21–26 Jun 2026
University of California, Irvine
US/Pacific timezone

First Search for Dark Sector e+e− Explanations of the MiniBooNE Anomaly at MicroBooNE

Not scheduled
20m
Conference Center (University of California, Irvine)

Conference Center

University of California, Irvine

Poster Beyond the Standard Model Poster session 2

Speaker

Vincent Basque (Fermilab)

Description

The MiniBooNE anomaly has puzzled the neutrino physics community for over two decades. MicroBooNE has previously searched for anomalous electron and photon excesses as potential explanations but the mystery persists. In this poster, we present the first direct test of dark sector models in which dark neutrinos scatter, then decay into e+e− pairs and missing energy, mimicking the MiniBooNE signal. These models have recently emerged as compelling candidates that evade existing constraints. Using 6.87×10^20 protons-on-target in the Booster Neutrino Beam, we select forward-going, coherently produced e+e− events in the MicroBooNE detector. We observe 95 events against a constrained background prediction of 69.7±17.3. We set the world's first direct limits on this class of dark sector models, excluding at 95% CL the majority of parameter space viable as a solution to the MiniBooNE anomaly.

Authors

Presentation materials