Millicharged particles in neutrino experiments

TL;DR

This paper uses data from neutrino experiments like MiniBooNE and LSND to set new constraints on millicharged particles, and projects future sensitivities for upcoming experiments such as DUNE and SHiP, covering a broad mass range.

Contribution

It provides the first constraints on MCPs from several neutrino experiments and forecasts their potential to explore new parameter space in future experiments.

Findings

LSND and MiniBooNE set new constraints in specific mass windows

Future experiments like DUNE and SHiP can probe MCP masses up to 5 GeV

SBND and MicroBooNE could lead in constraining MCPs in the 100-300 MeV range

Abstract

We set constraints and future sensitivity projections on millicharged particles (MCPs) based on electron scattering data in numerous neutrino experiments, starting with MiniBooNE and the Liquid Scintillator Neutrino Detector (LSND). Both experiments are found to provide new (and leading) constraints in certain MCP mass windows: 5 - 35 MeV for LSND and 100 - 180 MeV for MiniBooNE. Furthermore, we provide projections for the ongoing Fermilab SBN program, the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), and the proposed Search for Hidden Particles (SHiP) experiment. In the SBN program, SBND and MicroBooNE have the capacity to provide the leading bounds in the 100 - 300 MeV mass regime. DUNE and SHiP are capable of probing parameter space for MCP masses in the range of 5 MeV - 5 GeV that is significantly beyond the reach of existing bounds, including those from collider searches and, in the case of DUNE, the SLAC mQ experiment.