Probing Light Dark Particles in Neutrino Scattering Experiments

TL;DR

This paper explores how neutrino scattering experiments can detect light dark fermions via effective interactions, with current constraints from COHERENT and CONUS+ being weaker than collider bounds, but future DUNE measurements could improve sensitivity.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach to probe light dark particles through neutrino scattering, analyzing current constraints and future prospects at DUNE.

Findings

COHERENT and CONUS+ constraints are weaker than collider bounds.

DUNE can probe cutoff scales up to 1 TeV for dark particles up to 50 MeV.

Future neutrino experiments have potential to improve dark particle detection sensitivity.

Abstract

In this work we investigate the production of a dark fermionic particle $\chi$ in the neutrino scattering experiments. In the framework of effective field theory, such process can be induced by the effective four-fermion interactions involving neutrinos, the dark particle $\chi$ and standard model particles. In particular, we examine the constraints on the effective couplings from the neutrinos scattering off nuclei in the COHERENT and CONUS+ experiments as well as the prospects at the DUNE near detector from neutrino-electron scattering. It turns out the current COHERENT and CONUS+ constraints on the cutoff scales are less stringent than those from the existing Large Hadron Collider data. However, the DUNE near detector could probe the cutoff scales beyond the existing CHARM II and LEP limits up to roughly 1 TeV, for the dark particle mass up to roughly 50 MeV.