Inverse-square law violation and reactor antineutrino anomaly

TL;DR

This paper explores whether deviations from the inverse-square law in neutrino flux could explain the reactor antineutrino anomaly, using a quantum field-theoretical approach and statistical analysis of experimental data.

Contribution

It introduces a quantum field-theoretical model predicting inverse-square law deviations and applies it to analyze reactor neutrino data for potential explanations.

Findings

Possible inverse-square law deviations observed

Quantum model fits reactor data better

Provides alternative explanation for anomaly

Abstract

We discuss a possibility that the so-called reactor antineutrino anomaly can be, at least in part, explained by applying a quantum field-theoretical approach to neutrino oscillations, which in particular predicts a small deviation from the classical inverse-square law at short but macroscopic distances between the neutrino source and detector. An extensive statistical analysis of the reactor data is performed to examine this speculation.