Limits on neutrino mixing with new heavy particles

We study the effects induced by new neutral fermions below their mass threshold, due to their possible mixing with the standard neutrinos. We use as experimental constraints the recent results on lepton universality, together with the measurement of the $\mu$ decay rate and the updated LEP data. In particular, the inclusion in our data set of the most recent determinations of the $\tau$ branching fractions, mass and lifetime implies that a previous indication of a non-vanishing mixing for $\nu_\tau$ is no longer present. We obtain new stringent limits on the mixing parameters between $\nu_e$, $\nu_\mu$, $\nu_\tau$ and heavy neutral states of different weak isospin. If no assumption on the type of neutrinos involved in the mixing is made, we find $\snue^2<0.0071$, $\snumu^2<0.0014$ and $\snutau^2<0.033$.