Atomic ionization by sterile-to-active neutrino conversion and constraints on dark matter sterile neutrinos with germanium detectors
The transition magnetic moment of a sterile neutrino can give rise to its conversion to an active neutrino through radiative decay or nonstandard interaction (NSI) with matter. For sterile neutrinos of keV-mass as dark matter candidates, their decay signals are actively searched for in cosmic x-ray...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Physical Society (APS)
2016
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/103068 |
| _version_ | 1811096173574881280 |
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| author | Chen, Jiunn-Wei Chi, Hsin-Chang Lin, Shin-Ted Liu, C.-P. Singh, Lakhwinder Wong, Henry T. Wu, Chih-Liang Wu, Chih-Pan |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Theoretical Physics |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Theoretical Physics Chen, Jiunn-Wei Chi, Hsin-Chang Lin, Shin-Ted Liu, C.-P. Singh, Lakhwinder Wong, Henry T. Wu, Chih-Liang Wu, Chih-Pan |
| author_sort | Chen, Jiunn-Wei |
| collection | MIT |
| description | The transition magnetic moment of a sterile neutrino can give rise to its conversion to an active neutrino through radiative decay or nonstandard interaction (NSI) with matter. For sterile neutrinos of keV-mass as dark matter candidates, their decay signals are actively searched for in cosmic x-ray spectra. In this work, we consider the NSI that leads to atomic ionization, which can be detected by direct dark matter experiments. It is found that this inelastic scattering process for a nonrelativistic sterile neutrino has a pronounced enhancement in the differential cross section at energy transfer about half of its mass, manifesting experimentally as peaks in the measurable energy spectra. The enhancement effects gradually smear out as the sterile neutrino becomes relativistic. Using data taken with low-threshold low-background germanium detectors, constraints on sterile neutrino mass and its transition magnetic moment are derived and compared with those from astrophysical observations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T16:39:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/103068 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T16:39:17Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | American Physical Society (APS) |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1030682022-09-29T20:37:45Z Atomic ionization by sterile-to-active neutrino conversion and constraints on dark matter sterile neutrinos with germanium detectors Chen, Jiunn-Wei Chi, Hsin-Chang Lin, Shin-Ted Liu, C.-P. Singh, Lakhwinder Wong, Henry T. Wu, Chih-Liang Wu, Chih-Pan Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Theoretical Physics Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Laboratory for Nuclear Science Chen, Jiunn-Wei Wu, Chih-Liang The transition magnetic moment of a sterile neutrino can give rise to its conversion to an active neutrino through radiative decay or nonstandard interaction (NSI) with matter. For sterile neutrinos of keV-mass as dark matter candidates, their decay signals are actively searched for in cosmic x-ray spectra. In this work, we consider the NSI that leads to atomic ionization, which can be detected by direct dark matter experiments. It is found that this inelastic scattering process for a nonrelativistic sterile neutrino has a pronounced enhancement in the differential cross section at energy transfer about half of its mass, manifesting experimentally as peaks in the measurable energy spectra. The enhancement effects gradually smear out as the sterile neutrino becomes relativistic. Using data taken with low-threshold low-background germanium detectors, constraints on sterile neutrino mass and its transition magnetic moment are derived and compared with those from astrophysical observations. Taiwan. Ministry of Science and Technology (Grant No. 102-2112-M-002-013-MY3) Taiwan. Ministry of Science and Technology (Grant No. 103-2112-M-259-003) Taiwan. Ministry of Science and Technology (Grant No. 104-2112-M-259-004-MY3) Taiwan. Ministry of Science and Technology (Grant No. 1042112-M-001-038-MY3) National Taiwan University (Center for Theoretical Sciences) National Taiwan University (Center of Advanced Study in Theoretical Sciences) 2016-06-08T20:37:21Z 2016-06-08T20:37:21Z 2016-05 2016-01 2016-05-19T22:00:12Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 2470-0010 2470-0029 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/103068 Hsin-Chang Chi, Shin-Ted Lin, C.-P. Liu, Lakhwinder Singh, Henry T. Wong, Chih-Liang Wu, and Chih-Pan Wu. "Atomic ionization by sterile-to-active neutrino conversion and constraints on dark matter sterile neutrinos with germanium detectors." Phys. Rev. D 93, 093012 (2016). en http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.93.093012 Physical Review D Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. American Physical Society application/pdf American Physical Society (APS) American Physical Society |
| spellingShingle | Chen, Jiunn-Wei Chi, Hsin-Chang Lin, Shin-Ted Liu, C.-P. Singh, Lakhwinder Wong, Henry T. Wu, Chih-Liang Wu, Chih-Pan Atomic ionization by sterile-to-active neutrino conversion and constraints on dark matter sterile neutrinos with germanium detectors |
| title | Atomic ionization by sterile-to-active neutrino conversion and constraints on dark matter sterile neutrinos with germanium detectors |
| title_full | Atomic ionization by sterile-to-active neutrino conversion and constraints on dark matter sterile neutrinos with germanium detectors |
| title_fullStr | Atomic ionization by sterile-to-active neutrino conversion and constraints on dark matter sterile neutrinos with germanium detectors |
| title_full_unstemmed | Atomic ionization by sterile-to-active neutrino conversion and constraints on dark matter sterile neutrinos with germanium detectors |
| title_short | Atomic ionization by sterile-to-active neutrino conversion and constraints on dark matter sterile neutrinos with germanium detectors |
| title_sort | atomic ionization by sterile to active neutrino conversion and constraints on dark matter sterile neutrinos with germanium detectors |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/103068 |
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