Constraints on neutrino nonstandard interactions from COHERENT, PandaX-4T and XENONnT

Abstract

We investigate constraints on neutrino nonstandard interactions (NSIs) in the effective field theory framework, using data from the first measurement of solar <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <a:mrow> <a:mmultiscripts> <a:mrow> <a:mi mathvariant="normal">B</a:mi> </a:mrow> <a:mprescripts/> <a:none/> <a:mrow> <a:mn>8</a:mn> </a:mrow> </a:mmultiscripts> </a:mrow> </a:math> neutrinos via coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering ( <d:math xmlns:d="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <d:mrow> <d:mi>CE</d:mi> <d:mi>ν</d:mi> <d:mi>NS</d:mi> </d:mrow> </d:math> ) in the PandaX-4T and XENONnT experiments and data from the COHERENT experiment. The impacts of neutrino NSIs on the <f:math xmlns:f="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <f:mrow> <f:mi>CE</f:mi> <f:mi>ν</f:mi> <f:mi>NS</f:mi> </f:mrow> </f:math> cross section and the matter effect in the propagation of solar neutrinos are included, while we obtain that the expected number of <h:math xmlns:h="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <h:mrow> <h:mi>CE</h:mi> <h:mi>ν</h:mi> <h:mi>NS</h:mi> </h:mrow> </h:math> events is more sensitive to neutrino NSIs appearing in the cross section. Due to relatively large statistical uncertainties, the sensitivities of the PandaX-4T and XENONnT experiments to the neutrino NSIs are currently limited, compared to the COHERENT experiment. Besides, we find that since the central value of the measured <j:math xmlns:j="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <j:mrow> <j:mi>CE</j:mi> <j:mi>ν</j:mi> <j:mi>NS</j:mi> </j:mrow> </j:math> counts significantly differs from the Standard Model prediction, the sensitivity of PandaX-4T experiment is even more restricted compared to XENONnT. However, the measurements of PandaX-4T and XENONnT are uniquely sensitive to the neutrino NSIs for the <l:math xmlns:l="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <l:mi>τ</l:mi> </l:math> flavor due to oscillation feature of the solar <n:math xmlns:n="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <n:mrow> <n:mmultiscripts> <n:mrow> <n:mi mathvariant="normal">B</n:mi> </n:mrow> <n:mprescripts/> <n:none/> <n:mrow> <n:mn>8</n:mn> </n:mrow> </n:mmultiscripts> </n:mrow> </n:math> neutrinos. We also assess how the experimental central value, exposure, and systematic uncertainties will affect the constraints on neutrino NSIs from various <q:math xmlns:q="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <q:mrow> <q:mi>CE</q:mi> <q:mi>ν</q:mi> <q:mi>NS</q:mi> </q:mrow> </q:math> measurements in the future.

Topics & Concepts