Constraints on active-sterile neutrino transition magnetic moments from low-energy electronic recoils at direct detection experiments

TL;DR

This paper uses data from direct detection experiments to set new limits on the transition magnetic moments of sterile neutrinos produced by solar neutrinos, exploring uncharted parameter space.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive analysis of low-energy electronic recoil data to constrain sterile neutrino transition magnetic moments across various masses.

Findings

Established new exclusion limits on transition magnetic moments.

Extended sensitivity to previously unexplored parameter regions.

Highlighted the potential of direct detection experiments for neutrino physics.

Abstract

Sterile neutrinos can potentially be produced through neutrino transition magnetic moments in neutrino-electron scattering. In this work, we investigate this dipole portal by analyzing low-energy electronic recoil data from the PandaX-4T (Run0 and Run1) and XENONnT experiments. We focus on the up-scattering of solar neutrinos into sterile states via the transition magnetic moment. By performing a comprehensive analysis, we derive robust exclusion limits on the neutrino flavor-independent and flavor-dependent transition magnetic moments for fixed sterile neutrino masses as well as on the mass-coupling parameter space. We demonstrate that, since they can detect solar neutrino-induced processes, direct detection experiments offer a unique framework for studying all possible neutrino flavors. The obtained limits extend the sensitivity to previously unexplored regions of the parameter space.