The $$\nu $$ ν -cleus experiment: a gram-scale fiducial-volume cryogenic detector for the first detection of coherent neutrino–nucleus scattering

Abstract

We discuss a small-scale experiment, called ν-cleus, for the first detection of coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering by probing nuclear-recoil energies down to the 10 eV regime. The detector consists of low-threshold CaWO 4 and Al 2 O 3 calorimeter arrays with a total mass of about 10 g and several cryogenic veto detectors operated at millikelvin temperatures. Realizing a fiducial volume and a multi-element target, the detector enables active discrimination of γ , neutron and surface backgrounds. A first prototype Al 2 O 3 device, operated above ground in a setup without shielding, has achieved an energy threshold of ∼20 eV and further improvements are in reach. A sensitivity study for the detection of coherent neutrino scattering at nuclear power plants shows a unique discovery potential (5σ ) within a measuring time of 2 weeks. Furthermore, a site at a thermal research reactor and the use of a radioactive neutrino source are investigated. With this technology, real-time monitoring of nuclear power plants is feasible.

Coherent elastic neutrino nucleus scattering as a probe of aZ′through kinetic and mass mixing effects

“…In addition to further measurements by the COHERENT Collaboration, there exists a suite of near-term experimental programs designed to measure CEνNS with high statistics at nuclear reactor facilities [25][26][27][28] with ultralow threshold detectors. We find the projected reach of cryogenic germanium and silicon detectors at such reactor facilities to be stronger than future COHERENT measurements for Z 0 masses in the sub-10 MeV range.…”

Recent Probes of Standard and Non-standard Neutrino Physics With Nuclei

“…Astrophysical and laboratory searches [1] offer unique opportunities to probe great challenges in modern-day physics such as the underlying physics of the fundamental electroweak interactions within and beyond the SM [2,3] in the neutral and charged-current sector of semi-leptonic neutrino-nucleus processes [4][5][6]. To meet the sufficient energy and flux requirements, the relevant studies consider different low-energy neutrino sources including (i) Supernova (SN) neutrinos, (ii) accelerator neutrinos (from pion decay at rest, π-DAR) and (iii) reactor neutrinos, while interesting proposals aiming to use 51 Cr and beta-beam neutrino sources have appeared recently. The detection mechanism of low-energy neutrino interactions with nucleons and nuclei is experimentally hard and limited by the tiny nuclear recoils produced by the scattering process.…”

“…[32][33][34][35][36][37][38] which may have direct implications to the neutrinofloor [39][40][41] and to DM searches [42][43][44]. Being a rapidly developing field, there are several experimental programs aiming to observe CEνNS in the near future, such as the TEXONO [45], CONNIE [46], MINER [47], vGEN [48], CONUS [49], Ricochet [50] and NUCLEUS [51].…”

Production of tachyonic neutrino in matter

“…Using tungsten (Z=74) as the target, they calculated a cross section that is proportional to -10 cm . 68 2 Still in the context of neutrino-nucleus interaction, a possible mechanism is the photon emission from weak neutral current interaction [29]. In this case, the estimated cross section is of the order of -10 cm .…”