Implications of the first CONUS+ measurement of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering

Abstract

The CONUS+ collaboration has reported their first observation of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CE$\nu$NS). The experiment uses reactor electron antineutrinos and germanium detectors with recoil thresholds as low as $160~\mathrm{eV_\text{ee}}$. With an exposure of $327$ kg $\times$ d, the measurement was made with a statistical significance of $3.7 \sigma$. We explore several physics implications of this observation, both within the standard model and in the context of new physics. We focus on a determination of the weak mixing angle, nonstandard and generalized neutrino interactions both with heavy and light mediators, neutrino magnetic moments, and the up-scattering of neutrinos into sterile fermions through the sterile dipole portal and new mediators. Our results highlight the role of reactor-based \cevns~experiments in probing a vast array of neutrino properties and new physics models.