Observation of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering

D. Akimov; J. B. Albert; P. An; C. Awe; P. S. Barbeau; B. Becker; V. Belov; A. Brown; A. Bolozdynya; B. Cabrera-Palmer; M. Cervantes; J. I. Collar; R. J. Cooper; R. L. Cooper; C. Cuesta; D. J. Dean; J. A. Detwiler; A. Eberhardt; Y. Efremenko; S. R. Elliott; E. M. Erkela; L. Fabris; M. Febbraro; N. E. Fields; W. Fox; Z. Fu; A. Galindo-Uribarri; M. P. Green; M. Hai; M. R. Heath; S. Hedges; D. Hornback; T. W. Hossbach; E. B. Iverson; L. J. Kaufman; S. Ki; S. R. Klein; A. Khromov; A. Konovalov; M. Kremer; A. Kumpan; C. Leadbetter; L. Li; W. Lu; K. Mann; D. M. Markoff; K. Miller; H. Moreno; P. E. Mueller; J. Newby; J. L. Orrell; C. T. Overman; D. S. Parno; S. Penttila; G. Perumpilly; H. Ray; J. Raybern; D. Reyna; G. C. Rich; D. Rimal; D. Rudik; K. Scholberg; B. J. Scholz; G. Sinev; W. M. Snow; V. Sosnovtsev; A. Shakirov; S. Suchyta; B. Suh; R. Tayloe; R. T. Thornton; I. Tolstukhin; J. Vanderwerp; R. L. Varner; C. J. Virtue; Z. Wan; J. Yoo; C.-H. Yu; A. Zawada; J. Zettlemoyer; A. M. Zderic; COHERENT Collaboration

doi:10.1126/science.aao0990

Report

Observation of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering

D. Akimov¹,²,
J. B. Albert³,
P. An⁴,
C. Awe⁴,⁵,
P. S. Barbeau⁴,⁵,
B. Becker⁶,
V. Belov¹,²,
A. Brown⁴,⁷,
A. Bolozdynya²,
B. Cabrera-Palmer⁸,
M. Cervantes⁵,
J. I. Collar⁹,*,
R. J. Cooper¹⁰,
R. L. Cooper¹¹,¹²,
C. Cuesta¹³,†,
D. J. Dean¹⁴,
J. A. Detwiler¹³,
A. Eberhardt¹³,
Y. Efremenko⁶,¹⁴,
S. R. Elliott¹²,
E. M. Erkela¹³,
L. Fabris¹⁴,
M. Febbraro¹⁴,
N. E. Fields⁹,‡,
W. Fox³,
Z. Fu¹³,
A. Galindo-Uribarri¹⁴,
M. P. Green⁴,¹⁴,¹⁵,
M. Hai⁹,§,
M. R. Heath³,
S. Hedges⁴,⁵,
D. Hornback¹⁴,
T. W. Hossbach¹⁶,
E. B. Iverson¹⁴,
L. J. Kaufman³,
S. Ki⁴,⁵,
S. R. Klein¹⁰,
A. Khromov²,
A. Konovalov¹,²,¹⁷,
M. Kremer⁴,
A. Kumpan²,
C. Leadbetter⁴,
L. Li⁴,⁵,
W. Lu¹⁴,
K. Mann⁴,¹⁵,
D. M. Markoff⁴,⁷,
K. Miller⁴,⁵,
H. Moreno¹¹,
P. E. Mueller¹⁴,
J. Newby¹⁴,
J. L. Orrell¹⁶,
C. T. Overman¹⁶,
D. S. Parno¹³,¶,
S. Penttila¹⁴,
G. Perumpilly⁹,
H. Ray¹⁸,
J. Raybern⁵,
D. Reyna⁸,
G. C. Rich⁴,¹⁴,¹⁹,
D. Rimal¹⁸,
D. Rudik¹,²,
K. Scholberg⁵,
B. J. Scholz⁹,
G. Sinev⁵,
W. M. Snow³,
V. Sosnovtsev²,
A. Shakirov²,
S. Suchyta¹⁰,
B. Suh⁴,⁵,¹⁴,
R. Tayloe³,
R. T. Thornton³,
I. Tolstukhin³,
J. Vanderwerp³,
R. L. Varner¹⁴,
C. J. Virtue²⁰,
Z. Wan⁴,
J. Yoo²¹,
C.-H. Yu¹⁴,
A. Zawada⁴,
J. Zettlemoyer³,
A. M. Zderic¹³,
COHERENT Collaboration#

¹Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics named by A. I. Alikhanov of National Research Centre “Kurchatov Institute,” Moscow 117218, Russian Federation.
²National Research Nuclear University MEPhI (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute), Moscow 115409, Russian Federation.
³Department of Physics, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.
⁴Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
⁵Department of Physics, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
⁶Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA.
⁷Department of Mathematics and Physics, North Carolina Central University, Durham, NC 27707, USA.
⁸Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA 94550, USA.
⁹Enrico Fermi Institute, Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, and Department of Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
¹⁰Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
¹¹Department of Physics, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003, USA.
¹²Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA.
¹³Center for Experimental Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics and Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
¹⁴Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA.
¹⁵Department of Physics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA.
¹⁶Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99352, USA.
¹⁷Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Dolgoprudny, Moscow Region 141700, Russian Federation.
¹⁸Department of Physics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
¹⁹Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
²⁰Department of Physics, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario P3E 2C6, Canada.
²¹Department of Physics at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and Center for Axion and Precision Physics Research (CAPP) at Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea.

↵*Corresponding author. Email: collar{at}uchicago.edu

↵† Present address: Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (CIEMAT), Madrid 28040, Spain.
↵‡ Present address: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Lisle, IL 60532, USA.
↵§ Present address: SpaceX Rocket Development Facility, McGregor, TX 76657, USA.
||Present address: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94205, USA.
↵¶ Present address: Department of Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.

See allHide authors and affiliations

Science 03 Aug 2017:
eaao0990
DOI: 10.1126/science.aao0990

D. Akimov

Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics named by A. I. Alikhanov of National Research Centre “Kurchatov Institute,” Moscow 117218, Russian Federation.National Research Nuclear University MEPhI (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute), Moscow 115409, Russian Federation.

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J. B. Albert

Department of Physics, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.

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P. An

Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, Durham, NC 27708, USA.

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C. Awe

Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, Durham, NC 27708, USA.Department of Physics, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.

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P. S. Barbeau

Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, Durham, NC 27708, USA.Department of Physics, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.

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B. Becker

Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA.

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V. Belov

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A. Brown

Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, Durham, NC 27708, USA.Department of Mathematics and Physics, North Carolina Central University, Durham, NC 27707, USA.

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A. Bolozdynya

National Research Nuclear University MEPhI (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute), Moscow 115409, Russian Federation.

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B. Cabrera-Palmer

Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA 94550, USA.

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M. Cervantes

Department of Physics, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.

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J. I. Collar

Enrico Fermi Institute, Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, and Department of Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.

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For correspondence: collar@uchicago.edu

R. J. Cooper

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.

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R. L. Cooper

Department of Physics, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003, USA. Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA.

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C. Cuesta

Center for Experimental Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics and Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.

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D. J. Dean

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA.

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J. A. Detwiler

Center for Experimental Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics and Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.

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A. Eberhardt

Center for Experimental Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics and Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.

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Y. Efremenko

Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA.Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA.

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S. R. Elliott

Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA.

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E. M. Erkela

Center for Experimental Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics and Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.

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L. Fabris

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA.

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M. Febbraro

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA.

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N. E. Fields

Enrico Fermi Institute, Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, and Department of Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.

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W. Fox

Department of Physics, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.

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Z. Fu

Center for Experimental Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics and Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.

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A. Galindo-Uribarri

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA.

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M. P. Green

Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, Durham, NC 27708, USA.Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA.Department of Physics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA.

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M. Hai

Enrico Fermi Institute, Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, and Department of Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.

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M. R. Heath

Department of Physics, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.

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S. Hedges

Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, Durham, NC 27708, USA.Department of Physics, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.

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D. Hornback

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA.

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T. W. Hossbach

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99352, USA.

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E. B. Iverson

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA.

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L. J. Kaufman

Department of Physics, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.

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S. Ki

Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, Durham, NC 27708, USA.Department of Physics, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.

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S. R. Klein

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.

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A. Khromov

National Research Nuclear University MEPhI (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute), Moscow 115409, Russian Federation.

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A. Konovalov

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M. Kremer

Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, Durham, NC 27708, USA.

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A. Kumpan

National Research Nuclear University MEPhI (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute), Moscow 115409, Russian Federation.

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C. Leadbetter

Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, Durham, NC 27708, USA.

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L. Li

Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, Durham, NC 27708, USA.Department of Physics, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.

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W. Lu

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA.

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K. Mann

Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, Durham, NC 27708, USA.Department of Physics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA.

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D. M. Markoff

Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, Durham, NC 27708, USA.Department of Mathematics and Physics, North Carolina Central University, Durham, NC 27707, USA.

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K. Miller

Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, Durham, NC 27708, USA.Department of Physics, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.

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H. Moreno

Department of Physics, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003, USA.

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P. E. Mueller

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA.

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J. Newby

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA.

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J. L. Orrell

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99352, USA.

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C. T. Overman

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99352, USA.

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D. S. Parno

Center for Experimental Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics and Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.

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S. Penttila

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA.

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G. Perumpilly

Enrico Fermi Institute, Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, and Department of Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.

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H. Ray

Department of Physics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.

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J. Raybern

Department of Physics, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.

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D. Reyna

Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA 94550, USA.

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G. C. Rich

Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, Durham, NC 27708, USA.Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA.Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.

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D. Rimal

Department of Physics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.

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D. Rudik

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K. Scholberg

Department of Physics, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.

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B. J. Scholz

Enrico Fermi Institute, Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, and Department of Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.

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G. Sinev

Department of Physics, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.

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W. M. Snow

Department of Physics, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.

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V. Sosnovtsev

National Research Nuclear University MEPhI (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute), Moscow 115409, Russian Federation.

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A. Shakirov

National Research Nuclear University MEPhI (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute), Moscow 115409, Russian Federation.

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S. Suchyta

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.

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B. Suh

Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, Durham, NC 27708, USA.Department of Physics, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA.

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R. Tayloe

Department of Physics, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.

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R. T. Thornton

Department of Physics, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.

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I. Tolstukhin

Department of Physics, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.

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J. Vanderwerp

Department of Physics, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.

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R. L. Varner

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA.

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C. J. Virtue

Department of Physics, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario P3E 2C6, Canada.

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Z. Wan

Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, Durham, NC 27708, USA.

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J. Yoo

Department of Physics at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and Center for Axion and Precision Physics Research (CAPP) at Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea.

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C.-H. Yu

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA.

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A. Zawada

Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, Durham, NC 27708, USA.

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J. Zettlemoyer

Department of Physics, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.

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A. M. Zderic

Center for Experimental Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics and Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.

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Abstract

The coherent elastic scattering of neutrinos off nuclei has eluded detection for four decades, even though its predicted cross-section is the largest by far of all low-energy neutrino couplings. This mode of interaction provides new opportunities to study neutrino properties, and leads to a miniaturization of detector size, with potential technological applications. We observe this process at a 6.7-sigma confidence level, using a low-background, 14.6-kg CsI[Na] scintillator exposed to the neutrino emissions from the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Characteristic signatures in energy and time, predicted by the Standard Model for this process, are observed in high signal-to-background conditions. Improved constraints on non-standard neutrino interactions with quarks are derived from this initial dataset.

↵# The collaboration consists of all listed authors. There are no additional collaborators.

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Observation of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering

Abstract

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