Ultralight dark matter search in a large liquid scintillator detector

Abstract

The nature of dark matter remains one of the most profound mysteries in modern physics. In this work, we investigate the phenomenological implications of ultralight scalar dark matter (ULDM) coupled to neutrinos. We focus on a large homogeneous liquid scintillator detector, analyzing the regime where ULDM oscillations lead to time-averaged distortions in neutrino oscillation probabilities. We derive sensitivity limits on the modulation parameters ${\eta }_{{\Delta }_{21}}$ and ${\eta }_{{\Delta }_{31}}$, which quantify ULDM-induced smearing effect in oscillations driven by solar ($\Delta m_{21}^2$) and atmospheric ($\Delta m_{31}^2$) mass-squared differences. We further demonstrate that ULDM interactions could produce a mild impact on both the determinations of the neutrino oscillation parameters and the neutrino mass ordering sensitivity. These results showcase the benefits of a large liquid scintillator detector as a powerful probe of neutrino-ULDM interactions via neutrino oscillations.

Comments: v2: 22 pages, 7 figures, Results unchanged. To appear in PRD