Search

Abstract The tau neutrino is the least well measured particle in the Standard Model. Most notably, the tau neutrino row of the lepton mixing matrix is quite poorly constrained when unitarity is not assumed. In this paper, we identify data sets involving tau neutrinos that improve our understanding of the tau neutrino part of the mixing matrix, in particular ν τ appearance in atmospheric neutrinos. We present new results on the elements of the tau row leveraging existing constraints on the electron and muon rows for the cases of unitarity violation, with and without kinematically accessible steriles. We also show the expected sensitivity due to upcoming experiments and demonstrate that the tau neutrino row precision may be comparable to the muon neutrino row in a careful combined fit.

Abstract The recent XENON1T excess can be explained by the solar active-sterile neutrino conversion with bound electrons via light mediator. Nevertheless, the atomic effects are usually omitted in the solar neutrino explanations. We systematically establish a second quantization formalism for both bound and ionized electrons to account for the atomic effects. This formalism is of great generality to incorporate various interactions for both neutrino and dark matter scatterings. Our calculation shows that the change in the cross section due to atomic effects can have important impact on the differential cross section. It is necessary to include atomic effects in the low-energy electron recoil signal at dark matter direct detection experiments even for energetic solar neutrinos. With the best-fit values to the XENON1T data, we also project the event rate at PandaX-4T, XENONnT, and LZ experiments.

Abstract In this paper we show that the DUNE experiment can measure the Earth’s density profile by analyzing atmospheric neutrino oscillations. The crucial feature that enables such measurement is the detailed event reconstruction capability of liquid argon time projection chambers. This allows for studying the sub-GeV atmospheric neutrino component, which bears a rich oscillation phenomenology, strongly dependent on the matter potential sourced by the Earth. We provide a pedagogical discussion of the MSW and parametric resonances and their role in measuring the core and mantle densities. By performing a detailed simulation, accounting for particle reconstruction at DUNE, nuclear physics effects relevant to neutrino-argon interactions and several uncertainties on the atmospheric neutrino flux, we manage to obtain a robust estimate of DUNE’s sensitivity to the Earth matter profile. We find that DUNE can measure the total mass of the Earth at 9.3% precision with an exposure of 400 kton-year. By accounting for previous measurements of the total mass and moment of inertia of the Earth, the core, lower mantle and upper mantle densities can be determined with 9%, 14% and 22% precision, respectively, for the same exposure. Finally, for a low exposure run of 60 kton-year, which would correspond to two far detectors running for three years, we have found that the core density could be measured by DUNE at ∼ 30% precision.

Abstract Sterile neutrinos with keV-MeV masses and non-zero transition magnetic moments can be probed through low-energy nuclear or electron recoil measurements. Here we determine the sensitivities of current and future searches, showing how they can probe a previously unexplored parameter region. Future coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEνNS) or elastic neutrino-electron scattering (EνES) experiments using a monochromatic 51Cr source can fully probe the region indicated by the recent XENON1T excess.

Abstract The Iron Calorimeter (ICAL) detector at the proposed India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) aims to detect atmospheric neutrinos and antineutrinos separately in the multi-GeV range of energies and over a wide range of baselines. By utilizing its charge identification capability, ICAL can efficiently distinguish μ − and μ + events. Atmospheric neutrinos passing long distances through Earth can be detected at ICAL with good resolution in energy and direction, which enables ICAL to see the density-dependent matter oscillations experienced by upward-going neutrinos in the multi-GeV range of energies. In this work, we explore the possibility of utilizing neutrino oscillations in the presence of matter to extract information about the internal structure of Earth complementary to seismic studies. Using good directional resolution, ICAL would be able to observe 331 μ − and 146 μ + core-passing events with 500 kt·yr exposure. With this exposure, we show for the first time that the presence of Earth’s core can be independently confirmed at ICAL with a median ∆χ 2 of 7.45 (4.83) assuming normal (inverted) mass ordering by ruling out the simple two-layered mantle-crust profile in theory while generating the prospective data with the PREM profile. We observe that in the absence of charge identification capability of ICAL, this sensitivity deteriorates significantly to 3.76 (1.59) for normal (inverted) mass ordering.

Abstract The millicharged particle has become an attractive topic to probe physics beyond the Standard Model. In direct detection experiments, the parameter space of millicharged particles can be constrained from the atomic ionization process. In this work, we develop the relativistic impulse approximation (RIA) approach, which can duel with atomic many-body effects effectively, in the atomic ionization process induced by millicharged particles. The formulation of RIA in the atomic ionization induced by millicharged particles is derived, and the numerical calculations are obtained and compared with those from free electron approximation and equivalent photon approximation. Concretely, the atomic ionizations induced by mllicharged dark matter particles and millicharged neutrinos in high-purity germanium (HPGe) and liquid xenon (LXe) detectors are carefully studied in this work. The differential cross sections, reaction event rates in HPGe and LXe detectors, and detecting sensitivities on dark matter particle and neutrino millicharge in next-generation HPGe and LXe based experiments are estimated and calculated to give a comprehensive study. Our results suggested that the next-generation experiments would improve 2-3 orders of magnitude on dark matter particle millicharge δ χ than the current best experimental bounds in direct detection experiments. Furthermore, the next-generation experiments would also improve 2-3 times on neutrino millicharge δ ν than the current experimental bounds.

Abstract Neutrino flavour transmutations in nonuniform matter are described by a Schrödinger-like evolution equation with coordinate-dependent potential. In all the derivations of this equation it is assumed that the potential, which is due to coherent forward scattering of neutrinos on matter constituents, is a continuous function of coordinate that changes slowly over the distances of the order of the neutrino de Broglie wavelength. This tacitly assumes that some averaging of the microscopic potential (which takes into account the discrete nature of the scatterers) has been performed. The averaging, however, must be applied to the microscopic evolution equation as a whole and not just to the potential. Such an averaging has never been explicitly carried out. We fill this gap by considering the transition from the microscopic to macroscopic neutrino evolution equation through a proper averaging procedure. We discuss some subtleties related to this procedure and establish the applicability domain of the standard macroscopic evolution equation. This, in particular, allows us to answer the question of when neutrino propagation in rarefied media (such as e.g. low-density gases or interstellar or intergalactic media) can be considered within the standard theory of neutrino flavour evolution in matter.

Abstract We quantify the effect of gauge bosons from a weakly coupled lepton flavor dependent U(1)′ interaction on the matter background in the evolution of solar, atmospheric, reactor and long-baseline accelerator neutrinos in the global analysis of oscillation data. The analysis is performed for interaction lengths ranging from the Sun-Earth distance to effective contact neutrino interactions. We survey ∼ 10000 set of models characterized by the six relevant fermion U(1)′ charges and find that in all cases, constraints on the coupling and mass of the Z′ can be derived. We also find that about 5% of the U(1)′ model charges lead to a viable LMA-D solution but this is only possible in the contact interaction limit. We explicitly quantify the constraints for a variety of models including U 1 B − 3 L e $$ \mathrm{U}{(1)}_{B-3{L}_e} $$ , U 1 B − 3 L μ $$ \mathrm{U}{(1)}_{B-3{L}_{\mu }} $$ , U 1 B − 3 L τ $$ \mathrm{U}{(1)}_{B-3{L}_{\tau }} $$ , U 1 B − 3 2 L μ + L τ $$ \mathrm{U}{(1)}_{B-\frac{3}{2}\left({L}_{\mu }+{L}_{\tau}\right)} $$ , U 1 L e − L μ $$ \mathrm{U}{(1)}_{L_e-{L}_{\mu }} $$ , U 1 L e − L τ $$ \mathrm{U}{(1)}_{L_e-{L}_{\tau }} $$ , U 1 L e − 1 2 L μ + L τ $$ \mathrm{U}{(1)}_{L_e-\frac{1}{2}\left({L}_{\mu }+{L}_{\tau}\right)} $$ . We compare the constraints imposed by our oscillation analysis with the strongest bounds from fifth force searches, violation of equivalence principle as well as bounds from scattering experiments and white dwarf cooling. Our results show that generically, the oscillation analysis improves over the existing bounds from gravity tests for Z′ lighter than ∼ 10 −8 → 10 −11 eV depending on the specific couplings. In the contact interaction limit, we find that for most models listed above there are values of g′ and M Z′ for which the oscillation analysis provides constraints beyond those imposed by laboratory experiments. Finally we illustrate the range of Z′ and couplings leading to a viable LMA-D solution for two sets of models.

The tau neutrino is the least well measured particle in the Standard Model. Most notably, the tau neutrino row of the lepton mixing matrix is quite poorly constrained when unitarity is not assumed. In this paper, we identify data sets involving tau neutrinos that improve our understanding of the tau neutrino part of the mixing matrix, in particular ντ appearance in atmospheric neutrinos. We present new results on the elements of the tau row leveraging existing constraints on the electron and muon rows for the cases of unitarity violation, with and without kinematically accessible steriles. We also show the expected sensitivity due to upcoming experiments and demonstrate that the tau neutrino row precision may be comparable to the muon neutrino row in a careful combined fit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we show that the DUNE experiment can measure the Earth's density profile by analyzing atmospheric neutrino oscillations. The crucial feature that enables such measurement is the detailed event reconstruction capability of liquid argon time projection chambers. This allows for studying the sub-GeV atmospheric neutrino component, which bears a rich oscillation phenomenology, strongly dependent on the matter potential sourced by the Earth. We provide a pedagogical discussion of the MSW and parametric resonances and their role in measuring the core and mantle densities. By performing a detailed simulation, accounting for particle reconstruction at DUNE, nuclear physics effects relevant to neutrino-argon interactions and several uncertainties on the atmospheric neutrino flux, we manage to obtain a robust estimate of DUNE's sensitivity to the Earth matter profile. We find that DUNE can measure the total mass of the Earth at 9.3% precision with an exposure of 400 kton-year. By accounting for previous measurements of the total mass and moment of inertia of the Earth, the core, lower mantle and upper mantle densities can be determined with 9%, 14% and 22% precision, respectively, for the same exposure. Finally, for a low exposure run of 60 kton-year, which would correspond to two far detectors running for three years, we have found that the core density could be measured by DUNE at ∼ 30% precision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent XENON1T excess can be explained by the solar active-sterile neutrino conversion with bound electrons via light mediator. Nevertheless, the atomic effects are usually omitted in the solar neutrino explanations. We systematically establish a second quantization formalism for both bound and ionized electrons to account for the atomic effects. This formalism is of great generality to incorporate various interactions for both neutrino and dark matter scatterings. Our calculation shows that the change in the cross section due to atomic effects can have important impact on the differential cross section. It is necessary to include atomic effects in the low-energy electron recoil signal at dark matter direct detection experiments even for energetic solar neutrinos. With the best-fit values to the XENON1T data, we also project the event rate at PandaX-4T, XENONnT, and LZ experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract With large active volume sizes dark matter direct detection experiments are sensitive to solar neutrino fluxes. Nuclear recoil signals are induced by 8B neutrinos, while electron recoils are mainly generated by the pp flux. Measurements of both processes offer an opportunity to test neutrino properties at low thresholds with fairly low backgrounds. In this paper we study the sensitivity of these experiments to neutrino magnetic dipole moments assuming 1, 10 and 40 tonne active volumes (representative of XENON1T, XENONnT and DARWIN), 0.3 keV and 1 keV thresholds. We show that with nuclear recoil measurements alone a 40 tonne detector could be as competitive as Borexino, TEXONO and GEMMA, with sensitivities of order 8.0 × 10 −11 μ B at the 90% CL after one year of data taking. Electron recoil measurements will increase sensitivities way below these values allowing to test regions not excluded by astrophysical arguments. Using electron recoil data and depending on performance, the same detector will be able to explore values down to 4.0 × 10 −12 μ B at the 90% CL in one year of data taking. By assuming a 200-tonne liquid xenon detector operating during 10 years, we conclude that sensitivities in this type of detectors will be of order 10 −12 μ B . Reducing statistical uncertainties may enable improving sensitivities below these values.

Abstract Models of gauged U 1 L μ − L τ $$ \mathrm{U}{(1)}_{L_{\mu }-{L}_{\tau }} $$ can provide a solution to the long-standing discrepancy between the theoretical prediction for the muon anomalous magnetic moment and its measured value. The extra contribution is due to a new light vector mediator, which also helps to alleviate an existing tension in the determination of the Hubble parameter. In this article, we explore ways to probe this solution via the scattering of solar neutrinos with electrons and nuclei in a range of experiments and considering high and low solar metallicity scenarios. In particular, we reevaluate Borexino constraints on neutrino-electron scattering, finding them to be more stringent than previously reported, and already excluding a part of the (g − 2) μ explanation with mediator masses smaller than 2 × 10 −2 GeV. We then show that future direct dark matter detectors will be able to probe most of the remaining solution. Due to its large exposure, LUX-ZEPLIN will explore regions with mediator masses up to 5 × 10 −2 GeV and DARWIN will be able to extend the search beyond 10 −1 GeV, thereby covering most of the area compatible with (g − 2) μ . For completeness, we have also computed the constraints derived from the recent XENON1T electron recoil search and from the CENNS-10 LAr detector, showing that none of them excludes new areas of the parameter space. Should the excess in the muon anomalous magnetic moment be confirmed, our work suggests that direct detection experiments could provide crucial information with which to test the U 1 L μ − L τ $$ \mathrm{U}{(1)}_{L_{\mu }-{L}_{\tau }} $$ solution, complementary to efforts in neutrino experiments and accelerators.

Abstract Neutrino non-standard interactions (NSI) with the first generation of standard model fermions can span a parameter space of large dimension and exhibit degeneracies that cannot be broken by a single class of experiment. Oscillation experiments, together with neutrino scattering experiments, can merge their observations into a highly informational dataset to combat this problem. We consider combining neutrino-electron and neutrino-nucleus scattering data from the Borexino and COHERENT experiments, including a projection for the upcoming coherent neutrino scattering measurement at the CENNS-10 liquid argon detector. We extend the reach of these data sets over the NSI parameter space with projections for neutrino scattering at a future multi-ton scale dark matter detector and future oscillation measurements from atmospheric neutrinos at the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE). In order to perform this global anal- ysis, we adopt a novel approach using the copula method, utilized to combine posterior information from different experiments with a large, generalized set of NSI parameters. We find that the contributions from DUNE and a dark matter detector to the Borexino and COHERENT fits can improve constraints on the electron and quark NSI parameters by up to a factor of 2 to 3, even when relatively many NSI parameters are left free to vary in the analysis.

Abstract Our herein described combined analysis of the latest neutrino oscillation data presented at the Neutrino2020 conference shows that previous hints for the neutrino mass ordering have significantly decreased, and normal ordering (NO) is favored only at the 1.6σ level. Combined with the χ 2 map provided by Super-Kamiokande for their atmospheric neutrino data analysis the hint for NO is at 2.7σ. The CP conserving value δ CP = 180° is within 0.6σ of the global best fit point. Only if we restrict to inverted mass ordering, CP violation is favored at the ∼ 3σ level. We discuss the origin of these results — which are driven by the new data from the T2K and NOvA long-baseline experiments —, and the relevance of the LBL-reactor oscillation frequency complementarity. The previous 2.2σ tension in ∆m 2 21 preferred by KamLAND and solar experiments is also reduced to the 1.1σ level after the inclusion of the latest Super-Kamiokande solar neutrino results. Finally we present updated allowed ranges for the oscillation parameters and for the leptonic Jarlskog determinant from the global analysis.

Abstract Right-handed neutrinos (ν R ) are often considered as a portal to new hidden physics. It is tempting to consider a gauge singlet scalar (ϕ) that exclusively couples to ν R via a ν R ν Rϕ term. Such a ν R -philic scalar does not interact with charged fermions at tree level but loop-induced effective interactions are inevitable, which are systematically investigated in this work. The magnitude of the loop-induced couplings coincidentally meets the current sensitivity of fifth-force searches. In particular, the loop-induced coupling to muons could be tested in the recent LIGO observations of neutron star mergers as there might be a sizable Yukawa force in the binary system mediated by the ν R -philic scalar.

Sterile neutrinos with keV-MeV masses and non-zero transition magnetic moments can be probed through low-energy nuclear or electron recoil measurements. Here we determine the sensitivities of current and future searches, showing how they can probe a previously unexplored parameter region. Future coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEνNS) or elastic neutrino-electron scattering (EνES) experiments using a monochromatic 51Cr source can fully probe the region indicated by the recent XENON1T excess. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract New physics in neutrino sector can reveal itself via non-standard neutrino in- teractions which can result in modification of the standard picture of neutrino propagation in matter. Experiments with atmospheric neutrinos has been used to probe this scenario. Using publicly available three-year low energy data in IceCube DeepCore we place bounds on the parameters E αβ of non-standard neutrino interactions in propagation. We obtain re- strictive constraints not only for μτ sector but also for flavor changing interactions involving electron neutrinos.

Abstract Long-lived particles are predicted in extensions of the Standard Model that involve relatively light but very weakly interacting sectors. In this paper we consider the possibility that some of these particles are produced in atmospheric cosmic ray showers, and their decay intercepted by neutrino detectors such as IceCube or Super-Kamiokande. We present the methodology and evaluate the sensitivity of these searches in various scenarios, including extensions with heavy neutral leptons in models of massive neutrinos, models with an extra U(1) gauge symmetry, and a combination of both in a U(1) B−L model. Our results are shown as a function of the production rate and the lifetime of the corresponding long-lived particles.

Abstract We perform a global fit to neutrino oscillation and coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering data, using both timing and energy information from the COHERENT experiment. The results are used to set model-independent bounds on four-fermion effective operators inducing non-standard neutral-current neutrino interactions. We quantify the allowed ranges for their Wilson coefficients, as well as the status of the LMA-D solution, for a wide class of new physics models with arbitrary ratios between the strength of the operators involving up and down quarks. Our results are presented for the COHERENT experiment alone, as well as in combination with the global data from oscillation experiments. We also quantify the dependence of our results for COHERENT with respect to the choice of quenching factor, nuclear form factor, and the treatment of the backgrounds.

Abstract Simultaneous treatment of neutrino oscillations and collisions in astrophysical environments requires the use of (quantum) kinetic equations. Despite major advances in the field of quantum kinetics, the structure of the kinetic equations and their consistency with the uncertainty principle are still debated. The goals of the present work are threefold. First, it clarifies the structure of the Liouville term in the presence of mixing. Second, we derive evolution equation for neutrinos propagating in vacuum or matter from the Schrödinger equation and show that in the relativistic limit its form matches the form of the (collisionless part of the) kinetic equation derived by Sigl and Raffelt. Third, by constructing solutions of the evolution equation from the known solutions of the Schrödinger equation, we show that the former also admits solutions consistent with the uncertainty principle and accounts for neutrino wave packet separation. The obtained results speak in favor of a (quantum) kinetic approach to the analysis of neutrino propagation in exploding supernovae where neutrino oscillations and collisions, as well as the effect of wave packet separation, might be equally important.

Abstract 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 $$ {m}_A^{-1} $$ comparable to the size of the medium (R), the usual m A − 2 $$ {m}_A^{-2} $$ dependence of the potential is modified. In particular, when m A − 1 $$ {m}_A^{-1} $$ ≫ R, the potential does not depend on m A . Taking into account existing bounds on light mediators, we find that for the scalar case significant effects on neutrino propagation are not possible, while for the vector case large matter effects are allowed for m A ∈ [2 × 10 −17, 4 × 10 −14] eV and the gauge coupling g ∼ 10 −25.

Abstract We explore the potential of current and next generation of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEνNS) experiments in probing neutrino electromagnetic interactions. On the basis of a thorough statistical analysis, we determine the sensitivities on each component of the Majorana neutrino transition magnetic moment (TMM), |Λ i |, that follow from low-energy neutrino-nucleus experiments. We derive the sensitivity to neutrino TMM from the first CEνNS measurement by the COHERENT experiment, at the Spallation Neutron Source. We also present results for the next phases of COHERENT using HPGe, LAr and NaI[Tl] detectors and for reactor neutrino experiments such as CONUS, CONNIE, MINER, TEXONO and RED100. The role of the CP violating phases in each case is also briefly discussed. We conclude that future CEνNS experiments with low-threshold capabilities can improve current TMM limits obtained from Borexino data.

Abstract We perform a global analysis of neutrino data in the framework of three massive neutrinos with non-standard neutrino interactions which affect their evolution in the matter background. We focus on the effect of NSI in the present observables sensitive to leptonic CP violation and to the mass ordering. We consider complex neutral current neutrino interactions with quarks whose lepton-flavor structure is independent of the quark type. We quantify the status of the “hints” for CP violation, the mass-ordering and non-maximality of θ 23 in these scenarios. We also present a parametrization-invariant formalism for leptonic CP violation in presence of a generalized matter potential induced by NSI.

Abstract The standard model coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEνNS) cross section is subject to nuclear form factor uncertainties, mainly driven by the root-mean-square radius of the neutron density distribution. Motivated by COHERENT phases I-III and future multi-ton direct detection dark matter searches, we evaluate these uncertainties in cesium iodide, germanium, xenon and argon detectors. We find that the uncertainties become relevant for momentum transfers q ≳ 20 MeV and are essentially independent of the form factor parameterization. Consequently, form factor uncertainties are not important for CEνNS induced by reactor or solar neutrinos. Taking into account these uncertainties, we then evaluate their impact on measurements of CEνNS at COHERENT, the diffuse supernova background (DSNB) neutrinos and sub-GeV atmospheric neutrinos. We also calculate the relative uncertainties in the number of COHERENT events for different nuclei as a function of recoil energy. For DSNB and atmospheric neutrinos, event rates at a liquid argon detector can be uncertain to more than 5%. Finally, we consider the impact of form factor uncertainties on searches for nonstandard neutrino interactions, sterile neutrinos and neutrino generalized interactions. We point out that studies of new physics using CEνNS data are affected by neutron form factor uncertainties, which if not properly taken into account may lead to the misidentification of new physics signals. The uncertainties quantified here are also relevant for dark matter direct detection searches.

Abstract We propose a μ − τ reflection symmetric Littlest Seesaw (μτ -LSS) model. In this model the two mass parameters of the LSS model are fixed to be in a special ratio by symmetry, so that the resulting neutrino mass matrix in the flavour basis (after the seesaw mechanism has been applied) satisfies μ − τ reflection symmetry and has only one free adjustable parameter, namely an overall free mass scale. However the physical low energy predictions of the neutrino masses and lepton mixing angles and CP phases are subject to renormalisation group (RG) corrections, which introduces further parameters. Although the high energy model is rather complicated, involving (S 4 × U(1))2 and supersymmetry, with many flavons and driving fields, the low energy neutrino mass matrix has ultimate simplicity.

Abstract We consider a new Weinberg operator for neutrino mass of the form H u H ˜ d L i L j $$ {H}_u{\tilde{H}}_d{L}_i{L}_j $$ involving two different Higgs doublets H u , H d with opposite hypercharge, where H ˜ s d $$ \tilde{H}{s}_d $$ is the charge conjugated doublet. It may arise from a model where the two Higgs doublets carry the same charge under a U(1)′ gauge group which forbids the usual Weinberg operator but allows the mixed one. The new Weinberg operator may be generated via two right-handed neutrinos oppositely charged under the U(1)′, which may be identified as components of a fourth vector-like family in a complete model. Such a version of the type I seesaw model, which we refer to as type Ib to distinguish it from the usual type Ia seesaw mechanism which yields the usual Weinberg operator, allows the possibility of having potentially large violations of unitarity of the leptonic mixing matrix whose bounds we explore. We also consider the relaxation of the unitarity bounds due to the further addition of a single right-handed neutrino, neutral under U(1)′, yielding a usual type Ia seesaw contribution.

The Iron Calorimeter (ICAL) detector at the proposed India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) aims to detect atmospheric neutrinos and antineutrinos separately in the multi-GeV range of energies and over a wide range of baselines. By utilizing its charge identification capability, ICAL can efficiently distinguish μ− and μ+ events. Atmospheric neutrinos passing long distances through Earth can be detected at ICAL with good resolution in energy and direction, which enables ICAL to see the density-dependent matter oscillations experienced by upward-going neutrinos in the multi-GeV range of energies. In this work, we explore the possibility of utilizing neutrino oscillations in the presence of matter to extract information about the internal structure of Earth complementary to seismic studies. Using good directional resolution, ICAL would be able to observe 331 μ− and 146 μ+ core-passing events with 500 kt·yr exposure. With this exposure, we show for the first time that the presence of Earth's core can be independently confirmed at ICAL with a median ∆χ2 of 7.45 (4.83) assuming normal (inverted) mass ordering by ruling out the simple two-layered mantle-crust profile in theory while generating the prospective data with the PREM profile. We observe that in the absence of charge identification capability of ICAL, this sensitivity deteriorates significantly to 3.76 (1.59) for normal (inverted) mass ordering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We develop a formalism for constructing the Pontecorvo-Maki-Nakagawa-Sakata (PMNS) matrix and neutrino masses using an expansion that originates when a sequence of heavy right handed neutrinos are integrated out, assuming a seesaw mechanism for the origin of neutrino masses. The expansion establishes relationships between the structure of the PMNS matrix and the mass differences of neutrinos, and allows symmetry implications for measured deviations from tri-bimaximal form to be studied systematically. Our approach does not depend on choosing the rotation between the weak and mass eigenstates of the charged lepton fields to be diagonal. We comment on using this expansion to examine the symmetry implications of the recent results from the Daya-Bay collaboration reporting the discovery of a non zero value for θ13, indicating a deviation from tri-bimaximal form, with a significance of 5.2σ.

Abstract Recent IceCube search results for sterile neutrino increased tension between the combined appearance and disappearance experiments. On the other hand, MiniBooNE latest data confirms at 4.9σ CL the short-baseline oscillation anomaly. We analyze published IceCube data based on two different active-sterile mixing schemes using one additional sterile neutrino flavor. We present exclusion regions in the parameter ranges 0.01 ≤ sin2 θ 24 ≤ 0.1 and 0.1 eV2 ≤ Δm 42 2 ≤ 10 eV2 for the mass-mixing and flavor-mixing schemes. Under the more conservative mass-mixing scheme, 3σ CL allowed regions for the appearance experiment and MiniBooNE latest result are excluded at ≳ 3σ CL. In case of less-restrictive flavor-mixing scheme, results from the appearance experiments are excluded at ≳ 2σ CL. We also find that including prompt component of the atmospheric neutrino flux relaxes constraints on sterile mixing for Δm 42 2 ≳ 1 eV2.

Abstract We present the results of a global analysis of the neutrino oscillation data available as of fall 2018 in the framework of three massive mixed neutrinos with the goal at determining the ranges of allowed values for the six relevant parameters. We describe the complementarity and quantify the tensions among the results of the different data samples contributing to the determination of each parameter. We also show how those vary when combining our global likelihood with the χ 2 map provided by Super-Kamiokande for their atmospheric neutrino data analysis in the same framework. The best fit of the analysis is for the normal mass ordering with inverted ordering being disfavoured with a Δχ 2 = 4.7 (9.3) without (with) SK-atm. We find a preference for the second octant of θ 23, disfavouring the first octant with Δχ 2 = 4.4 (6.0) without (with) SK-atm. The best fit for the complex phase is δ CP = 215° with CP conservation being allowed at Δχ 2 = 1.5 (1.8). As a byproduct we quantify the correlated ranges for the laboratory observables sensitive to the absolute neutrino mass scale in beta decay, m ν e $$ {m}_{\nu_e} $$ , and neutrino-less double beta decay, m ee , and the total mass of the neutrinos, Σ, which is most relevant in Cosmology.

Abstract We investigate the prompt neutrino background at IceCube, as determined from forward charm. We consider the role of intrinsic charm and of a recombination model and show that the contribution of these mechanisms is at most a factor two.

Abstract We study the phenomenological implications of the modular symmetry Γ(3) ≃ A 4 of lepton flavors facing recent experimental data of neutrino oscillations. The mass matrices of neutrinos and charged leptons are essentially given by fixing the expectation value of modulus τ, which is the only source of modular invariance breaking. We introduce no flavons in contrast with the conventional flavor models with A 4 symmetry. We classify our neutrino models along with the type I seesaw model, the Weinberg operator model and the Dirac neutrino model. In the normal hierarchy of neutrino masses, the seesaw model is available by taking account of recent experimental data of neutrino oscillations and the cosmological bound of sum of neutrino masses. The predicted sin2 θ 23 is restricted to be larger than 0.54 and δ CP = ±(50°-180°). Since the correlation of sin2 θ 23 and δ CP is sharp, the prediction is testable in the future. It is remarkable that the effective mass m ee of the neutrinoless double beta decay is around 22 meV while the sum of neutrino masses is predicted to be 145 meV. On the other hand, for the inverted hierarchy of neutrino masses, only the Dirac neutrino model is consistent with the experimental data.

Abstract We show that the four high-energy Littlest Seesaw parameters in the flavour basis, namely two real Yukawa couplings plus the two right-handed neutrino masses, can be determined by an excellent fit to the seven currently constrained observables of low-energy neutrino data and leptogenesis. Taking into account renormalisation group corrections, we estimate χ 2 ≃ 1.5-2.6 for the three d.o.f., depending on the high-energy scale and the type of non-supersymmetric Littlest Seesaw model. We extract allowed ranges of neutrino parameters from our fit data, including the approximate mu-tau symmetric predictions θ 23 = 45° ± 1° and δ = −90° ± 5°, which, together with a normal mass ordering with m 1 = 0, will enable Littlest Seesaw models to be tested in future neutrino experiments.

Abstract We quantify our present knowledge of the size and flavor structure of non-standard neutrino interactions which affect the matter background in the evolution of solar, atmospheric, reactor and long-baseline accelerator neutrinos as determined by a global analysis of oscillation data — both alone and in combination with the results on coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering from the COHERENT experiment. We consider general neutral current neutrino interactions with quarks whose lepton-flavor structure is independent of the quark type. We study the dependence of the allowed ranges of non-standard interaction coefficients, the status of the LMA-D solution, and the determination of the oscillation parameters on the relative strength of the non-standard couplings to up and down quarks. Generically we find that the conclusions are robust for a broad spectrum of up-to-down strengths, and we identify and quantify the exceptional cases related to couplings whose effect in neutrino propagation in the Earth or in the Sun is severely suppressed. As a result of the study we provide explicit constraints on the effective couplings which parametrize the non-standard Earth matter potential relevant for long-baseline experiments.

Abstract The detection of coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering by the COHERENT collaboration has set on quantitative grounds the existence of an irreducible neutrino background in direct detection searches of Weakly Interacting Massive Dark Matter candidates. This background leads to an ultimate discovery limit for these experiments: a minimum Dark Matter interaction cross section below which events produced by the coherent neutrino scattering will mimic the Dark Matter signal, the so-called neutrino floor. In this work we study the modification of such neutrino floor induced by non-standard neutrino interactions within their presently allowed values by the global analysis of oscillation and COHERENT data. By using the full likelihood information of such global analysis we consistently account for the correlated effects of non-standard neutrino interactions both in the neutrino propagation in matter and in its interaction in the detector. We quantify their impact on the neutrino floor for five future experiments: DARWIN (Xe), ARGO (Ar), Super-CDMS HV (Ge and Si) and CRESST phase III (CaWO4). Quantitatively, we find that non-standard neutrino interactions allowed at the 3σ level can result in an increase of the neutrino floor of up to a factor ∼ 5 with respect to the Standard Model expectations and impact the expected sensitivities of the ARGO, CRESST phase III and DARWIN experiments.

Abstract Couplings between light scalar dark matter (DM) and neutrinos induce a perturbation to the neutrino mass matrix. If the DM oscillation period is smaller than ten minutes (or equivalently, the DM particle is heavier than 0.69×10−17 eV), the fast-averaging over an oscillation cycle leads to a modification of the measured oscillation parameters. We present a specific μ − τ symmetric model in which the measured value of θ 13 is entirely generated by the DM interaction, and which reproduces the other measured oscillation parameters. For a scalar DM particle lighter than 10−15 eV, adiabatic solar neutrino propagation is maintained. A suppression of the sensitivity to CP violation at long baseline neutrino experiments is predicted in this model. We find that DUNE cannot exclude the DM scenario at more than 3σ C.L. for bimaximal, tribimaximal and hexagonal mixing, while JUNO can rule it out at more than 6σ C.L. by precisely measuring both θ 12 and θ 13.

The millicharged particle has become an attractive topic to probe physics beyond the Standard Model. In direct detection experiments, the parameter space of millicharged particles can be constrained from the atomic ionization process. In this work, we develop the relativistic impulse approximation (RIA) approach, which can duel with atomic many-body effects effectively, in the atomic ionization process induced by millicharged particles. The formulation of RIA in the atomic ionization induced by millicharged particles is derived, and the numerical calculations are obtained and compared with those from free electron approximation and equivalent photon approximation. Concretely, the atomic ionizations induced by mllicharged dark matter particles and millicharged neutrinos in high-purity germanium (HPGe) and liquid xenon (LXe) detectors are carefully studied in this work. The differential cross sections, reaction event rates in HPGe and LXe detectors, and detecting sensitivities on dark matter particle and neutrino millicharge in next-generation HPGe and LXe based experiments are estimated and calculated to give a comprehensive study. Our results suggested that the next-generation experiments would improve 2-3 orders of magnitude on dark matter particle millicharge δχ than the current best experimental bounds in direct detection experiments. Furthermore, the next-generation experiments would also improve 2-3 times on neutrino millicharge δν than the current experimental bounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neutrino flavour transmutations in nonuniform matter are described by a Schrödinger-like evolution equation with coordinate-dependent potential. In all the derivations of this equation it is assumed that the potential, which is due to coherent forward scattering of neutrinos on matter constituents, is a continuous function of coordinate that changes slowly over the distances of the order of the neutrino de Broglie wavelength. This tacitly assumes that some averaging of the microscopic potential (which takes into account the discrete nature of the scatterers) has been performed. The averaging, however, must be applied to the microscopic evolution equation as a whole and not just to the potential. Such an averaging has never been explicitly carried out. We fill this gap by considering the transition from the microscopic to macroscopic neutrino evolution equation through a proper averaging procedure. We discuss some subtleties related to this procedure and establish the applicability domain of the standard macroscopic evolution equation. This, in particular, allows us to answer the question of when neutrino propagation in rarefied media (such as e.g. low-density gases or interstellar or intergalactic media) can be considered within the standard theory of neutrino flavour evolution in matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We quantify the effect of gauge bosons from a weakly coupled lepton flavor dependent U(1)′ interaction on the matter background in the evolution of solar, atmospheric, reactor and long-baseline accelerator neutrinos in the global analysis of oscillation data. The analysis is performed for interaction lengths ranging from the Sun-Earth distance to effective contact neutrino interactions. We survey ∼ 10000 set of models characterized by the six relevant fermion U(1)′ charges and find that in all cases, constraints on the coupling and mass of the Z′ can be derived. We also find that about 5% of the U(1)′ model charges lead to a viable LMA-D solution but this is only possible in the contact interaction limit. We explicitly quantify the constraints for a variety of models including U 1 B − 3 L e , U 1 B − 3 L μ , U 1 B − 3 L τ , U 1 B − 3 2 L μ + L τ , U 1 L e − L μ , U 1 L e − L τ , U 1 L e − 1 2 L μ + L τ . We compare the constraints imposed by our oscillation analysis with the strongest bounds from fifth force searches, violation of equivalence principle as well as bounds from scattering experiments and white dwarf cooling. Our results show that generically, the oscillation analysis improves over the existing bounds from gravity tests for Z′ lighter than ∼ 10−8→ 10−11 eV depending on the specific couplings. In the contact interaction limit, we find that for most models listed above there are values of g′ and MZ′ for which the oscillation analysis provides constraints beyond those imposed by laboratory experiments. Finally we illustrate the range of Z′ and couplings leading to a viable LMA-D solution for two sets of models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With large active volume sizes dark matter direct detection experiments are sensitive to solar neutrino fluxes. Nuclear recoil signals are induced by 8B neutrinos, while electron recoils are mainly generated by the pp flux. Measurements of both processes offer an opportunity to test neutrino properties at low thresholds with fairly low backgrounds. In this paper we study the sensitivity of these experiments to neutrino magnetic dipole moments assuming 1, 10 and 40 tonne active volumes (representative of XENON1T, XENONnT and DARWIN), 0.3 keV and 1 keV thresholds. We show that with nuclear recoil measurements alone a 40 tonne detector could be as competitive as Borexino, TEXONO and GEMMA, with sensitivities of order 8.0 × 10−11μB at the 90% CL after one year of data taking. Electron recoil measurements will increase sensitivities way below these values allowing to test regions not excluded by astrophysical arguments. Using electron recoil data and depending on performance, the same detector will be able to explore values down to 4.0 × 10−12μB at the 90% CL in one year of data taking. By assuming a 200-tonne liquid xenon detector operating during 10 years, we conclude that sensitivities in this type of detectors will be of order 10−12μB. Reducing statistical uncertainties may enable improving sensitivities below these values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Models of gauged U 1 L μ − L τ can provide a solution to the long-standing discrepancy between the theoretical prediction for the muon anomalous magnetic moment and its measured value. The extra contribution is due to a new light vector mediator, which also helps to alleviate an existing tension in the determination of the Hubble parameter. In this article, we explore ways to probe this solution via the scattering of solar neutrinos with electrons and nuclei in a range of experiments and considering high and low solar metallicity scenarios. In particular, we reevaluate Borexino constraints on neutrino-electron scattering, finding them to be more stringent than previously reported, and already excluding a part of the (g − 2)μ explanation with mediator masses smaller than 2 × 10−2 GeV. We then show that future direct dark matter detectors will be able to probe most of the remaining solution. Due to its large exposure, LUX-ZEPLIN will explore regions with mediator masses up to 5 × 10−2 GeV and DARWIN will be able to extend the search beyond 10−1 GeV, thereby covering most of the area compatible with (g − 2)μ. For completeness, we have also computed the constraints derived from the recent XENON1T electron recoil search and from the CENNS-10 LAr detector, showing that none of them excludes new areas of the parameter space. Should the excess in the muon anomalous magnetic moment be confirmed, our work suggests that direct detection experiments could provide crucial information with which to test the U 1 L μ − L τ solution, complementary to efforts in neutrino experiments and accelerators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While oscillations of solar neutrinos are usually studied using the single-particle quantum-mechanical approach, flavor conversions of supernovae neutrinos are typically analyzed using the kinetic equation for the matrix of densities due to the necessity of including also the scattering processes. Using the Wigner formulation of quantum mechanics we show the equivalence of the quantum-mechanical and kinetic approaches in the limit of collision-less neutrino propagation (in a background medium). Based on this observation we also argue that solutions of the kinetic equation account for the Heisenberg uncertainty principle and the related effect of wave packet separation (for single neutrinos), as well as the Pauli exclusion principle, if the initial conditions are consistent with these fundamental quantum principles. Such initial conditions can be constructed e.g. by identifying the matrix of densities with the (reduced) single-particle Wigner function computed using initial conditions for the neutrino wave function. Hence the neutrino momentum uncertainty is an integral part of the initial conditions for the matrix of densities, that may have an impact on the phenomenology of supernovae neutrinos via the effect of wave packet separation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our herein described combined analysis of the latest neutrino oscillation data presented at the Neutrino2020 conference shows that previous hints for the neutrino mass ordering have significantly decreased, and normal ordering (NO) is favored only at the 1.6σ level. Combined with the χ2 map provided by Super-Kamiokande for their atmospheric neutrino data analysis the hint for NO is at 2.7σ. The CP conserving value δCP = 180° is within 0.6σ of the global best fit point. Only if we restrict to inverted mass ordering, CP violation is favored at the ∼ 3σ level. We discuss the origin of these results — which are driven by the new data from the T2K and NOvA long-baseline experiments —, and the relevance of the LBL-reactor oscillation frequency complementarity. The previous 2.2σ tension in ∆m221 preferred by KamLAND and solar experiments is also reduced to the 1.1σ level after the inclusion of the latest Super-Kamiokande solar neutrino results. Finally we present updated allowed ranges for the oscillation parameters and for the leptonic Jarlskog determinant from the global analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neutrino non-standard interactions (NSI) with the first generation of standard model fermions can span a parameter space of large dimension and exhibit degeneracies that cannot be broken by a single class of experiment. Oscillation experiments, together with neutrino scattering experiments, can merge their observations into a highly informational dataset to combat this problem. We consider combining neutrino-electron and neutrino-nucleus scattering data from the Borexino and COHERENT experiments, including a projection for the upcoming coherent neutrino scattering measurement at the CENNS-10 liquid argon detector. We extend the reach of these data sets over the NSI parameter space with projections for neutrino scattering at a future multi-ton scale dark matter detector and future oscillation measurements from atmospheric neutrinos at the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE). In order to perform this global anal- ysis, we adopt a novel approach using the copula method, utilized to combine posterior information from different experiments with a large, generalized set of NSI parameters. We find that the contributions from DUNE and a dark matter detector to the Borexino and COHERENT fits can improve constraints on the electron and quark NSI parameters by up to a factor of 2 to 3, even when relatively many NSI parameters are left free to vary in the analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Right-handed neutrinos (νR) are often considered as a portal to new hidden physics. It is tempting to consider a gauge singlet scalar (ϕ) that exclusively couples to νR via a νRνRϕ term. Such a νR-philic scalar does not interact with charged fermions at tree level but loop-induced effective interactions are inevitable, which are systematically investigated in this work. The magnitude of the loop-induced couplings coincidentally meets the current sensitivity of fifth-force searches. In particular, the loop-induced coupling to muons could be tested in the recent LIGO observations of neutron star mergers as there might be a sizable Yukawa force in the binary system mediated by the νR-philic scalar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Future dark matter (DM) direct detection searches will be subject to irreducible neutrino backgrounds that will challenge the identification of an actual WIMP signal in experiments without directionality sensitivity. We study the impact of neutrino-quark non-standard interactions (NSI) on this background, assuming the constraints from neutrino oscillations and the recent COHERENT experiment data, which are relevant for NSI mediated by light mediators, m m e d ≲ O GeV $$ {m}_{\mathrm{med}}\lesssim \mathcal{O}\left(\mathrm{GeV}\right) $$ . We calculate the expected number of neutrino-nucleus elastic scattering events in a Xe-based ton-size dark matter detector, including solar neutrino fluxes from the pp chain and CNO cycle as well as sub-GeV atmospheric fluxes and taking into account NSI effects in both propagation and detection. We find that sizable deviations from the standard model expectation are possible, but are more pronounced for flavor-diagonal couplings, in particular for electron neutrinos. We show that neutrino NSI can enhance or deplete the neutrino-nucleus event rate, which may impact DM searches in multi-ton detectors.

Abstract We investigate the effect of new physics interacting with both Dark Matter (DM) and neutrinos at DM direct detection experiments. Working within a simplified model formalism, we consider vector and scalar mediators to determine the scattering of DM as well as the modified scattering of solar neutrinos off nuclei. Using existing data from LUX as well as the expected sensitivity of LUX-ZEPLIN and DARWIN, we set limit on the couplings of the mediators to quarks, neutrinos and DM. Given the current limits, we also assess the true DM discovery potential of direct detection experiments under the presence of exotic neutrino interactions. In the case of a vector mediator, we show that the DM discovery reach of future experiments is affected for DM masses m χ ≲ 10 GeV or DM scattering cross sections σ χ ≲ 10−47 cm2. On the other hand, a scalar mediator will not affect the discovery reach appreciably.

Abstract We investigate the detection prospects of a non-standard dark sector in the context of boosted dark matter. We consider a scenario where two stable particles have a large mass difference and the heavier particle accounts for most of dark matter in our current universe. The heavier candidate is assumed to have no interaction with the standard model particles at tree-level, hence evading existing constraints. Although subdominant, the lighter dark matter particles are efficiently produced via pair-annihilation of the heavier ones in the center of the Galaxy or the Sun. The large Lorentz boost enables detection of the non-minimal dark sector in large volume terrestrial experiments via exchange of a light dark photon with electrons or nuclei. Various experiments designed for neutrino physics and proton decay are examined in detail, including Super-K and Hyper-K. In this study, we focus on the sensitivity of the far detector at the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment for boosted dark matter produced in the center of the Sun, and compare our findings with recent results for boosted dark matter produced in the galactic center.

New physics in neutrino sector can reveal itself via non-standard neutrino in- teractions which can result in modification of the standard picture of neutrino propagation in matter. Experiments with atmospheric neutrinos has been used to probe this scenario. Using publicly available three-year low energy data in IceCube DeepCore we place bounds on the parameters Eαβ of non-standard neutrino interactions in propagation. We obtain re- strictive constraints not only for μτ sector but also for flavor changing interactions involving electron neutrinos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]