First constraint on coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering in argon

Abstract

Coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEvNS) is calculated to be the dominant neutrino scattering channel for neutrinos of energy $E_ν$ < 100 MeV . We report a limit for this process from data collected in an engineering run of the 29 kg CENNS-10 liquid argon detector located 27.5 m from the pion decay-at-rest neutrino source at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) with 4.2 × 10$^{22}$ protons on target. The dataset provided constraints on beam-related backgrounds critical for future measurements and yielded < 7.4 candidate CEvNS events which implies a cross section for the process, averaged over the SNS pion decay-at-rest flux, of < 3.4 × 10$^{−39}$ cm$^2$ , a limit within twice the Standard Model prediction. This is the first limit on CEvNS from an argon nucleus and confirms the earlier CsI[Na] nonstandard neutrino interaction constraints from the collaboration. This run demonstrated the feasibility of the ongoing experimental effort to detect CEvNS with liquid argon.