Improved global fit to Non-Standard neutrino Interactions using COHERENT energy and timing data

TL;DR

This paper performs a comprehensive analysis combining COHERENT data with neutrino oscillation results to set bounds on non-standard neutrino interactions, improving the understanding of potential new physics effects.

Contribution

It provides the first global fit incorporating both energy and timing data from COHERENT to constrain non-standard neutrino interactions in a model-independent way.

Findings

Stronger bounds on non-standard interaction parameters.

Clarification of the status of the LMA-D solution.

Dependence of results on experimental assumptions.

Abstract

We perform a global fit to neutrino oscillation and coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering data, using both timing and energy information from the COHERENT experiment. The results are used to set model-independent bounds on four-fermion effective operators inducing non-standard neutral-current neutrino interactions. We quantify the allowed ranges for their Wilson coefficients, as well as the status of the LMA-D solution, for a wide class of new physics models with arbitrary ratios between the strength of the operators involving up and down quarks. Our results are presented for the COHERENT experiment alone, as well as in combination with the global data from oscillation experiments. We also quantify the dependence of our results for COHERENT with respect to the choice of quenching factor, nuclear form factor, and the treatment of the backgrounds.