speaker
Description
Heavy Neutral Leptons (HNL) are hypothetical particles that, among other things, can explain the origin of the active neutrino masses via a seesaw mechanism. Depending on the seesaw details, they can have masses as low as $\mathcal{O}\left(100\,\,\text{MeV}/c^{2}\right)$, making them prime targers for searches at accelerator neutrino beams such as at DUNE. The MINER$\nu$A neutrino interaction experiment, placed on axis in the NuMI beam immediately upstream of the MINOS near detector, received an exposure of $1.2\times 10^{21}$ protons on target. producing an intense neutrino flux with $\langle E_{\nu}\rangle = 6\,\,\text{GeV}$. The high exposure and energy of the flux, as well as MINER$\nu$A's leading charged-current coherent interaction measurements, make MINER$\nu$A an excellent candidate to search for HNL in the region of parameter space currently unexplored by previous searches. The most promising discovery channel is the muon-pion channel at low invariant mass, but prospects remain open for other signatures with significantly less Standard Model background, such as $N\rightarrow\nu\mu\mu$.