Search arXivSearch

arXiv · 2411.19078

Search for non-standard neutrino interactions with the first six detection units of KM3NeT/ORCA

Abstract

KM3NeT/ORCA is an underwater neutrino telescope under construction in the Mediterranean Sea. Its primary scientific goal is to measure the atmospheric neutrino oscillation parameters and to determine the neutrino mass ordering. ORCA can constrain the oscillation parameters $Δm^{2}_{31}$ and $θ_{23}$ by reconstructing the arrival direction and energy of multi-GeV neutrinos crossing the Earth. Searches for deviations from the Standard Model of particle physics in the forward scattering of neutrinos inside Earth matter, produced by Non-Standard Interactions, can be conducted by investigating distortions of the standard oscillation pattern of neutrinos of all flavours. This work reports on the results of the search for non-standard neutrino interactions using the first six detection units of ORCA and 433 kton-years of exposure. No significant deviation from standard interactions was found in a sample of 5828 events reconstructed in the 1 GeV$-$1 TeV energy range. The flavour structure of the non-standard coupling was constrained at 90\% confidence level to be $|\varepsilon_{μτ} | \leq 5.4 \times 10^{-3}$, $|\varepsilon_{eτ} | \leq 7.4 \times 10^{-2}$, $|\varepsilon_{eμ} | \leq 5.6 \times 10^{-2}$ and $-0.015 \leq \varepsilon_{ττ} - \varepsilon_{μμ} \leq 0.017$. The results are comparable to the current most stringent limits placed on the parameters by other experiments.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

S. Aiello, A. Albert, A. R. Alhebsi, M. Alshamsi, S. Alves Garre, A. Ambrosone, F. Ameli, M. Andre, L. Aphecetche, M. Ardid, S. Ardid, J. Aublin, F. Badaracco, L. Bailly-Salins, Z. Bardačová, B. Baret, A. Bariego-Quintana, Y. Becherini, M. Bendahman, F. Benfenati, M. Benhassi, M. Bennani, D. M. Benoit, E. Berbee, V. Bertin, S. Biagi, M. Boettcher, D. Bonanno, A. B. Bouasla, J. Boumaaza, M. Bouta, M. Bouwhuis, C. Bozza, R. M. Bozza, H. Brânzăş, F. Bretaudeau, M. Breuhaus, R. Bruijn, J. Brunner, R. Bruno, E. Buis, R. Buompane, J. Busto, B. Caiffi, D. Calvo, A. Capone, F. Carenini, V. Carretero, T. Cartraud, P. Castaldi, V. Cecchini, S. Celli, L. Cerisy, M. Chabab, A. Chen, S. Cherubini, T. Chiarusi, M. Circella, R. Clark, R. Cocimano, J. A. B. Coelho, A. Coleiro, A. Condorelli, R. Coniglione, P. Coyle, A. Creusot, G. Cuttone, R. Dallier, A. De Benedittis, B. De Martino, G. De Wasseige, V. Decoene, I. Del Rosso, L. S. Di Mauro, I. Di Palma, A. F. Díaz, D. Diego-Tortosa, C. Distefano, A. Domi, C. Donzaud, D. Dornic, E. Drakopoulou, D. Drouhin, J. -G. Ducoin, R. Dvornický, T. Eberl, E. Eckerová, A. Eddymaoui, T. van Eeden, M. Eff, D. van Eijk, I. El Bojaddaini, S. El Hedri, V. Ellajosyula, A. Enzenhöfer, G. Ferrara, M. D. Filipović, F. Filippini, D. Franciotti, L. A. Fusco. 2025-01-22. Search for non-standard neutrino interactions with the first six detection units of KM3NeT/ORCA. https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.19078

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

Charge-dependent atmospheric muon flux at 17 GV geomagnetic cutoff with the mini-ICAL detector

The Iron CALorimeter (ICAL) detector at the India-Based Neutrino Observatory (INO) was conceived as an underground experiment designed to measure atmospheric neutrino oscillation parameters. As part of the R\&D programme, a scaled prototype (mini-ICAL), 85\,ton, approximately 1/600$^{\mathrm{th}}$ the mass of the full detector, was constructed at the IICHEP Transit Campus, Madurai (altitude 150\,m; latitude 9.9372$^\circ$\,N; longitude 78.013$^\circ$\,E; geomagnetic latitude 1.44$^\circ$\,N; vertical cutoff rigidity 17\,GV) and operated between 2018 and 2022. The prototype enabled measurements of charge-dependent cosmic muon spectra in the vicinity of the geomagnetic equator and provided an important validation of detector performance, reconstruction algorithms, and simulation frameworks for the ICAL experiment. Differential fluxes of $μ^{-}$ and $μ^{+}$ were measured over the momentum range $\sim$\,1--5\,GeV/c. The obtained momentum spectra are systematically lower than those reported at sites with smaller geomagnetic cutoff rigidities, consistent with the suppression of low- and intermediate-rigidity primary cosmic rays at the 17\,GV cutoff. The measurements are compared with predictions from different hadronic interaction models available in CORSIKA simulations.

hep-ex

Laboratory constraints on peV-scale mass splitting between ordinary and sterile neutron states

Sterile states of matter, represented by a parallel ``mirror'' sector, may contribute to the observed dark matter in the Universe. We investigated the parameter space of neutron $(n)$ to mirror-neutron $(n')$ oscillations, in the case where the two states are not necessarily mass-degenerate, taking into account interactions in the mirror sector. By tuning the magnitude of an applied magnetic-field in the range $5~μ\mathrm{T} < B < 360~μ\mathrm{T}$ to corresponding resonance conditions for finite mass splitting, we derive exclusion limits for the $n-n'$ oscillation time constant reaching about $20~\text{s}$ over the mass-difference range $0.3 - 22~\text{peV}$. In parts of this parameter range, our limits exceed the model-dependent neutron-star-cooling bound, providing the first experimental constraints in this scenario that are more stringent than this astrophysical estimate.

hep-ex

Search for the $^{16}\text{O}(ppp) \rightarrow ^{13}\text{C} π^+ π^+ e^+$ Decay Mode in Super-Kamiokande Using Machine Learning Techniques

We report a new partial lifetime limit of $4.2 \times 10^{32}$ years for the trinucleon decay mode $^{16}\text{O}(ppp) \rightarrow ^{13}\text{C} π^+ π^+ e^+$, obtained from a search conducted using the Super-Kamiokande detector with 0.401 megaton-years of exposure across five operational periods (SK-I: 1996--2001, SK-II: 2002--2005, SK-III: 2006--2008, SK-IV: 2008--2018, SK-V: 2019--2020). This represents an improvement of six orders of magnitude over previous experimental constraints. The analysis utilizes a convolutional neural network (CNN) incorporating an attention mechanism---a computational technique that enables the model to focus on the most relevant regions of Cherenkov ring patterns---to enhance event classification, thereby improving the sensitivity of the search. This is the first application of a CNN to a nucleon decay search in Super-Kamiokande. Furthermore, the large dataset available in Super-Kamiokande (hereafter "SK") strengthens the statistical power of the study, enabling a more stringent constraint than those set by prior experiments.

hep-ex