Prospects for beyond the Standard Model physics searches at the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment

Abstract

The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) will be a powerful tool for a variety of physics topics. The high-intensity proton beams provide a large neutrino flux, sampled by a near detector system consisting of a combination of capable precision detectors, and by the massive far detector system located deep underground. This configuration sets up DUNE as a machine for discovery, as it enables opportunities not only to perform precision neutrino measurements that may uncover deviations from the present three-flavor mixing paradigm, but also to discover new particles and unveil new interactions and symmetries beyond those predicted in the Standard Model (SM). Of the many potential beyond the Standard Model (BSM) topics DUNE will probe, this paper presents a selection of studies quantifying DUNE’s sensitivities to sterile neutrino mixing, heavy neutral leptons, non-standard interactions, CPT symmetry violation, Lorentz invariance violation, neutrino trident production, dark matter from both beam induced and cosmogenic sources, baryon number violation, and other new physics topics that complement those at high-energy colliders and significantly extend the present reach.

New physics from oscillations at the DUNE near detector, and the role of systematic uncertainties

“…Interestingly, even though our implementation of normalization uncertainties is very different than in ref. [104] we recover a similar result here, shown by the solid blue line in the lower panel of figure 5. This already indicates that normalization uncertainties are not playing a relevant role in the fit, which is expected since the effect from a sterile neutrino would be detected by looking at spectral distortions in the event rates.…”

“…In fact, the combination of data from different channels for a sterile neutrino search was already performed for the DUNE experiment in ref. [104], leading to an impressive sensitivity to sterile neutrinos which reached values of the effective mixing angle of sin 2 2θ µe 10 −6 in the region where ∆m 2 41 ∼ O(1 − 10) eV 2 . However, in ref.…”

“…However, in ref. [104] only normalization uncertainties were included in the analysis. Interestingly, even though our implementation of normalization uncertainties is very different than in ref.…”

The DUNE Near Detector

“…The oscillation physics program is centered on a measurement of any violation in neutrino oscillations, potentially connected to the matter-antimatter asymmetry observed in our universe, and will also yield precise measurements of mixing angles and the neutrino mass ordering while providing a strict test of the three-neutrino oscillation model with both appearance and disappearance measurements in neutrino and antineutrino beams [1]. These measurements are part of a broader physics program including sensitivity to neutrino astrophysics signals such as supernovae [2] and solar neutrinos [3], nucleon decay, and a wide array of searches for Beyond the Standard Model (BSM) physics [4].…”

Impact of improved energy resolution on DUNE sensitivity to neutrino non-standard interactions

“…The next-generation long-baseline experiment DUNE [62,63], with its high-intensity neutrino beam, huge statistics, wide-band spectrum and improved systematic uncertainties, is in an excellent position to probe matter NSI [44,45,50,53] and BSM physics involving neutrinos in general [64]. At present, the full physics potential of liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) detectors is still being explored.…”