We analyze future direct data matter detection experiments using Effective Field Theory (EFT) operators with light, $\lesssim 100$ MeV mass mediators. We compare the nuclear recoil energy spectra from these operators to the predicted high energy solar neutrino spectrum. A set of operators that generate spectra similar to the neutrino background is identified, however this set is distinct from those that mimic the neutrino background for heavy, $\gtrsim 100$ MeV mass mediators. We outline a general classification scheme based on momentum dependence of the dark matter-nucleus interaction to determine how strong the discovery limit for a given operator saturates in the presence of the neutrino background. Our results highlight the benefit of considering a general theoretical framework regarding dark matter, and motivate continued experimental progress towards lower nuclear recoil energy thresholds.
We investigate a scenario where dark matter (DM) particles can be captured and accumulate in the Sun, and subsequently annihilate into a pair of long-lived mediators. These mediators can decay further out in the Sun or outside of the Sun. Compared to the standard scenario where DM particles annihilate directly into Standard Model particles close to the solar core, here we also obtain fluxes of gamma rays and charged cosmic rays. We simulate this scenario using a full three-dimensional model of the Sun, and include interactions and neutrino oscillations. In particular, we perform a model-indepe…
The exciting possibility of detecting supernova, solar, and atmospheric neutrinos with coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering detectors is within reach, opening up new avenues to probe New Physics. We explore the possibility of constraining non-standard coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering through astrophysical neutrinos. Sensitivity bounds on the mass and coupling of the new mediator are obtained by inspecting the modifications induced by the new interaction on the recoil rate observable in the upcoming RES-NOVA and DARWIN facilities. Under the assumption of optimal background tagging, the dete…
We propose a new possibility of using the coherently enhanced neutrino pair emission to probe light-mediator interactions between electron and neutrinos. With typical momentum transfer at the atomic $\mathcal O(1$\,eV) scale, this process is extremely sensitive for the mediator mass range $\mathcal O(10^{-3} \sim 10^4$) eV. The sensitivity on the product of couplings with electron ($g^e$ or $y^e$) and neutrinos ($g^ν$ or $y^ν$) can touch down to $|y^e y^ν| < 10^{-9} \sim 10^{-19}$ for a scalar mediator and $|g^e g^ν| < 10^{-15} \sim 10^{-26}$ for a vector one, with orders of improvement from t…
The sensitivity of direct detection of dark matter (DM) approaches the so-called neutrino floor below which it is hard to disentangle the DM candidate from the background neutrino. In this work we consider the scenario that no DM signals are reported in various DM direct detection experiments and explore whether the collider searches could probe the DM under the neutrino floor. We adopt several simplified models in which the DM candidate couples only to electroweak gauge bosons or leptons in the standard model through high dimensional operators. After including the RGE running effect we invest…
We examine the phenomenology of a simplified model of fermionic dark matter coupled to a light scalar mediator carrying lepton number 2. We find that the mediator can be very light and still consistent with laboratory and cosmological bounds. This model satisfies the thermal relic condition for natural values of dimensionless coupling constants and admits a mediator in the $10 - 100 ~\text{MeV}$ mass range favored by small scale structure observations. As such, this model provides an excellent candidate for self-interacting dark matter.
In this paper, we compute the contribution to the coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering cross section from new physics models in the neutrino sector. We use this information to calculate the maximum value of the so-called neutrino floor for direct dark matter detection experiments, which determines when these detectors are sensitive to the neutrino background. After including all relevant experimental constraints in different simplified neutrino models, we have found that the neutrino floor can increase by various orders of magnitude in the region of dark matter masses below 10 GeV in t…
New light mediators and the neutrino fog: Implications from XENONnT nuclear recoil data
Instituto de Física Corpuscular (IFIC), CSIC-Universitat de Valéncia（粒子物理研究所（IFIC），西班牙科学研究中心-巴伦西亚大学）；Indian Institute of Science Education and Research - Bhopal（印度科学教育与研究学院-博帕尔分校）
Multiple-Mediator-Affected Ultra-High-Energy Neutrino Attenuation: Hints for 5D ${U(1)}_{L_μ- L_τ}$ in IceCube
Space sciences, Technologies and Astrophysics Research (STAR) Institute, Université de Liège（列日大学空间科学、技术与天体物理研究（STAR）研究所）；Department of Physics, Shiv Nadar University（希夫纳达尔大学物理系）
The scotogenic model is the Standard Model (SM) with Z_2 symmetry and the addition of Z_2 odd right-handed Majorana neutrinos and SU(2)_L doublet scalar fields. We have extended the original scotogenic model by an additional Z_2 odd singlet scalar field that plays a role in dark matter. In our model, the asymmetries of the lepton and Z_2 odd doublet scalar are simultaneously produced through CP-violating right-handed neutrino decays. While the former is converted into baryon asymmetry through the sphaleron process, the latter is relaid to the DM density through the decay of SU(2)_L doublet sca…
New physics can emerge at low energy scales, involving very light and very weakly interacting new particles. These particles can mediate interactions between neutrinos and usual matter and contribute to the Wolfenstein potential relevant for neutrino oscillations. We compute the Wolfenstein potential in the presence of ultra-light scalar and vector mediators and study the dependence of the potential on the mediator mass $m_A$, taking the finite size of matter distribution (Earth, Sun, supernovae) into consideration. For ultra-light mediators with $m_{A}^{-1}$ comparable to the size of the medi…
The extension of the standard model with a multiplicative $U(1)_R$ factor is consistent with a light vector boson. In its simplest realization, only right-handed particles carry charges of the new group. In this model, there is a residual $τ_{3R}$ symmetry and one new coupling constant which correlates neutrino interactions. We compute new contributions to antineutrino$-$electron scattering and coherent scattering on nuclei, and compare them with the XENON1T result.
Dark matter (DM) direct detection experiments are entering the multiple-ton era and will be sensitive to the coherent elastic neutrino nucleus scattering (CE$ν$NS) of solar neutrinos, enabling the possibility to explore contributions from new physics with light mediators at the low energy range. In this paper we consider light mediator models (scalar, vector and axial vector) and the corresponding contributions to the solar neutrino CE$ν$NS process. Motivated by the current status of new generation of DM direct detection experiments and the future plan, we study the sensitivity of light mediat…
Towards a complete scheme of cosmological neutrino self-interactions: Collision term for a wide range of mediator masses
Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional（墨西哥国立理工学院高级研究中心）；Secretaría de Ciencia, Humanidades, Tecnología e Innovación（科学、人文、技术与创新秘书处）；Instituto de Ciencias Físicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México（墨西哥国立自治大学物理科学研究所）；Tecnológico de Monterrey, Escuela de Ingeniería y Ciencias（蒙特雷理工学院工程与科学学院）
We present new constraints on three different models, the so-called universal, $B-L$ and $L_μ-L_τ$ models, involving a yet to be observed light vector $Z'$ mediator, by exploiting the recent observation of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CE$ν$NS) in argon and cesium-iodide performed by the COHERENT Collaboration. We compare the results obtained from a combination of the above data sets with the limits derived from searches in fixed target, accelerator, solar neutrino and reactor CE$ν$NS experiments, and with the parameter region that could explain the anomalous magnetic moment of…
The $pp$-chain of nuclear reactions is the primary route for energy production in the Sun. The first step in that reaction sequence converts two protons to a deuterium nucleus with the emission of a positron and electron neutrino. This reaction is extremely slow because it is a weak interaction, and significantly, it involves quantum tunneling through the Coulomb barrier. Though the reaction rate can be calculated with high confidence in the Standard Model, it has not been measured at solar energies. If there exist interactions that are engendered by non-standard mediators then the rate of thi…
Neutrinos offer a window to physics beyond the Standard Model. In particular, high-energy astrophysical neutrinos, with TeV-PeV energies, may provide evidence of new, "secret" neutrino-neutrino interactions that are stronger than ordinary weak interactions. During their propagation over cosmological distances, high-energy neutrinos could interact with the cosmic neutrino background via secret interactions, developing characteristic energy-dependent features in their observed energy distribution. For the first time, we look for signatures of secret neutrino interactions in the diffuse flux of h…
Recently, the XENON1T collaboration reported an excess in the electron recoil energy spectrum. One of the simplest new physics interpretation is a new neutrino-electron interaction mediated by a light vector particle. However, for the parameter region favored by this excess, the constraints from the stellar cooling are severe. Still, there are astrophysical uncertainties on those constraints. In this paper, we discuss the constraint on the light mediator from the effective number of neutrino Neff in the CMB era, which provides an independent constraint. We show that Neff is significantly enhan…
We present the constraints on the parameters of several light boson mediator models obtained from the analysis of the current data of the COHERENT CE$ν$NS experiment. We consider a variety of vector boson mediator models: the so-called universal, the $B-L$ and other anomaly-free $U(1)'$ gauge models with direct couplings of the new vector boson with neutrinos and quarks, and the anomaly-free $L_e-L_μ$, $L_e-L_τ$, and $L_μ-L_τ$ gauge models where the coupling of the new vector boson with the quarks is generated by kinetic mixing with the photon at the one-loop level. We consider also a model wi…
We analyze a model with unbroken B-L gauge symmetry where neutrino masses are generated at one loop, after spontaneous breaking of a global U(1) symmetry. These symmetries ensure dark matter stability and the Diracness of neutrinos. Within this context, we examine fermionic dark matter. Consistency between the required neutrino mass and the observed relic abundance indicates dark matter masses and couplings within the reach of direct detection experiments.
As low-threshold dark matter detectors advance in development, they will become sensitive to recoils from solar neutrinos which opens up the possibility to explore neutrino properties. We predict the enhancement of the event rate of solar neutrino scattering from Beyond the Standard Model interactions in low-threshold DM detectors, with a focus on silicon, germanium, gallium arsenide, xenon, and argon-based detectors. We consider a set of general neutrino interactions, which fall into five categories: the neutrino magnetic moment as well as interactions mediated by four types of mediators (sca…
In this work we analyse the ultimate sensitivity of dark matter direct detection experiments, the "neutrino-floor", in the presence of anomalous sources of dark radiation in form of SM or semi-sterile neutrinos. This flux-component is assumed to be produced from dark matter decay. Since dark radiation may mimic dark matter signals, we perform our analysis based on likelihood statistics that allows to test the distinguishability between signals and backgrounds. We show that the neutrino floor for xenon-based experiments may be lifted in the presence of extra dark radiation. In addition, we expl…
The neutrino floor is a theoretical lower limit on WIMP-like dark matter models that are discoverable in direct detection experiments. It is commonly interpreted as the point at which dark matter signals become hidden underneath a remarkably similar-looking background from neutrinos. However, it has been known for some time that the neutrino floor is not a hard limit, but can be pushed past with sufficient statistics. As a consequence, some have recently advocated for calling it the "neutrino fog" instead. The downside of current methods of deriving the neutrino floor are that they rely on arb…
A simple and elegant mechanism is proposed to resolve the problem of having a light scalar mediator for self-interacting dark matter and the resulting disruption to the cosmic microwave background (CMB) at late times by the former's enhanced Sommerfeld production and decay. The crucial idea is to have Dirac neutrinos with the conservation of U(1) lepton number extended to the dark sector. The simplest scenario consists of scalar or fermion dark matter with unit lepton number accompanied by a light scalar dilepton mediator, which decays to two neutrinos.
We explore the sensitivity to new physics of the recently proposed vIOLETA experiment: a 10 kg Skipper Charged Coupled Device detector deployed 12 meters away from a commercial nuclear reactor core. We investigate two broad classes of models which benefit from the very low energy recoil threshold of these detectors, namely neutrino magnetic moments and light mediators coupled to neutrinos and quarks or electrons. We find that this experimental setup is very sensitive to light, weakly coupled new physics, and in particular that it could probe potential explanations of the event excess observed …
The recent Xenon1T excess can be explained by solar neutrino scattering with electron via a light mediator, either scalar or vector, in addition to many other explanations from the dark sector. Since only the recoil electron is observable, a keV sterile neutrino instead of an active neutrino can appear in the final state. The sterile neutrino allows pseudoscalar mediator to explain the Xenon1T excess which was thought impossible. In addition, nonzero recoil energy lower bound arises from the sterile neutrino mass, which can be used to testify if the sterile neutrino is massive or not. We also …
Future experiments dedicated to the detection of Coherent Elastic Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering may be powerful tools in probing light new physics. In this paper we study the sensitivity on light $Z'$ mediators of two proposed experiments: a directional low pressure Time Projection Chamber detector, $ν$BDX-DRIFT, that will utilize neutrinos produced at the Long Baseline Neutrino Facility, and several possible experiments to be installed at the European Spallation Source. We compare the results obtained with existing limits from fixed-target, accelerator, solar neutrino and reactor experiments. F…
The neutrino floor is a barrier in the parameter space of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) below which discovery is impeded due to an almost irreducible background of neutrinos. Directional gas time projection chambers could discriminate against solar neutrinos, relevant for WIMP masses $\lesssim$10 GeV. At higher masses $\gtrsim$100 GeV the floor is set by the background of atmospheric neutrinos. Probing below this part of the floor would require very large target exposures. Since gas-based detectors would be prohibitively large at this scale, we instead reevaluate the prospects f…
Both neutrinoless double beta decay and leptogenesis require neutrinos to be Majorana fermions. A relation between these two phenomena can be derived once the mechanism of neutrino mass generation is specified. We first derive the constraints on the Majorana phases by minimising the effective neutrino mass in neutrinoless double beta decay with respect to the smallest mass among the light neutrinos. Given these phases, we derive a lower bound on $M_{1}$ (the mass of the lightest of the heavy neutrinos) in the framework of Type-I seesaw mechanism, subject to the constraint that the CP asymmetry…
Ultra High Energy cosmogenic neutrinos may represent a unique opportunity to unveil possible new physics interactions once restricted to the neutrino sector only. In the present paper we study the observable effects of a secret active-sterile interactions, mediated by a pseudoscalar, on the expected flux of cosmogenic neutrinos. The results show that for masses of sterile neutrinos and pseudoscalars of hundreds MeV, necessary to evade cosmological, astrophysical and elementary particle constraints, the presence of such new interactions can significantly change the energy spectrum of cosmogenic…
The observation of the coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CE$ν$NS) provides us opportunities to explore a wide class of new physics. In the Standard Model (SM), the CE$ν$NS process arises from the vector and axial-vector neutral currents through the exchange of $Z$ boson and the axial-vector current contribution turns out to be subdominant. It is thus natural to consider the extra contributions to CE$ν$NS from more generic new physics beyond the SM with (axial-)vector interactions associated with a new vector mediator $Z'$. Besides the ordinary CE$ν$NS, the active neutrinos can conv…
In this paper we investigate impacts of non-standard neutrino interactions (NSIs) to the limitations on the discovery potential of dark matter in direct detection experiments. New neutrino floors are derived taking into account current upper bounds on the effective couplings of various NSIs. Our study shows that the neutrino floors of the standard model neutral current interactions can be significantly changed in the presence of vector-current NSI and scalar-current NSI, and the neutrino floors can be raised up to about ${\cal O}(20\%)$ in the presence of pseudo-scalar-current NSI, and there a…
Testing light and heavy vector mediators with solar CE$ν$NS measurements
Instituto de Física Corpuscular (IFIC), CSIC‐Universitat de Valéncia（粒子物理研究所（IFIC），西班牙科学委员会-瓦伦西亚大学）；University of Hamburg（汉堡大学）；Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso（意大利国家核物理研究所（INFN），格兰萨索国家实验室）；Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México（墨西哥国立自治大学）；Gran Sasso Science Institute（格兰萨索科学研究所）
