Clarity through the neutrino fog: constraining new forces in dark matter detectors

Blanco-Mas, Pablo; Coloma, Pilar; Herrera, Gonzalo; Huber, Patrick; Kopp, Joachim; Shoemaker, Ian M.; Tabrizi, Zahra

doi:10.1007/JHEP08(2025)043

Clarity through the neutrino fog: constraining new forces in dark matter detectors

Journal Article · Wed Aug 06 00:00:00 EDT 2025 · Journal of High Energy Physics (Online)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP08(2025)043· OSTI ID:3008831

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Univ. Autonoma de Madrid (Spain)
Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ. (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA (United States)
European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Geneva (Switzerland); Mainz Institute for Theoretical Physics (Germany)
European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Geneva (Switzerland); Univ. of Pittsburgh, PA (United States)

The PandaX-4T and XENONnT experiments present indications of Coherent Elastic Neutrino Nucleus Scattering (CEνNS) from ⁸B solar neutrinos at 2.6σ and 2.7σ, respectively. This constitutes the first observation of the neutrino “floor” or “fog”, an irreducible background that future dark matter searches in terrestrial detectors will have to contend with. Here, we first discuss the contributions from neutrino–electron scattering and from the Migdal effect in the region of interest of these experiments, and we argue that they are non-negligible. Second, we make use of the recent PandaX-4T and XENONnT data to derive novel constraints on light scalar and vector mediators coupling to neutrinos and quarks. We demonstrate that these experiments already provide world-leading laboratory constraints on new light mediators in some regions of parameter space.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ. (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0020262

OSTI ID:: 3008831

Journal Information:: Journal of High Energy Physics (Online), Journal Name: Journal of High Energy Physics (Online) Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 2025; ISSN 1029-8479

Publisher:: Springer NatureCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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