Limits on sterile neutrino contributions to neutrinoless double beta decay

Abstract

Nuclear matrix elements (NME) for exchange of arbitrary mass neutrinos are calculated in the interacting boson model (IBM-2). By combining the NME with the phase space factors (PSF), expected half-lives for neutrinos of mass ${m}_{N}$ and coupling ${U}_{eN}$ are estimated. Limits on sterile neutrinos with masses in the eV, keV, MeV-GeV, and TeV range are given.