On neutrinoless double beta decay in the minimal left–right symmetric model

We analyze the general phenomenology of neutrinoless double beta decay in the minimal left–right symmetric model. We study under which conditions a New Physics dominated neutrinoless double beta decay signal can be expected in the future experiments. We show that the correlation among the different contributions to the process, which arises from the neutrino mass generation mechanism, can play a crucial role. We have found that, if no fine tuned cancelation is involved in the light–active neutrino contribution, a New Physics signal can be expected mainly from the $$W_R$$–$$W_R$$ channel. An interesting exception is the $$W_L$$–$$W_R$$ channel which can give a dominant contribution to the process if the right-handed neutrino spectrum is hierarchical with $$M_1\lesssim $$ MeV and $$M_2,M_3\gtrsim $$ GeV. We also discuss if a New Physics signal in neutrinoless double beta decay experiments is compatible with the existence of a successful Dark Matter candidate in the left–right symmetric models. It turns out that, although it is not a generic feature of the theory, it is still possible to accommodate such a signal with a KeV sterile neutrino as dark matter