A new analysis of the MiniBooNE low-energy excess

Abstract

We present the results of a new analysis of the data of the MiniBooNE experiment taking into account the additional background of photons from ∆+/0 decay proposed in ref. [1] and additional contributions due to coherent photon emission, incoherent production of higher mass resonances, and incoherent non-resonant nucleon production. We show that the new background can explain part of the MiniBooNE low-energy excess and the statistical significance of the MiniBooNE indication in favor of short-baseline neutrino oscillation decreases from 5.1σ to 3.6σ. We also consider the implications for short-baseline neutrino oscillations in the 3+1 active-sterile neutrino mixing framework. We show that the new analysis of the MiniBooNE data indicates smaller active-sterile neutrino mixing and may lead us towards a solution of the appearance-disappearance tension in the global fit of short-baseline neutrino oscillation data.

Search for an Excess of Electron Neutrino Interactions in MicroBooNE Using Multiple Final State Topologies

“…Over the past decade, there has been a rich and evolving landscape of theoretical interpretations to explain the origin of the observed MiniBooNE excess, including standard processes [35] as well as new physics involving sterile neutrinos [36,37], dark sector portals [38][39][40], heavy neutral leptons [41,42], non-standard Higgs physics [43][44][45][46], new particles produced in the beam [47,48], and mixed models of sterile neutrino oscillations and decay [49,50]. A number of scenarios have also been ruled out [51].…”

A Standard Model explanation for the MiniBooNE anomaly.

“…However, in Ref. [5,6] it was noted that measurements of π 0 photoproduction on nuclei [9,10] indicate that the fraction of π 0 's that emerge from the nucleus and can be observed is given by…”

“…We study neutral current (NC) neutrino-induced π 0 /photon production (ν µ + A → ν µ + 1π 0 /γ + X) on carbon nucleus. Our results [5,6] are based on experimental data for photon-nucleus interactions from the A2 collaboration at the Mainz MAMI accelerator [7].…”

A Standard Model explanation for the MiniBooNE anomaly

“…However, in Ref. [5,6] it was noted that measurements of 𝜋 0 photoproduction on nuclei [9,10] indicate that the fraction of 𝜋 0 's that emerge from the nucleus and can be observed is given by…”

“…We study neutral current (NC) neutrino-induced 𝜋 0 /photon production (𝜈 𝜇 + 𝐴 → 𝜈 𝜇 + 1𝜋 0 /𝛾 + 𝑋) on carbon nucleus. Our results [5,6] are based on experimental data for photon-nucleus interactions from the A2 collaboration at the Mainz MAMI accelerator [7].…”