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Exploring the electromagnetic properties of neutrinos at a short-baseline reactor neutrino experiment

Guo-Fu Cao, Xin Chen, Luis A. Delgadillo, Maxim Gonchar, Yu-Feng Li, Vitalii Zavadskyi

Abstract

Upcoming and present reactor neutrino experiments represent an appealing tool to probe fundamental properties in the neutrino sector. In this paper, we study the physics potential to determine the electromagnetic properties of neutrinos via electron--neutrino elastic scattering (E$ν$ES) at a short-baseline neutrino experiment. We evaluate the sensitivity to the weak mixing angle, $\sin^2θ_W$, employing antineutrinos from a nuclear reactor source. Furthermore, from the sensitivity to $\sin^2 θ_W$, we obtain bounds on the neutrino charge radius. We also present the projected sensitivity to the effective neutrino magnetic moment, $μ_ν$. Compared with other reactor neutrino measurements, this experimental configuration may set competitive limits on the electromagnetic properties of neutrinos.

Exploring the electromagnetic properties of neutrinos at a short-baseline reactor neutrino experiment

Abstract

Upcoming and present reactor neutrino experiments represent an appealing tool to probe fundamental properties in the neutrino sector. In this paper, we study the physics potential to determine the electromagnetic properties of neutrinos via electron--neutrino elastic scattering (EES) at a short-baseline neutrino experiment. We evaluate the sensitivity to the weak mixing angle, , employing antineutrinos from a nuclear reactor source. Furthermore, from the sensitivity to , we obtain bounds on the neutrino charge radius. We also present the projected sensitivity to the effective neutrino magnetic moment, . Compared with other reactor neutrino measurements, this experimental configuration may set competitive limits on the electromagnetic properties of neutrinos.
Paper Structure (15 sections, 15 equations, 3 figures, 4 tables)

This paper contains 15 sections, 15 equations, 3 figures, 4 tables.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Electron--neutrino elastic scattering
  3. Experimental setup and methodology
  4. Backgrounds
  5. Signal prediction
  6. Detector response for a liquid scintillator detector
  7. Systematic uncertainties and statistical analysis
  8. Systematic uncertainties
  9. Data analysis details
  10. Results
  11. Weak mixing angle sensitivity
  12. Neutrino charge radius
  13. Effective neutrino magnetic moment sensitivity
  14. Conclusions
  15. Differences between the analyses

Figures (3)

  • Figure 1: The expected signal and total event rates comparison with and without detector effects for a short-baseline reactor experimental similar to TAO. Here, dashed lines represent signal-only events while solid lines consider signal plus background events. For instance, the flux times cross section ($\sigma$) rates are shown in blue. Besides, orange lines display the influence of liquid scintillator non-linearity (LSNL). In addition, LSNL plus energy resolutions effects are considered as well (green lines). Refer to the text for a detailed explanation.
  • Figure 2: The expected sensitivity ($\Delta \chi^2$) of the weak mixing angle $\sin^2 \theta_W$ at a 44-meter baseline experiment considering statistics (statistics plus systematics) displayed in blue solid curve (orange dashed curve). The black dashed lines represent the boundaries at $\Delta \chi^2 =2.7$ or 90% CL ($\Delta \chi^2 =1$ or 1$\sigma$ CL), accordingly. Refer to the text for a detailed explanation.
  • Figure 3: The expected sensitivity ($\Delta \chi^2$) to the neutrino magnetic moment $\mu_{\nu_{e}}$ for a short-baseline reactor experiment considering statistics (statistics plus systematics) displayed in blue solid curve (orange dashed curve). The black dashed lines represent the boundaries at $\Delta \chi^2 =2.7$ or 90% CL ($\Delta \chi^2 =1$ or 1$\sigma$ CL), accordingly. Refer to the text for a detailed explanation.