Axionlike particles searches in reactor experiments

• Published in: The journal of high energy physics Vol. 2021; no. 3; pp. 1 - 38
• Main Authors: Sierra, D. Aristizabal, De Romeri, V., Flores, L. J., Papoulias, D. K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.03.2021; Springer Nature B.V; SpringerOpen
• Subjects: Beyond Standard Model; Classical and Quantum Gravitation; Couplings; Elastic scattering; Electron-positron pairs; Elementary Particles; Experiments; High energy physics; Neutrino Physics; Neutrinos; Nuclear reactors; Particle physics; Photons; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Quantum Field Theories; Quantum Field Theory; Quantum Physics; Regular Article - Theoretical Physics; Relativity Theory; Searching; String Theory; Neutrino Physics; Beyond Standard Model
• ISSN: 1029-8479; 1029-8479
• DOI: 10.1007/JHEP03(2021)294

A bstract Reactor neutrino experiments provide a rich environment for the study of axionlike particles (ALPs). Using the intense photon flux produced in the nuclear reactor core, these experiments have the potential to probe ALPs with masses below 10 MeV. We explore the feasibility of these searches by considering ALPs produced through Primakoff and Compton-like processes as well as nuclear transitions. These particles can subsequently interact with the material of a nearby detector via inverse Primakoff and inverse Compton-like scatterings, via axio-electric absorption, or they can decay into photon or electron-positron pairs. We demonstrate that reactor-based neutrino experiments have a high potential to test ALP-photon couplings and masses, currently probed only by cosmological and astrophysical observations, thus providing complementary laboratory-based searches. We furthermore show how reactor facilities will be able to test previously unexplored regions in the ∼MeV ALP mass range and ALP-electron couplings of the order of g aee ∼ 10 − 8 as well as ALP-nucleon couplings of the order of g ann 1 ∼ 10 −9 , testing regions beyond TEXONO and Borexino limits.