The physics potential of a reactor neutrino experiment with Skipper CCDs: measuring the weak mixing angle

Abstract

We analyze in detail the physics potential of an experiment like the one recently proposed by the vIOLETA collaboration: a kilogram-scale Skipper CCD detector deployed 12 meters away from a commercial nuclear reactor core. This experiment would be able to detect coherent elastic neutrino nucleus scattering from reactor neutrinos, capitalizing on the exceptionally low ionization energy threshold of Skipper CCDs. To estimate the physics reach, we elect the measurement of the weak mixing angle as a case study. We choose a realistic benchmark experimental setup and perform variations on this benchmark to understand the role of quenching factor and its systematic uncertainties, background rate and spectral shape, total exposure, and reactor antineutrino flux uncertainty. We take full advantage of the reactor flux measurement of the Daya Bay collaboration to perform a data driven analysis which is, up to a certain extent, independent of the theoretical un- certainties on the reactor antineutrino flux. We show that, under reasonable assumptions, this experimental setup may provide a competitive measurement of the weak mixing angle at few MeV scale with neutrino-nucleus scattering.

The physics potential of a reactor neutrino experiment with Skipper-CCDs: searching for new physics with light mediators

“…Nevertheless, since the experimental setup consists on a set of Skipper-CCD detectors near a commercial nuclear reactor, the overburden is only set by the concrete over the detector and the power plant concrete dome. We thus adopt a conservative estimate of the background rate of 1 kdru (1 differential rate unit, or dru, is 1 event per day-keV-kg) [84].…”

“…A novel technology that has yet to be exploited for CEvNS is that of Skipper charged coupled devices, or Skipper-CCDs. A basic explanation of the Skipper-CCD technology can be found in our previous work [10], but we highlight here two key features of these detectors:…”

Sub-GeV dark matter and neutrino searches with Skipper-CCDs: status and prospects.

“…In addition, the Neutrino Interaction Observation with a Low Energy Threshold Array ( IOLETA) is an initiative to deploy a multi-kilogram skipper-CCD detector to detect antineutrinos from a nuclear reactor. The IOLETA collaboration is projecting an unprecedented sensitivities to explore CE NS [36].…”

LEvEL: Low-Energy Neutrino Experiment at the LHC

“…However, due to the outgoing final-state neutrino, it is impossible to reconstruct the incoming neutrino energy on an event-by-event basis. 8 Instead, we take the expression in eq. (4.2) and determine the expected event spectra distributed as a function of the recoiling nuclear kinetic energy as our observable.…”

“…This rich experimental landscape will allow for several novel capabilities in probing neutrino physics. These include (for instance), (1) mitigation of systematic uncertainties with νPRISM at HK [1] and DUNE-PRISM [2], (2) detailed topological information in liquid argon time projection chambers (LArTPCs) [3][4][5], (3) low-energy detection thresholds [6][7][8], and many more opportunities.…”