Severe Constraints on New Physics Explanations of the MiniBooNE Excess
| Autor: | Matthew Moschella, Yonatan Kahn, Gordan Krnjaic, J. R. Jordan, J. Spitz |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
Physics
Particle physics 010308 nuclear & particles physics Physics beyond the Standard Model High Energy Physics::Phenomenology General Physics and Astronomy FOS: Physical sciences 01 natural sciences law.invention MiniBooNE High Energy Physics - Phenomenology High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph) law 0103 physical sciences High Energy Physics::Experiment Fermilab Beam dump Anomaly (physics) Neutrino 010306 general physics Neutrino oscillation Event (particle physics) |
| Zdroj: | Physical Review Letters |
| Popis: | The MiniBooNE experiment has recently reported an anomalous 4.5$\sigma$ excess of electron-like events consistent with $\nu_e$ appearance from a $\nu_\mu$ beam at short-baseline. Given the lack of corresponding $\nu_\mu$ disappearance observations, required in the case of oscillations involving a sterile flavor, there is strong motivation for alternative explanations of this anomaly. We consider the possibility that the observed electron-like signal may actually be due to hypothetical new particles,which do not involve new sources of neutrino production or oscillations. We find that the electron-like event energy and angular distributions in the full MiniBooNE data-set, including neutrino mode, antineutrino mode, and beam dump mode, severely limit, and in some cases rule out, new physics scenarios as an explanation for the observed neutrino and antineutrino mode excesses. Specifically, scenarios in which the new particle decays (visibly or semi-visibly) or scatters elastically in the detector are strongly disfavored. Using generic kinematic arguments, this paper extends the existing MiniBooNE results and interpretations to exhaustively constrain previously unconsidered new physics signatures and emphasizes the power of the MiniBooNE beam dump search to further constrain models for the excess. Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures. Added references, added footnote. Matches PRL version |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
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