Double Chooz collaboration(Abrahao, T. et al), & Novella, P. (2021). Reactor rate modulation oscillation analysis with two detectors in Double Chooz. J. High Energy Phys., 01(1), 190–18pp.
Abstract: A theta (13) oscillation analysis based on the observed antineutrino rates at the Double Chooz far and near detectors for different reactor power conditions is presented. This approach provides a so far unique simultaneous determination of theta (13) and the total background rates without relying on any assumptions on the specific background contributions. The analysis comprises 865 days of data collected in both detectors with at least one reactor in operation. The oscillation results are enhanced by the use of 24.06 days (12.74 days) of reactor-off data in the far (near) detector. The analysis considers the nu <mml:mo stretchy=“true”><overbar></mml:mover>e interactions up to a visible energy of 8.5 MeV, using the events at higher energies to build a cosmogenic background model considering fast-neutrons interactions and Li-9 decays. The background-model-independent determination of the mixing angle yields sin(2)(2 theta (13)) = 0.094 0.017, being the best-fit total background rates fully consistent with the cosmogenic background model. A second oscillation analysis is also performed constraining the total background rates to the cosmogenic background estimates. While the central value is not significantly modified due to the consistency between the reactor-off data and the background estimates, the addition of the background model reduces the uncertainty on theta (13) to 0.015. Along with the oscillation results, the normalization of the anti-neutrino rate is measured with a precision of 0.86%, reducing the 1.43% uncertainty associated to the expectation.
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Herrero, V., Toledo, J., Catala, J. M., Esteve, R., Gil, A., Lorca, D., et al. (2012). Readout electronics for the SiPM tracking plane in the NEXT-1 prototype. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A, 695, 229–232.
Abstract: NEXT is a new experiment to search for neutrinoless double beta decay using a 100 kg radio-pure high-pressure gaseous xenon TPC with electroluminescence readout. A large-scale prototype with a SiPM tracking plane has been built. The primary electron paths can be reconstructed from time-resolved measurements of the light that arrives to the SiPM plane. Our approach is to measure how many photons have reached each SiPM sensor each microsecond with a gated integrator. We have designed and tested a 16-channel front-end board that includes the analog paths and a digital section. Each analog path consists of three different stages: a transimpedance amplifier, a gated integrator and an offset and gain control stage. Measurements show good linearity and the ability to detect single photoelectrons.
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Papoulias, D. K., Kosmas, T. S., & Kuno, Y. (2019). Recent Probes of Standard and Non-standard Neutrino Physics With Nuclei. Front. Physics, 7, 191–25pp.
Abstract: We review standard and non-standard neutrino physics probes that are based on nuclear measurements. We pay special attention on the discussion of prospects to extract new physics at prominent rare event measurements looking for neutrino-nucleus scattering, such as the coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CE nu NS) that may involve lepton flavor violation (LFV) in neutral-currents (NC). For the latter processes several appreciably sensitive experiments are currently pursued or have been planed to operate in the near future, like the COHERENT, CONUS, CONNIE, MINER, TEXONO, RED100, vGEN, Ricochet, NUCLEUS, etc. We provide a thorough discussion on phenomenological and theoretical studies, in particular those referring to the nuclear physics aspects in order to provide accurate predictions for the relevant experiments. Motivated by the recent discovery of CE nu NS at the COHERENT experiment and the active experimental efforts for a new measurement at reactor-based experiments, we summarize the current status of the constraints as well as the future sensitivities on nuclear and electroweak physics parameters, non-standard interactions, electromagnetic neutrino properties, sterile neutrinos and simplified scenarios with novel vector Z ' or scalar phi mediators. Indirect and direct connections of CE nu NS with astrophysics, direct Dark Matter detection and charge lepton flavor violating processes are also discussed.
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Beltran, R., Cottin, G., Hirsch, M., Titov, A., & Wang, Z. S. (2023). Reinterpretation of searches for long-lived particles from meson decays. J. High Energy Phys., 05(5), 031–31pp.
Abstract: Many models beyond the Standard Model predict light and feebly interacting particles that are often long-lived. These long-lived particles (LLPs) in many cases can be produced from meson decays. In this work, we propose a simple and quick reinterpretation method for models predicting LLPs produced from meson decays. With the method, we are not required to run Monte-Carlo simulation, implement detector geometries and efficiencies, or apply experimental cuts in an event analysis, as typically done in recasting and reinterpretation works. The main ingredients our method requires are only the theoretical input, allowing for computation of the production and decay rates of the LLPs. There are two conditions for the method to work: firstly, the LLPs in the models considered should be produced from a set of mesons with similar mass and lifetime (or the same meson) and second, the LLPs should, in general, have a lab-frame decay length much larger than the distance between the interaction point and the detector. As an example, we use this method to reinterpret exclusion bounds on heavy neutral leptons (HNLs) in the minimal “3+1” scenario, into those for HNLs in the general effective-field-theory framework as well as for axion-like particles. We are able to reproduce existing results, and obtain new bounds via reinterpretation of past experimental results, in particular, from CHARM and Belle.
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Escudero, M., Lopez-Pavon, J., Rius, N., & Sandner, S. (2020). Relaxing cosmological neutrino mass bounds with unstable neutrinos. J. High Energy Phys., 12(12), 119–44pp.
Abstract: At present, cosmological observations set the most stringent bound on the neutrino mass scale. Within the standard cosmological model (Lambda CDM), the Planck collaboration reports Sigma m(v)< 0.12 eV at 95 % CL. This bound, taken at face value, excludes many neutrino mass models. However, unstable neutrinos, with lifetimes shorter than the age of the universe <tau>(nu) less than or similar to t(U), represent a particle physics avenue to relax this constraint. Motivated by this fact, we present a taxonomy of neutrino decay modes, categorizing them in terms of particle content and final decay products. Taking into account the relevant phenomenological bounds, our analysis shows that 2-body decaying neutrinos into BSM particles are a promising option to relax cosmological neutrino mass bounds. We then build a simple extension of the type I seesaw scenario by adding one sterile state nu (4) and a Goldstone boson phi, in which nu (i)-> nu (4)phi decays can loosen the neutrino mass bounds up to Sigma m(v) similar to 1 eV, without spoiling the light neutrino mass generation mechanism. Remarkably, this is possible for a large range of the right-handed neutrino masses, from the electroweak up to the GUT scale. We successfully implement this idea in the context of minimal neutrino mass models based on a U(1)(mu-tau) flavor symmetry, which are otherwise in tension with the current bound on Sigma m(v).
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de Salas, P. F., & Pastor, S. (2016). Relic neutrino decoupling with flavour oscillations revisited. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 07(7), 051–18pp.
Abstract: We study the decoupling process of neutrinos in the early universe in the presence of three-flavour oscillations. The evolution of the neutrino spectra is found by solving the corresponding momentum-dependent kinetic equations for the neutrino density matrix, including for the first time the proper collision integrals for both diagonal and off-diagonal elements. This improved calculation modifies the evolution of the off-diagonal elements of the neutrino density matrix and changes the deviation from equilibrium of the frozen neutrino spectra. However, it does not vary the contribution of neutrinos to the cosmological energy density in the form of radiation, usually expressed in terms of the effective number of neutrinos, N-eff. We find a value of N-eff = 3.045, in agreement with previous theoretical calculations and consistent with the latest analysis of Planck data. This result does not depend on the ordering of neutrino masses. We also consider the effect of non-standard neutrino-electron interactions (NSI), predicted in many theoretical models where neutrinos acquire mass. For two sets of NSI parameters allowed by present data, we find that Neff can be reduced down to 3.040 or enhanced up to 3.059.
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Dias, A. G., Leite, J., Valle, J. W. F., & Vaquera-Araujo, C. A. (2020). Reloading the axion in a 3-3-1 setup. Phys. Lett. B, 810, 135829–12pp.
Abstract: We generalize the idea of the axion to an extended electroweak gauge symmetry setup. We propose a minimal axion extension of the Singer-Valle-Schechter (SVS) theory, in which the standard model fits in SU(3)(L) circle times U(1)(X), the number of families results from anomaly cancellation, and the Peccei-Quinn (PQ) solution to the strong-CP problem is implemented. Neutrino masses arise from a type-I Dirac seesaw mechanism, suppressed by the ratio of SVS and PQ scales, suggesting the existence of new physics at a moderate SVS scale. Novel features include an enhanced axion coupling to photons when compared to the DFSZ axion, as well as flavor-changing axion couplings to quarks.
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Agarwalla, S. K., Prakash, S., & Sankar, S. U. (2013). Resolving the octant of theta(23) with T2K and NOvA. J. High Energy Phys., 07(7), 131–24pp.
Abstract: Preliminary results of MINOS experiment indicate that theta(23) is not maximal. Global fits to world neutrino data suggest two nearly degenerate solutions for theta(23): one in the lower octant (LO: theta(23) < 45 degrees) and the other in the higher octant (HO: theta(23) > 45 degrees). v(mu) -> v(e) oscillations in superbeam experiments are sensitive to the octant and are capable of resolving this degeneracy. We study the prospects of this resolution by the current T2K and upcoming NOvA experiments. Because of the hierarchy-delta(CP) degeneracy and the octant delta(CP) degeneracy, the impact of hierarchy on octant resolution has to be taken into account. As in the case of hierarchy determination, there exist favorable (unfavorable) values of delta(CP) for which octant resolution is easy (challenging). However, for octant resolution the unfavorable delta(CP) values of the neutrino data are favorable for the anti-neutrino data and vice-verse. This is in contrast to the case of hierarchy determination. In this paper, we compute the combined sensitivity of T2K and NOvA to resolve the octant ambiguity. If sin(2)theta(23) – 0.41, then NOvA can rule out all the values of theta(23) in HO at 2 sigma C.L., irrespective of the hierarchy and delta(CP). Addition of T2K data improves the octant sensitivity. If T2K were to have equal neutrino and anti-neutrino runs of 2.5 years each, a 2 sigma resolution of the octant becomes possible provided sin(2) theta(23) <= 0.43 or >= 0.58 for any value of delta(CP).
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ANTARES Collaboration(Albert, A. et al), Barrios-Marti, J., Hernandez-Rey, J. J., Illuminati, G., Lotze, M., Tönnis, C., et al. (2017). Results from the search for dark matter in the Milky Way with 9 years of data of the ANTARES neutrino telescope. Phys. Lett. B, 769, 249–254.
Abstract: Using data recorded with the ANTARES telescope from 2007 to 2015, a new search for dark matter annihilation in the Milky Way has been performed. Three halo models and five annihilation channels, WIMP + WIMP -> b (b) over bar, W+W-, tau(+)tau(-), mu(+)mu(-) and v (v) over bar, with WIMP masses ranging from 50 2 GeV/C-2 to 100 Tev/C-2, were considered. No excess over the expected background was found, and limits on the thermally averaged annihilation cross-section were set.
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SuperNEMO Collaboration(Argyriades, J. et al), Carcel, S., Diaz, J., Monrabal, F., Serra, L., & Yahlali, N. (2010). Results of the BiPo-1 prototype for radiopurity measurements for the SuperNEMO double beta decay source foils. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A, 622(1), 120–128.
Abstract: The development of BiPo detectors is dedicated to the measurement of extremely high radiopurity in (TI)-T-208 and Bi-214 for the SuperNEMO double beta decay source foils. A modular prototype, called BiPo-1, with 0.8 m(2) of sensitive surface area, has been running in the Modane Underground Laboratory since February, 2008. The goal of BiPo-1 is to measure the different components of the background and in particular the surface radiopurity of the plastic scintillators that make up the detector. The first phase of data collection has been dedicated to the measurement of the radiopurity in (TI)-T-208. After more than one year of background measurement, a surface activity of the scintillators of A((TI)-T-208) = 1.5 μBq/m(2) is reported here. Given this level of background, a larger BiPo detector having 12 m(2) of active surface area, is able to qualify the radiopurity of the SuperNEMO selenium double beta decay foils with the required sensitivity of A((TI)-T-208) <2 μBq/kg (90% CL.) with a six month measurement.
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