Tensor interaction in coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering

TL;DR

This paper investigates how tensor interactions affect coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering, revealing potential enhancements in cross sections and analyzing experimental data to constrain these interactions.

Contribution

It provides a systematic analysis of nuclear effects on tensor interactions in CEνNS and explores their experimental implications, including the role of neutrino magnetic moments.

Findings

Tensor interactions can significantly enhance CEνNS cross sections.

The nuclear spin suppression of tensor interactions is less than previously thought.

Experimental data constrains the parameter space of neutrino tensor interactions.

Abstract

Neutrino tensor interactions have gained prominence in the study of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CE$\nu$NS) recently. We perform a systematical examination of the nuclear effect, which plays a crucial role in evaluating the cross section of CE$\nu$NS in the presence of tensor interactions. Our analysis reveals that the CE$\nu$NS cross section induced by tensor interactions is not entirely nuclear spin-suppressed and can be enhanced by a few orders of magnitude compared to the conventional studies. The neutrino magnetic moment induced by the loop effect of tensor interactions, is also taken into account due to its sizable contribution to the CE$\nu$NS cross section. We also employ data from the COHERENT experiment and recent observations of solar $^8$B neutrinos from dark matter direct detection experiments to scrutinize the parameter space of neutrino tensor interactions.