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Elastic neutrino-electron scattering perspectives at nuclear reactors

Luis A. Delgadillo1,2,*, Qishan Liu1,3,†, and Randhir Singh1,2,‡

  • *Contact author: ldelgadillof@ihep.ac.cn
  • †Contact author: liuqs@ihep.ac.cn
  • ‡Contact author: singhrandhir@ihep.ac.cn
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Phys. Rev. D 113, 113007 – Published 15 June, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/m6yl-nzd9

Abstract

The determination of the weak mixing angle, sin2θW, at low momentum transfers remains a powerful test of the Standard Model and its potential new physics extensions. In this paper, we explore some physics opportunities at present and future reactor neutrino experiments through elastic neutrino-electron scattering (EνES). We assess the expected sensitivity to the weak mixing angle considering the CLOUD, TAO, and DANSS experimental configurations. We find that both CLOUD and TAO may achieve a precision that surpasses the current global fit from reactor experiments, while DANSS alone is expected to surpass the benchmark precision set by TEXONO measurement of the weak mixing angle. Additionally, we derive projected upper limits for the nonstandard neutrino interactions, effective neutrino magnetic moment (μν) and translate these into constraints on the neutrino transition magnetic moments (Λi). Our results demonstrate the physics potential of the EνES channel at current and upcoming reactor-based neutrino experiments.

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Phys. Rev. D 113, 113007– Published 15 June, 2026
  • Received 4 March 2026
  • Accepted 19 May 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by SCOAP3.

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