Low-energy neutrino-electron scattering as a Standard Model probe: the potential of LENA as case study

TL;DR

This paper explores how large neutrino detectors like LENA can precisely measure the electroweak mixing angle and test for new physics, including non-standard neutrino interactions, using neutrino-electron scattering.

Contribution

It demonstrates the potential of the LENA detector to serve as a sensitive probe for electroweak parameters and physics beyond the Standard Model.

Findings

LENA can measure the electroweak mixing angle with high precision.

The detector can effectively probe non-standard neutrino interactions.

Potential to distinguish new physics signals from Standard Model predictions.

Abstract

Several proposals for studying neutrinos with large detectors are currently under discussion. We suggest that they could provide a precise measurement of the electroweak mixing angle as well as a probe for new physics, such as non-standard neutrino interactions (NSI), and the electroweak gauge structure. We illustrate this explicitly for the case of the LENA proposal, either with an artificial radioactive source or by using the solar neutrino flux.