Migdal effect of Phonon-mediated neutrino nucleus scattering in semiconductor detectors

TL;DR

This paper develops a theoretical framework for the phonon-mediated Migdal effect in semiconductor detectors, analyzing its potential to enhance neutrino detection and constrain neutrino magnetic moments.

Contribution

It introduces a novel theoretical approach to phonon-mediated Migdal effect in semiconductors, including calculations of excitation rates and experimental sensitivities.

Findings

Coherent enhancement of electron excitation rate compared to neutrino-electron scattering

Numerical sensitivities for detecting the Migdal effect with reactor neutrinos

Constraints on neutrino magnetic moment derived from the effect

Abstract

In this work, we introduce the theoretical framework of the phonon-mediated Migdal effect for neutrino-nucleus scattering in semiconductors, considering both the Standard Model and the presence of the neutrino magnetic moment. We calculate the rate of electron excitation resulting from the Migdal effect and observe a substantial coherent enhancement compared to ordinary neutrino-electron scattering. Furthermore, we provide numerical sensitivities for detecting the Migdal effect and constraints on the neutrino magnetic moment, utilizing an experimental setup with reactor neutrinos.