Dark photon distortions of NO$\nu$A and T2K neutrino oscillations

Abstract

Dark photons coupling to $L_\mu-L_\tau$ lepton number difference are a highly studied light dark matter candidate, with potential to be discovered through their impact on terrestrial neutrino oscillation experiments. We re-examine this in the light of claimed tensions between the NO$\nu$A and T2K long baseline experiments, also taking into account data from the MINOS experiment. We obtain leading limits on the $L_\mu-L_\tau$ gauge coupling $g'$ versus dark photon mass $m_{A'}$, and find no statistically significant alleviation of the tension from inclusion of the new physics effect.