Constraining Non-minimal Dark Sector Scenarios with the COHERENT Neutrino Scattering Data

TL;DR

This paper uses COHERENT neutrino scattering data to constrain non-minimal dark sector models involving a dark gauge boson, kinetic mixing, and multiple parameters, improving understanding of dark sector interactions.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive analysis of dark sector scenarios embedded in a two-Higgs doublet model using recent COHERENT data, exploring multi-dimensional parameter spaces and model sensitivities.

Findings

Constraints on dark gauge coupling, kinetic mixing, and dark photon mass.

Identification of the most sensitive dark sector scenario to COHERENT data.

Impact of refined quenching factors on parameter bounds.

Abstract

Abelian dark sector scenarios embedded into the two-Higgs doublet model are scrutinized within the Coherent Elastic Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering (CE$\nu$NS) experiment, which was first measured by the COHERENT Collaboration in 2017 with an ongoing effort to improve it since then and recently released data for the CsI target in 2022. In the theoretical framework, it is assumed that there is a $U(1)$ gauge group in the dark sector with a non-zero kinetic mixing with the hypercharge field. The COHERENT data for the targets CsI and liquid argon (LAr) are treated in both single and multi bin bases to constrain the multi dimensional parameter space, spanned by the dark gauge coupling, kinetic mixing parameter and the dark photon mass, of totally seven different representative scenarios which are also compared and contrasted among each other to find out about the most sensitive one to the data. The effect of refined quenching factor is also addressed.