Parametric resonance in neutrino oscillations induced by ultra-light dark matter and implications for KamLAND and JUNO

TL;DR

This paper explores how ultra-light dark matter could induce a parametric resonance in neutrino oscillations, potentially altering experimental results and providing a new avenue for dark matter detection.

Contribution

It introduces the concept that ULDM can cause parametric resonance in neutrino oscillations, affecting experimental observations and offering testable predictions for KamLAND and JUNO.

Findings

Resonance can significantly alter neutrino oscillation probabilities.

The resonance could improve KamLAND data fit by about 3.5 sigma.

JUNO can test the proposed ULDM-induced resonance scenario.

Abstract

If ultra-light dark matter (ULDM) exists and couples to neutrinos, the neutrino oscillation probability might be significantly altered by a parametric resonance. This resonance can occur if the typical frequency of neutrino flavor-oscillations $\Delta m^2/(2E)$, where $\Delta m^2$ is the mass-squared difference of the neutrinos and $E$ is the neutrino energy, matches the oscillation frequency of the ULDM field, determined by its mass, $m_\phi$. The resonance could lead to observable effects even if the ULDM coupling is very small, and even if its typical oscillation period, given by $\tau_\phi=2\pi/m_\phi$, is much shorter than the experimental temporal resolution. Defining a small parameter $\epsilon_\phi$ to be the ratio between the contribution of the ULDM field to the neutrino mass and the vacuum value of the neutrino mass, the impact of the resonance is particularly significant if $\epsilon_\phi m_\phi L\gtrsim 4$, where $L$ is the distance between the neutrino source and the detector. Such parametric resonance can improve the fit to the KamLAND experiment measurements by about $3.5\,\sigma$ compared to standard oscillations. This scenario will be tested by the JUNO experiment.