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This study analyzes data from three xenon-based dark matter detectors (XENONnT, PandaX-4T, and LUX-ZEPLIN) to investigate neutrino interactions, building on recent first observations of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering from solar neutrinos. The researchers examined both electron recoil and nuclear recoil data to probe Standard Model physics and potential beyond-Standard Model phenomena, with particular sensitivity to tau neutrino components of solar neutrinos. While these dark matter detectors currently offer lower precision than dedicated neutrino experiments, they provide complementary measurements that are especially valuable for studying flavor-dependent new physics effects.
Why it matters
This work demonstrates how instruments designed for dark matter detection can serve dual purposes as neutrino detectors, potentially revealing new physics beyond our current understanding. The ability to detect tau neutrino interactions in solar neutrinos fills an observational gap and could help identify deviations from Standard Model predictions in the low-energy regime.
arXiv:2509.22178v3 Announce Type: replace-cross
Abstract: Direct detection dark matter experiments have proven to be compelling probes for studying low-energy neutrino interactions with both nuclei and atomic electrons, offering complementary information to accelerator and reactor-based neutrino experiments. Recently, the XENONnT and PandaX-4T collaborations reported the first evidence of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering from $^8mathrm{B}$ solar neutrinos. Thanks to their excellent background rejection capabilities and distinctive signal signatures, dual-phase time projection chambers are also sensitive to $pp$ solar neutrinos via their elastic scattering off atomic electrons in the target material. Although this signal is subdominant within the Standard Model, it becomes significantly enhanced in many beyond the Standard Model scenarios, offering a unique opportunity to probe new physics in the low-energy regime. In this work, we analyze the latest electron recoil and nuclear recoil data from XENONnT, PandaX-4T, and LUX-ZEPLIN to probe Standard Model and Beyond the Standard Model physics. While the precision of current neutrino measurements from such detectors remains lower than that achieved by dedicated neutrino experiments, their sensitivity to the tau neutrino component of solar neutrinos helps complete the overall picture, especially when investigating flavor-dependent new physics effects.
Source: When backgrounds become signals: neutrino interactions in xenon-based dark matter detectors