{
  "abstract": "Whether a sterile neutrino mixes with the three active ones remains an open question. Its mixing with the tau neutrino, $|U_{τ4}|^2$, is the least constrained, since terrestrial experiments probe it only indirectly and over limited ranges of sterile-neutrino mass. We show that TeV-PeV astrophysical neutrinos probe it differently. Their sources make almost no $ν_τ$, but oscillations over cosmological distances turn about one third of them into $ν_τ$ before they reach Earth. Mixing with a sterile neutrino would make these $ν_τ$ scarcer, lowering the $ν_τ$ fraction that neutrino telescopes measure, whatever the sterile-neutrino mass. In contrast, sterile mixing with $ν_e$ or $ν_μ$ is nearly undetectable. Fitting the flavor composition measured by IceCube, with the composition at the sources left free, we find $|U_{τ4}|^2 < 0.88$ at 90% C.L. Combining IceCube with present and planned neutrino telescopes, including IceCube-Gen2 and HUNT, could lower this limit to 0.24-0.29 by 2040 and to 0.12-0.14 by 2050. By 2050, these limits would match some present terrestrial limits, though not the strongest.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2611.05170",
  "author_total": 2,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Mauricio Bustamante"
    },
    {
      "name": "Qinrui Liu"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/02ctgpd5fht4j.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2611.05170",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "02ctgpd5fht4j",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.05170",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "LicenseRef-arXiv-nonexclusive-1.0",
  "licence_label": "arXiv licence",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "hep-ph"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2611.05170",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-11-03",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/02ctgpd5fht4j.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-04T15:21:25Z",
      "native_id": "2611.05170",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.05170"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:hep-ph",
      "subfield": "high-energy"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Constraining tau-sterile neutrino mixing with high-energy astrophysical neutrinos",
  "title_text": "Constraining tau-sterile neutrino mixing with high-energy astrophysical neutrinos",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-05T15:20:35Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/02ctgpd5fht4j",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}