Observation of Coherent Elastic Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering by COHERENT

by Prof. Kate Scholberg (Duke University)

Thursday 26 Oct 2017, 15:00 → 16:00 US/Eastern

Universe

Coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEvNS) is a process in which a neutrino scatters off an entire nucleus at low momentum transfer, and for which the observable signature is a low-energy nuclear recoil. It represents a background for direct dark matter detection experiments, as well as a possible signal for astrophysical neutrinos. Furthermore, because the process is cleanly predicted in the Standard Model, a measurement is sensitive to beyond-the-Standard-Model physics, such as non-standard interactions of neutrinos. The process was first predicted in 1973. It was measured for the first time by the COHERENT collaboration using the high-quality source of pion-decay-at-rest neutrinos from the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and a CsI[Na] scintillator detector. This talk will describe COHERENT's recent 6.7-sigma measurement of CEvNS, the status and plans of COHERENT's suite of detectors at the SNS, and future physics reach.

Slides bnl17.pdf