Physics reach of a low threshold scintillating argon bubble chamber in coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering reactor experiments
L. J. Flores (Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, A.P. 20-364, Ciudad de México 01000, México); Eduardo Peinado (Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, A.P. 20-364, Ciudad de México 01000, México); E. Alfonso-Pita (Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, A.P. 20-364, Ciudad de México 01000, México); K. Allen (Department of Physics, Indiana University South Bend, South Bend, Indiana 46634, USA); M. Baker (Department of Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton T6G 2E1, Canada); et al - Show all 34 authors
The physics reach of a low threshold (100 eV) scintillating argon bubble chamber sensitive to coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEνNS) from reactor neutrinos is studied. The sensitivity to the weak mixing angle, neutrino magnetic moment, and a light Z′ gauge boson mediator are analyzed. A Monte Carlo simulation of the backgrounds is performed to assess their contribution to the signal. The analysis shows that world-leading sensitivities are achieved with a one-year exposure for a 10 kg chamber at 3 m from a 1MWth research reactor or a 100 kg chamber at 30 m from a 2000MWth power reactor. Such a detector has the potential to become the leading technology to study CEνNS using nuclear reactors.