Probing Scalar-Mediated Sterile Neutrinos with Gravitational Wave and Colliders Signals

Abstract

We propose a UV-complete extension of the Standard Model in which a gauge-singlet scalar $S$ acquires a vacuum expectation value, generates a Majorana mass for a sterile neutrino $N$, and mixes with the Higgs field. This framework addresses neutrino masses via a seesaw mechanism and, for sufficiently large scalar mixing, can also drive a strong first-order electroweak phase transition, producing gravitational-wave (GW) signals potentially detectable by GW observatories. The Higgs-$S$ mixing also enhances sterile-neutrino pair production at colliders through $s$-channel exchange of the Higgs and $S$. Owing to the small active-sterile mixing angle, $N$ is generically long-lived, yielding characteristic displaced-vertex signatures. The combination of GW observations and displaced-vertex searches at colliders provides complementary cross-checks of the model parameter space.