Does the neutrino magnetic moment have an impact on solar neutrino physics?

Solar neutrino observations coupled with the recent KamLAND data suggest that spin-flavor precession scenario does not play a major role in neutrino propagation in the solar matter. We provide approximate analytical formulas and numerical results to estimate the contribution of the spin-flavor precession, if any, to the electron neutrino survival probability when the magnetic moment and magnetic field combination is small.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure

Prospects for Detecting a Neutrino Magnetic Moment with a Tritium Source and Beta-beams

We compare the prospects for detecting a neutrino magnetic moment by the measurement of neutrinos from a tritium source, reactors and low-energy beta-beams. In all cases the neutrinos or antineutrinos are detected by scattering of electrons. We find that a large (20 MCurie) tritium source could improve the limit on the neutrino magnetic moment significantly, down to the level of a few $\times 10^{-12}$ while low-energy beta-beams with sufficiently rapid production of ions could improve the limits to the level of a few $\times 10^{-11}$. The latter would require ion production at the rate of at least $10^{15}$ s$^{-1}$.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Constraining Nonstandard Neutrino-Electron Interactions

We present a detailed analysis on nonstandard neutrino interactions (NSI) with electrons including all muon and electron (anti)-neutrino data from existing accelerators and reactors, in conjunction with the ``neutrino counting'' data (e- e+ -> nu nu gamma) from the four LEP collaborations. First we perform a one-parameter-at-a-time analysis, showing how most constraints improve with respect to previous results reported in the literature. We also present more robust results where the NSI parameters are allowed to vary freely in the analysis. We show the importance of combining LEP data with the other experiments in removing degeneracies in the global analysis constraining flavor-conserving NSI parameters which, at 90 % and 95 % C.L., must lie within unique allowed regions. Despite such improved constraints, there is still substantial room for improvement, posing a big challenge for upcoming experiments.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures. Final version to appear in Phys. Rev.

Neutrino magnetic moments, flavor mixing, and the SuperKamiokande solar data

We find that magnetic neutrino-electron scattering is unaffected by oscillations for vacuum mixing of Dirac neutrinos with only diagonal moments and for Majorana neutrinos with two flavors. For MSW mixing, these cases again obtain, though the effective moments can depend on the neutrino energy. Thus, e.g., the magnetic moments measured with $\bar{\nu}_e$ from a reactor and $\nu_e$ from the Sun could be different. With minimal assumptions, we find a new limit on $\mu_{\nu}$ using the 825-days SuperKamiokande solar neutrino data: $|\mu_{\nu}| \le 1.5\times 10^{-10} \mu_B$ at 90% CL, comparable to the existing reactor limit.Comment: 4 pages including two inline figures. New version has 825 days SK result, some minor revisions. Accepted for Physical Review Letter

Limits on the neutrino magnetic moment from the MUNU experiment

The MUNU experiment was carried out at the Bugey nuclear power reactor. The aim was the study of electron antineutrino-electron elastic scattering at low energy. The recoil electrons were recorded in a gas time projection chamber, immersed in a tank filled with liquid scintillator serving as veto detector, suppressing in particular Compton electrons. The measured electron recoil spectrum is presented. Upper limits on the neutrino magnetic moment were derived and are discussed.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures Added reference: p.3, 1st col., TEXONO Added sentence: p.4, 1st col., electron attachement Modified sentence: p.5, 1st col., readout sequence Added sentence: p.5, 1st col., fast rise time cu

Neutrinos in a spherical box

In the present paper we study some neutrino properties as they may appear in the low energy neutrinos emitted in triton decay with maximum neutrino energy of 18.6 keV. The technical challenges to this end can be achieved by building a very large TPC capable of detecting low energy recoils, down to a a few tenths of a keV, within the required low background constraints. More specifically We propose the development of a spherical gaseous TPC of about 10-m in radius and a 200 Mcurie triton source in the center of curvature. One can list a number of exciting studies, concerning fundamental physics issues, that could be made using a large volume TPC and low energy antineutrinos: 1) The oscillation length involving the small angle of the neutrino mixing matrix, directly measured in this disappearance experiment, is fully contained inside the detector. Measuring the counting rate of neutrino-electron elastic scattering as a function of the distance of the source will give a precise and unambiguous measurement of the oscillation parameters free of systematic errors. In fact first estimates show that even with a year's data taking a sensitivity of a few percent for the measurement of the above angle will be achieved. 2) The low energy detection threshold offers a unique sensitivity for the neutrino magnetic moment which is about two orders of magnitude beyond the current experimental limit. 3) Scattering at such low neutrino energies has never been studied and any departure from the expected behavior may be an indication of new physics beyond the standard model. In this work we mainly focus on the various theoretical issues involved including a precise determination of the Weinberg angle at very low momentum transfer.Comment: 16 Pages, LaTex, 7 figures, talk given at NANP 2003, Dubna, Russia, June 23, 200

Searches for axioelectric effect of solar axions with BGO-scintillator and BGO-bolometer detectors

A search for axioelectric absorption of 5.5 MeV solar axions produced in the $p + d \rightarrow {^3\rm{He}}+\gamma~(5.5~ \rm{MeV})$ reaction has been performed with a BGO detectors. A model-independent limit on the product of axion-nucleon $g_{AN}^3$ and axion-electron $g_{Ae}$ coupling constants has been obtained: $| g_{Ae}\times g_{AN}^3|< 1.9\times 10^{-10}$ for 90\% C.L..Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, Proceedings of the 10th Patras Workshop on Axions, WIMPs and WISP 29 June - 4 July 2014, CERN, Geneva, Switzerlan

Effects of neutrino oscillations and neutrino magnetic moments on elastic neutrino-electron scattering

We consider elastic antineutrino-electron scattering taking into account possible effects of neutrino masses and mixing and of neutrino magnetic moments and electric dipole moments. Having in mind antineutrinos produced in a nuclear reactor we compute, in particular, the weak-electromagnetic interference terms which are linear in the magnetic (electric dipole) moments and also in the neutrino masses. We show that these terms are, however, suppressed compared to the pure weak and electromagnetic cross section. We also comment upon the possibility of using the electromagnetic cross section to investigate neutrino oscillations.Comment: 12 pages, REVTEX file, no figures, submitted to Phys.Rev.

Neutrino scattering on polarized electron target and neutrino magnetic moment

The completed and proposed experiments for the measurement of the neutrino magnetic moment are discussed. To improve the sensitivity of the search for the neutrino magnetic moment we suggest to use a polarized electron target in the processes of neutrino (antineutrino) -- electron scattering. It is shown that in this case the weak interaction term in the total cross section is few times smaller comparing with unpolarized case, but the electromagnetic term does not depend on electron polarization.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures. Talk given at the XXVIII ITEP Winter School of Physics, Snegiri, Russia, February 22 - March 1, 200

Heat flow of the Earth and resonant capture of solar 57-Fe axions

In a very conservative approach, supposing that total heat flow of the Earth is exclusively due to resonant capture inside the Earth of axions, emitted by 57-Fe nuclei on Sun, we obtain limit on mass of hadronic axion: m_a<1.8 keV. Taking into account release of heat from decays of 40-K, 232-Th, 238-U inside the Earth, this estimation could be improved to the value: m_a<1.6 keV. Both the values are less restrictive than limits set in devoted experiments to search for 57-Fe axions (m_a<216-745 eV), but are much better than limits obtained in experiments with 83-Kr (m_a<5.5 keV) and 7-Li (m_a<13.9-32 keV).Comment: 8 page