Implications of the first CONUS+ measurement of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering

Abstract

The CONUS+ collaboration has reported their first observation of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CE$\nu$NS). The experiment uses reactor electron antineutrinos and germanium detectors with recoil thresholds as low as $160\mathrm{e}{\mathrm{V}}_{\text{ee}}$. With an exposure of $327$ kg $\times$ d, the measurement was made with a statistical significance of $3.7\sigma$. We explore several physics implications of this observation, both within the standard model and in the context of new physics. We focus on a determination of the weak mixing angle, nonstandard and generalized neutrino interactions both with heavy and light mediators, neutrino magnetic moments, and the up-scattering of neutrinos into sterile fermions through the sterile dipole portal and new mediators. Our results highlight the role of reactor-based \cevns~experiments in probing a vast array of neutrino properties and new physics models.

Comments: V1: 27 pages, 12 figures, 2 tables, V2: Updated analysis according to the latest data release from the CONUS+ Collaboration. Main conclusions unchanged, V3: matches the published version