Abstract

The latest data of the two long-baseline accelerator experiments NOνA and T2K, interpreted in the standard three-flavor scenario, display a discrepancy. A mismatch in the determination of the standard CP phase δ_{CP} extracted by the two experiments is evident in the normal neutrino mass ordering. While NOνA prefers values close to δ_{CP}∼0.8π, T2K identifies values of δ_{CP}∼1.4π. Such two estimates are in disagreement at more than 90%C.L. for 2degrees of freedom. We show that such a tension can be resolved if one hypothesizes the existence of complex neutral-current nonstandard interactions (NSIs) of the flavor changing type involving the e-μ or the e-τ sectors with couplings |ϵ_{eμ}|∼|ϵ_{eτ}|∼0.2. Remarkably, in the presence of such NSIs, both experiments point towards the same common value of the standard CP phase δ_{CP}∼3π/2. Our analysis also highlights an intriguing preference for maximal CP violation in the nonstandard sector with the NSI CP phases having best fit close to ϕ_{eμ}∼ϕ_{eτ}∼3π/2, hence pointing towards imaginary NSI couplings.

Highlights

  • Introduction.—The two long-baseline (LBL) accelerator experiments NOνA and T2K have recently released new data at the Neutrino 2020 Conference [1,2]

  • While NOνA prefers values close to δCP ∼ 0.8π, T2K identifies values of δCP ∼ 1.4π. Such two estimates are in disagreement at more than 90% C.L. for 2 degrees of freedom. We show that such a tension can be resolved if one hypothesizes the existence of complex neutral-current nonstandard interactions (NSIs) of the flavor changing type involving the e − μ or the e − τ sectors with couplings jεeμj ∼ jεeτj ∼ 0.2

  • In the presence of such NSIs, both experiments point towards the same common value of the standard CP phase δCP ∼ 3π=2

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Summary

Nf Ne

Nf being the number density of the f fermion. For the Earth, we can consider neutral and isoscalar matter, with Nn ≃ Np 1⁄4 Ne, in which case Nu ≃ Nd ≃ 3Ne. The NSIs alter the effective Hamiltonian of neutrino propagation in matter, which in the flavor basis reads

Published by the American Physical Society
Findings
In order to understand how the preference for a nonzero

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