The reactor antineutrino anomaly and low energy threshold neutrino experiments

TL;DR

This paper explores how low energy threshold reactor experiments can improve constraints on sterile neutrinos and discusses the potential of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering and electron scattering measurements in addressing the reactor antineutrino anomaly.

Contribution

It evaluates the prospects of low energy threshold reactor experiments in detecting sterile neutrinos and analyzes the potential of new scattering measurements to resolve the anomaly.

Findings

Expectations to improve sterile neutrino constraints are promising.

Coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering could be a valuable future probe.

Electron scattering measurements may complement existing anomalies.

Abstract

Short distance reactor antineutrino experiments measure an antineutrino spectrum a few percent lower than expected from theoretical predictions. In this work we study the potential of low energy threshold reactor experiments in the context of a light sterile neutrino signal. We discuss the perspectives of the recently detected coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering in future reactor antineutrino experiments. We find that the expectations to improve the current constraints on the mixing with sterile neutrinos are promising. We also analyse the measurements of antineutrino scattering off electrons from short distance reactor experiments. In this case, the statistics is not competitive with inverse beta decay experiments, although future experiments might play a role when compare it with the Gallium anomaly.