Solutions to the MiniBooNE Anomaly from New Physics in Charged Meson Decays

Abstract

We point out that production of new bosons by charged meson decays can greatly enhance the sensitivity of beam-focused accelerator-based experiments to new physics signals. This enhancement arises since the charged mesons are focused and their three-body decays do not suffer from helicity suppression in the same way as their usual two-body decays. As a realistic application, we attempt to explain the MiniBooNE low energy excess utilizing this overlooked mechanism, uniquely realizing dark-sector interpretations as plausible solutions to the excess. As proof of the principle, we consider two well-motivated classes of dark-sector models, models of vector-portal dark matter and models of long-lived (pseudo)scalar. We argue that the model parameter values to accommodate the excess are consistent with existing limits and that they can be tested at current and future accelerator-based neutrino experiments.

arXiv comment10 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables, Journal submission version

References in corpus (79)

• The automated computation of tree-level and next-to-leading order differential cross sections, and their matching to parton shower simulations
• Evidence for Neutrino Oscillations from the Observation of Electron Anti-neutrinos in a Muon Anti-Neutrino Beam
• Inelastic Dark Matter
• Search for a dark photon in e+e- collisions at BABAR
• Sterile Neutrino Oscillations: The Global Picture
• Significant Excess of ElectronLike Events in the MiniBooNE Short-Baseline Neutrino Experiment
• Unexplained Excess of Electron-Like Events From a 1-GeV Neutrino Beam
• Updated global analysis of neutrino oscillations in the presence of eV-scale sterile neutrinos
• The Neutrino Flux prediction at MiniBooNE
• Lorentz and CPT Violation in Neutrinos
• Precision Rosenbluth measurement of the proton elastic form factors
• Are there sterile neutrinos at the eV scale?
• Updated Global 3+1 Analysis of Short-BaseLine Neutrino Oscillations
• Dark matter search in missing energy events with NA64
• Updated MiniBooNE Neutrino Oscillation Results with Increased Data and New Background Studies
• A combined analysis of short-baseline neutrino experiments in the (3+1) and (3+2) sterile neutrino oscillation hypotheses
• Dark Neutrino Portal to Explain MiniBooNE excess
• Status of Light Sterile Neutrino Searches
• Dark Matter Search in Nucleon, Pion, and Electron Channels from a Proton Beam Dump with MiniBooNE
• Search for pair and single production of vectorlike quarks in final states with at least one $Z$ boson decaying into a pair of electrons or muons in $pp$ collision data collected with the ATLAS detector at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV
• 3+1 and 3+2 Sterile Neutrino Fits
• The MiniBooNE anomaly and heavy neutrino decay
• Global three-parameter model for neutrino oscillations using Lorentz violation
• Where Are We With Light Sterile Neutrinos?
• U(1)' mediated decays of heavy sterile neutrinos in MiniBooNE
• Sterile-active neutrino oscillations and shortcuts in the extra dimension
• Lorentz- and CPT-violating models for neutrino oscillations
• Implications of 3+1 Short-Baseline Neutrino Oscillations
• Constraints on New Neutrino Interactions via Light Abelian Vector Bosons
• Probing Muonic Forces and Dark Matter at Kaon Factories
• Explaining $(g-2{)}_{\mu ,e}$, the KOTO anomaly and the MiniBooNE excess in an extended Higgs model with sterile neutrinos
• Inelastic Boosted Dark Matter at Direct Detection Experiments
• First Constraints on the Complete Neutrino Mixing Matrix with a Sterile Neutrino
• Testing New Physics Explanations of MiniBooNE Anomaly at Neutrino Scattering Experiments
• On particle production for high energy neutrino beams
• The extended-track reconstruction for MiniBooNE
• Portal Connecting Dark Photons and Axions
• New Physics and the Proton Radius Problem
• Explaining the MiniBooNE excess by a decaying sterile neutrino with mass in the 250 MeV range
• Dark Matter "Collider" from Inelastic Boosted Dark Matter
• Search for $K^{+}$ decays to a muon and invisible particles
• A Dark Seesaw Solution to Low Energy Anomalies: MiniBooNE, the muon $(g-2)$, and BaBar
• Constraint on parity-violating muonic forces
• Dark matter signals from timing spectra at neutrino experiments
• Physics Motivation for a Pilot Dark Matter Search at Jefferson Laboratory
• Decaying Sterile Neutrinos and the Short Baseline Oscillation Anomalies
• Neutrinos in Large Extra Dimensions and Short-Baseline ${\nu }_e$ Appearance
• Three-parameter Lorentz-violating texture for neutrino mixing
• Impact of nonstandard interactions on sterile neutrino searches at IceCube
• Cosmic infrared background excess from axion-like particles and implications for multi-messenger observations of blazars
• Understanding the MiniBooNE and the muon and electron $g-2$ anomalies with a light $Z^{\prime }$ and a second Higgs doublet
• Exploring a Non-Minimal Sterile Neutrino Model Involving Decay at IceCube and Beyond
• A sub-GeV dark matter model
• Dark sector origin of the KOTO and MiniBooNE anomalies
• On The Decaying-Sterile Neutrino Solution to the Electron (Anti)Neutrino Appearance Anomalies
• Two-Higgs doublet solution to the LSND, MiniBooNE and muon $g-2$ anomalies
• Implications of the dark axion portal for the muon g-2, B-factories, fixed target neutrino experiments and beam dumps
• Three Twin Neutrinos: Evidence from LSND and MiniBooNE
• Dark photon relic dark matter production through the dark axion portal
• Constraining secret gauge interactions of neutrinos by meson decays
• Search for Neutrino-Induced Neutral Current $\Delta$ Radiative Decay in MicroBooNE and a First Test of the MiniBooNE Low Energy Excess Under a Single-Photon Hypothesis
• A New Light Higgs Boson and Short-Baseline Neutrino Anomalies
• Combining Sterile Neutrino Fits to Short Baseline Data with IceCube Data
• Constraining axion-like particles from rare pion decays
• Single photon events from neutral current interactions at MiniBooNE
• The Simplest and Most Predictive Model of Muon $g-2$ and Thermal Dark Matter
• Viability of $\Delta m^2\sim$ 1 eV${}^2$ sterile neutrino mixing models in light of MiniBooNE electron neutrino and antineutrino data from the Booster and NuMI beamlines
• The MiniBooNE anomaly, the decay Ds -> mu+nu and heavy sterile neutrino
• Severe Constraints on New Physics Explanations of the MiniBooNE Excess
• Model Independent Bounds on the Non-Oscillatory Explanations of the MiniBooNE Excess
• Search for three body pion decays ${\pi }^{+}\to l^{+}\nu X$
• An Altarelli Cocktail for the MiniBooNE Anomaly?
• Hidden Photon Dark Matter Interacting via Axion-like Particles
• Supernova constraints on an axion-photon-dark photon interaction
• Opportunities for probing $U(1{)}_{T3R}$ with light mediators
• Gamma-ray spectral modulations induced by photon-ALP-dark photon oscillations
• Optimizing Energetic Light Dark Matter Searches in Dark Matter and Neutrino Experiments
• Probing Dark-ALP Portals at Future $e^{+}{e}^{-}$ Colliders
• Explaining $g_{\mu }-2$ and $R_{K^{(\ast )}}$ using the light mediators of $U(1{)}_{T3R}$

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Prospects for detecting axionlike particles at the Coherent CAPTAIN-Mills experiment
• Inelastic nuclear scattering from neutrinos and dark matter
• Efficiently Exploring Multi-Dimensional Parameter Spaces Beyond the Standard Model
• More Ingredients for an Altarelli Cocktail at MiniBooNE
• Quasi-Sterile Neutrinos from Dark Sectors I. BSM matter effects in neutrino oscillations and the short-baseline anomalies