Constraints on hidden photons produced in nuclear reactors

TL;DR

This paper derives new experimental limits on hidden photons, hypothetical particles from extensions of the Standard Model, produced in nuclear reactors and detectable via neutrino experiments, especially for masses above 0.1 eV.

Contribution

It provides updated constraints on hidden photon models using data from the TEXONO neutrino experiment, considering oscillations between visible and hidden photons.

Findings

Neutrino experiments are insensitive to hidden photons lighter than ~0.1 eV.

New limits on hidden photon models are established from reactor data.

Oscillations between visible and hidden photons are accounted for in the analysis.

Abstract

New light vector particles - hidden photons - are present in many extensions of the Standard Model of particle physics. They can be produced in nuclear reactors and registered by neutrino detectors. We obtain new limits on the models with the hidden photons from an analysis of published results of the TEXONO neutrino experiment. Accounting for oscillations between the visible and hidden photons, we find that the neutrino experiments are generally insensitive to the hidden photons lighter than $\sim 0.1$\,eV.