NU-CLEUS - Exploring coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering for new physics
by
Sala de Conferências
Departamento de Física
Coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering (CNNS), by far the strongest interaction channel between low-energy neutrinos and atoms, has long been predicted by the standard model but only recently been discovered. Modern low-threshold detector technology allows for the first time to access sub-keV nuclear recoils, the primary experimental signature of CNNS. The high interaction rate allows collecting large-statistics neutrino samples with miniaturized detectors, opening the window to precision measurements of neutrino properties sensitive to physics beyond the standard model (BSM).
The talk will cover the state of the art, with an introduction to the COHERENT experiment which discovered the process in 2017. NU-CLEUS plans to apply newly developed gram-scale cryogenic calorimeters, which recently demonstrated world-leading nuclear recoil thresholds of 20eV, to precision CNNS measurements at a nuclear power reactor. The detector miniaturization allows above-ground operation, advanced background reduction techniques as well as a scaling up to large detector arrays. I will review prototype measurements completed in Munich and show studies of the expected physics reach of NU-CLEUS in various BSM scenarios.
Filipe Veloso e Pedro Costa
