Prospects for searching for sterile neutrinos in dynamical dark energy cosmologies using joint observations of gravitational waves and $\gamma$-ray bursts

Abstract

In the era of third-generation (3G) gravitational-wave (GW) detectors, GW standard siren observations from binary neutron star mergers provide a powerful tool for probing the expansion history of the universe. Since sterile neutrinos can influence cosmic evolution by modifying the radiation content and suppressing structure formation, GW standard sirens offer promising prospects for constraining sterile neutrino properties within a cosmological framework. Building on this, we investigate the prospects for detecting sterile neutrinos in dynamical dark energy (DE) models using joint observations from 3G GW detectors and a future short gamma-ray burst detector, such as a THESEUS-like telescope. We consider three DE models: the $w$CDM, holographic DE (HDE), and Chevallier-Polarski-Linder (CPL) models. Our results show that the properties of DE can influence the constraints on sterile neutrino parameters. Moreover, the inclusion of GW data significantly improves constraints on both sterile neutrino parameters and other cosmological parameters across all three models, compared to the current limits derived from CMB+BAO+SN (CBS) observations. When GW data are included into the CBS dataset, a preference for $\Delta N_{\rm eff} > 0$ emerges at approximately the $1\sigma$ level in the $w$CDM and CPL models, and reaches about $3\sigma$ in the HDE model. Moreover, the upper limits on $m_{\nu,{\rm sterile}}^{\rm eff}$ are reduced by approximately 13%, 75%, and 3% in the $w$CDM, HDE, and CPL models, respectively.