Joint analysis of reactor and accelerator CE <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si4.svg"> <mml:mi>ν</mml:mi> </mml:math> NS data on germanium: implications for the standard model and nuclear physics
This work presents the first comprehensive joint analysis of all available Coherent Elastic Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering (CE ν NS) data on germanium: those observed at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) by the COHERENT collaboration and those of the nuclear reactors revealed by the CONUS+ experiment using germanium detectors. In addition to COHERENT and CONUS+, we incorporate reactor data from TEXONO and ν GeN, thereby enhancing both the statistical significance and the systematic reliability of our study. We provide state-of-the-art determinations of key nuclear physics and Standard Model parameters, including the neutron root-mean-square (rms) radius of germanium nuclei, the weak mixing angle, and the neutrino charge radius. The observed tension of about 2 σ between the COHERENT germanium measurement and the Standard Model prediction motivates a detailed reassessment of the theoretical cross-section. In particular, we examine the impact of nuclear form factors and uncertainties in the nuclear radius, as well as the potential influence of a systematic shift in the neutrino flux normalisation at the SNS. Our results highlight the reliability of CE ν NS as a precision tool, reinforced by the complementarity of different experimental inputs, and lay the groundwork for future advances in the field.
Authors
- M. Cadeddu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3974-1995)
- G. Co’ (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9613-5211)
- F. Dordei (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2571-5067)
- M. Atzori Corona (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5092-3602)
- C. Giunti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2281-4788)
- N. Cargioli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6515-5850)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Physics Letters B
- Published
- 2025-09-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2025.139856
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Nuclear physics research studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.74
Funders
- Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca