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Photon excess from dark matter and neutrino scattering at MiniBooNE and MicroBooNE

Bhaskar Dutta1,*, Aparajitha Karthikeyan1,†, Doojin Kim2,‡, Adrian Thompson3,§, and Richard G. Van de Water4,∥

  • *Contact author: dutta@tamu.edu
  • †Contact author: aparajitha_96@tamu.edu
  • ‡Contact author: doojin.kim@usd.edu
  • §Contact author: a.thompson@northwestern.edu
  • ∥Contact author: vdwater@lanl.gov
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Phys. Rev. D 113, 015029 – Published 20 January, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/t14q-5ydw

Abstract

We propose new solutions to MiniBooNE electronlike excess and based on interactions involving light dark matter and/or neutrinos, that is also consistent with the photonlike excess at MicroBooNE. The novelty of our proposal lies in the utilization of a photon arising from 2-to-3 scattering processes between a nucleus/nucleon and a neutrino and/or dark matter via exchanges of light mediators. We find that viable regions exist in the coupling and mass parameter space of the mediators and light dark matter that can simultaneously explain the observed excesses and remain consistent with current experimental constraints. We further highlight that these scenarios can be tested with upcoming data from various ongoing experiments.

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Phys. Rev. D 113, 015029– Published 20 January, 2026
  • Received 8 May 2025
  • Accepted 17 December 2025
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