No Arabic abstract
We study the effects of non-standard interactions on the oscillation pattern of atmospheric neutrinos. We use neutrino oscillograms as our main tool to infer the role of non-standard interactions (NSI) parameters at the probability level in the energy range, $E in [1,20]$ GeV and zenith angle range, $cos theta in [-1,0]$. We compute the event rates for atmospheric neutrino events in presence of NSI parameters in the energy range $E in [1,10]$ GeV for two different detector configurations - a magnetized iron calorimeter and an unmagnetized liquid Argon time projection chamber which have different sensitivities to NSI parameters due to their complementary characteristics. As an application, we discuss how NSI parameter, $epsilon_{mutau}$ impacts the determination of the correct octant of $theta_{23}$.
Neutrino oscillations have become well-known phenomenon; the measurements of neutrino mixing angles and mass squared differences are continuously improving. Future oscillation experiments will eventually determine the remaining unknown neutrino parameters, namely, the mass ordering, normal or inverted, and the CP-violating phase. On the other hand, the absolute mass scale of neutrinos could be probed by cosmological observations, single beta decay as well as by neutrinoless double beta decay experiments. Furthermore, the last one may shed light on the nature of neutrinos, Dirac or Majorana, by measuring the effective Majorana mass of neutrinos. However, the neutrino mass generation mechanism remains unknown. A well-motivated phenomenological approach to search for new physics, in the neutrino sector, is that of non-standard interactions. In this short review, the current constraints in this picture, as well as the perspectives from future experiments, are discussed.
We discuss the sensitivity reach of a neutrino factory measurement to non-standard neutrino interactions (NSI), which may exist as a low-energy manifestation of physics beyond the Standard Model. We use the muon appearance mode u_e --> u_mu and consider two detectors, one at 3000 km and the other at 7000 km. Assuming the effects of NSI at the production and the detection are negligible, we discuss the sensitivities to NSI and the simultaneous determination of theta_{13} and delta by examining the effects in the neutrino propagation of various systems in which two NSI parameters epsilon_{alpha beta} are switched on. The sensitivities to off-diagonal epsilons are found to be excellent up to small values of theta_{13}. We demonstrate that the two-detector setting is powerful enough to resolve the theta_{13}-NSI confusion problem. We believe that the results obtained in this paper open the door to the possibility of using neutrino factory as a discovery machine for NSI while keeping its primary function of performing precision measurements of the lepton mixing parameters.
Searching for non-standard neutrino interactions, as a means for discovering physics beyond the Standard Model, has one of the key goals of dedicated neutrino experiments, current and future. We demonstrate here that much of the parameter space accessible to such experiments is already ruled out by the RUN II data of the Large Hadron Collider experiment.
In presence of non-standard neutrino interactions the neutrino flavor evolution equation is affected by a degeneracy which leads to the so-called LMA-Dark solution. It requires a solar mixing angle in the second octant and implies an ambiguity in the neutrino mass ordering. Non-oscillation experiments are required to break this degeneracy. We perform a combined analysis of data from oscillation experiments with the neutrino scattering experiments CHARM and NuTeV. We find that the degeneracy can be lifted if the non-standard neutrino interactions take place with down quarks, but it remains for up quarks. However, CHARM and NuTeV constraints apply only if the new interactions take place through mediators not much lighter than the electroweak scale. For light mediators we consider the possibility to resolve the degeneracy by using data from future coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering experiments. We find that, for an experiment using a stopped-pion neutrino source, the LMA-Dark degeneracy will either be resolved, or the presence of new interactions in the neutrino sector will be established with high significance.
We formulate an Effective Field Theory (EFT) for Non Standard neutrino Interactions (NSI) in elastic scattering with light quarks, leptons, gluons and photons, including all possible operators of dimension 5, 6 and 7. We provide the expressions for the cross sections in coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering and in deep inelastic scattering. Assuming single operator dominance we constrain the respective Wilson coefficient using the measurements by the COHERENT and CHARM collaborations. We also point out the constraining power of future elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering experiments. Finally, we explore the implications of the bounds for SMEFT operators above the electroweak breaking scale.