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Akhmedov, E., & Martinez-Mirave, P. (2022). Solar (v(e))over-bar flux: revisiting bounds on neutrino magnetic moments and solar magnetic field. J. High Energy Phys., 10(10), 144–35pp.
Abstract: The interaction of neutrino transition magnetic dipole moments with magnetic fields can give rise to the phenomenon of neutrino spin-flavour precession (SFP). For Majorana neutrinos, the combined action of SFP of solar neutrinos and flavour oscillations would manifest itself as a small, yet potentially detectable, flux of electron antineutrinos coming from the Sun. Non-observation of such a flux constrains the product of the neutrino magnetic moment μand the strength of the solar magnetic field B. We derive a simple analytical expression for the expected (v(e)) over bar appearance probability in the three-flavour framework and we use it to revisit the existing experimental bounds on μB. A full numerical calculation has also been performed to check the validity of the analytical result. We also present our numerical results in energy-binned form, convenient for analyses of the data of the current and future experiments searching for the solar (v(e)) over bar flux. In addition, we give a comprehensive compilation of other existing limits on neutrino magnetic moments and of the expressions for the probed effective magnetic moments in terms of the fundamental neutrino magnetic moments and leptonic mixing parameters.
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Alonso-Gonzalez, D., Amaral, D. W. P., Bariego-Quintana, A., Cerdeño, D., & de los Rios, M. (2023). Measuring the sterile neutrino mass in spallation source and direct detection experiments. J. High Energy Phys., 12(12), 096–27pp.
Abstract: We explore the complementarity of direct detection (DD) and spallation source (SS) experiments for the study of sterile neutrino physics. We focus on the sterile baryonic neutrino model: an extension of the Standard Model that introduces a massive sterile neutrino with couplings to the quark sector via a new gauge boson. In this scenario, the inelastic scattering of an active neutrino with the target material in both DD and SS experiments gives rise to a characteristic nuclear recoil energy spectrum that can allow for the reconstruction of the neutrino mass in the event of a positive detection. We first derive new bounds on this model based on the data from the COHERENT collaboration on CsI and LAr targets, which we find do not yet probe new areas of the parameter space. We then assess how well future SS experiments will be able to measure the sterile neutrino mass and mixings, showing that masses in the range similar to 15 – 50 MeV can be reconstructed. We show that there is a degeneracy in the measurement of the sterile neutrino mixing that substantially affects the reconstruction of parameters for masses of the order of 40 MeV. Thanks to their lower energy threshold and sensitivity to the solar tau neutrino flux, DD experiments allow us to partially lift the degeneracy in the sterile neutrino mixings and considerably improve its mass reconstruction down to 9 MeV. Our results demonstrate the excellent complementarity between DD and SS experiments in measuring the sterile neutrino mass and highlight the power of DD experiments in searching for new physics in the neutrino sector.
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Aristizabal Sierra, D., De Romeri, V., & Papoulias, D. K. (2022). Consequences of the Dresden-II reactor data for the weak mixing angle and new physics. J. High Energy Phys., 09(9), 076–22pp.
Abstract: The Dresden-II reactor experiment has recently reported a suggestive evidence for the observation of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering, using a germanium detector. Given the low recoil energy threshold, these data are particularly interesting for a low-energy determination of the weak mixing angle and for the study of new physics leading to spectral distortions at low momentum transfer. Using two hypotheses for the quenching factor, we study the impact of the data on: (i) The weak mixing angle at a renormalization scale of similar to 10 MeV, (ii) neutrino generalized interactions with light mediators, (iii) the sterile neutrino dipole portal. The results for the weak mixing angle show a strong dependence on the quenching factor choice. Although still with large uncertainties, the Dresden-II data provide for the first time a determination of sin(2)theta(W) at such scale using coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering data. Tight upper limits are placed on the light vector, scalar and tensor mediator scenarios. Kinematic constraints implied by the reactor anti-neutrino flux and the ionization energy threshold allow the sterile neutrino dipole portal to produce up-scattering events with sterile neutrino masses up to similar to 8 MeV. In this context, we find that limits are also sensitive to the quenching factor choice, but in both cases competitive with those derived from XENON1T data and more stringent that those derived with COHERENT data, in the same sterile neutrino mass range.
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Beltran, R., Bolton, P. D., Deppisch, F. F., Hati, C., & Hirsch, M. (2024). Probing heavy neutrino magnetic moments at the LHC using long-lived particle searches. J. High Energy Phys., 07(7), 153–44pp.
Abstract: We explore long-lived particle (LLP) searches using non-pointing photons at the LHC as a probe for sterile-to-sterile and active-to-sterile transition magnetic dipole moments of sterile neutrinos. We consider heavy sterile neutrinos with masses ranging from a few GeV to several hundreds of GeV. We discuss transition magnetic dipole moments using the Standard Model effective field theory and low-energy effective field theory extended by sterile neutrinos (NRSMEFT and NRLEFT) and also provide a simplified UV-complete model example. LLP searches at the LHC using non-pointing photons will probe sterile-to-sterile dipole moments two orders of magnitude below the current best constraints from LEP, while an unprecedented sensitivity to sterile neutrino mass of about 700 GeV is expected for active-to-sterile dipole moments. For the UV model example with one-loop transition magnetic moments, the searches for charged lepton flavour violating processes in synergy with LLP searches at the LHC can probe new physics at several TeV mass scales and provide valuable insights into the lepton flavour structure of new physics couplings.
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Breso-Pla, V., Falkowski, A., Gonzalez-Alonso, M., & Monsalvez-Pozo, K. (2023). EFT analysis of New Physics at COHERENT. J. High Energy Phys., 05(5), 074–53pp.
Abstract: Using an effective field theory approach, we study coherent neutrino scattering on nuclei, in the setup pertinent to the COHERENT experiment. We include non-standard effects both in neutrino production and detection, with an arbitrary flavor structure, with all leading Wilson coefficients simultaneously present, and without assuming factorization in flux times cross section. A concise description of the COHERENT event rate is obtained by introducing three generalized weak charges, which can be associated (in a certain sense) to the production and scattering of nu(e), nu(mu) and (nu) over bar (mu) on the nuclear target. Our results are presented in a convenient form that can be trivially applied to specific New Physics scenarios. In particular, we find that existing COHERENT measurements provide percent level constraints on two combinations of Wilson coefficients. These constraints have a visible impact on the global SMEFT fit, even in the constrained flavor-blind setup. The improvement, which affects certain 4-fermion LLQQ operators, is significantly more important in a flavor-general SMEFT. Our work shows that COHERENT data should be included in electroweak precision studies from now on.
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Centelles Chulia, S., Herrero-Brocal, A., & Vicente, A. (2024). The Type-I Seesaw family. J. High Energy Phys., 07(7), 060–35pp.
Abstract: We provide a comprehensive analysis of the Type-I Seesaw family of neutrino mass models, including the conventional type-I seesaw and its low-scale variants, namely the linear and inverse seesaws. We establish that all these models essentially correspond to a particular form of the type-I seesaw in the context of explicit lepton number violation. We then focus into the more interesting scenario of spontaneous lepton number violation, systematically categorizing all inequivalent minimal models. Furthermore, we identify and flesh out specific models that feature a rich majoron phenomenology and discuss some scenarios which, despite having heavy mediators and being invisible in processes such as μ-> e gamma, predict sizable rates for decays including the majoron in the final state.
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Coloma, P., Esteban, I., Gonzalez-Garcia, M. C., Larizgoitia, L., Monrabal, F., & Palomares-Ruiz, S. (2022). Bounds on new physics with data of the Dresden-II reactor experiment and COHERENT. J. High Energy Phys., 05(5), 037–33pp.
Abstract: Coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering was first experimentally established five years ago by the COHERENT experiment using neutrinos from the spallation neutron source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The first evidence of observation of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering with reactor antineutrinos has now been reported by the Dresden-II reactor experiment, using a germanium detector. In this paper, we present constraints on a variety of beyond the Standard Model scenarios using the new Dresden-II data. In particular, we explore the constraints imposed on neutrino nonstandard interactions, neutrino magnetic moments, and several models with light scalar or light vector mediators. We also quantify the impact of their combination with COHERENT (CsI and Ar) data. In doing so, we highlight the synergies between spallation neutron source and nuclear reactor experiments regarding beyond the Standard Model searches, as well as the advantages of combining data obtained with different nuclear targets. We also study the possible signal from beyond the Standard Model scenarios due to elastic scattering off electrons (which would pass selection cuts of the COHERENT CsI and the Dresden-II experiments) and find more stringent constraints in certain parts of the parameter space than those obtained considering coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering.
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Coloma, P., Gonzalez-Garcia, M. C., Maltoni, M., Pinheiro, J. P., & Urrea, S. (2022). Constraining new physics with Borexino Phase-II spectral data. J. High Energy Phys., 07(7), 138–35pp.
Abstract: We present a detailed analysis of the spectral data of Borexino Phase II, with the aim of exploiting its full potential to constrain scenarios beyond the Standard Model. In particular, we quantify the constraints imposed on neutrino magnetic moments, neutrino non-standard interactions, and several simplified models with light scalar, pseudoscalar or vector mediators. Our analysis shows perfect agreement with those performed by the collaboration on neutrino magnetic moments and neutrino non-standard interactions in the same restricted cases and expands beyond those, stressing the interplay between flavour oscillations and flavour non-diagonal interaction effects for the correct evaluation of the event rates. For simplified models with light mediators we show the power of the spectral data to obtain robust limits beyond those previously estimated in the literature.
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Coloma, P., Gonzalez-Garcia, M. C., Maltoni, M., Pinheiro, J. P., & Urrea, S. (2023). Global constraints on non-standard neutrino interactions with quarks and electrons. J. High Energy Phys., 08(8), 032–42pp.
Abstract: We derive new constraints on effective four-fermion neutrino non-standard interactions with both quarks and electrons. This is done through the global analysis of neutrino oscillation data and measurements of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CE & nu;NS) obtained with different nuclei. In doing so, we include not only the effects of new physics on neutrino propagation but also on the detection cross section in neutrino experiments which are sensitive to the new physics. We consider both vector and axial-vector neutral-current neutrino interactions and, for each case, we include simultaneously all allowed effective operators in flavour space. To this end, we use the most general parametrization for their Wilson coefficients under the assumption that their neutrino flavour structure is independent of the charged fermion participating in the interaction. The status of the LMA-D solution is assessed for the first time in the case of new interactions taking place simultaneously with up quarks, down quarks, and electrons. One of the main results of our work are the presently allowed regions for the effective combinations of non-standard neutrino couplings, relevant for long-baseline and atmospheric neutrino oscillation experiments.
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De Romeri, V., Giunti, C., Stuttard, T., & Ternes, C. A. (2023). Neutrino oscillation bounds on quantum decoherence. J. High Energy Phys., 09(9), 097–24pp.
Abstract: We consider quantum-decoherence effects in neutrino oscillation data. Working in the open quantum system framework we adopt a phenomenological approach that allows to parameterize the energy dependence of the decoherence effects. We consider several phenomenological models. We analyze data from the reactor experiments RENO, Daya Bay and KamLAND and from the accelerator experiments NOvA, MINOS/MINOS+ and T2K. We obtain updated constraints on the decoherence parameters quantifying the strength of damping effects, which can be as low as Gamma ij less than or similar to 8 x 10-27 GeV at 90% confidence level in some cases. We also present sensitivities for the future facilities DUNE and JUNO.
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