Speaker
Description
The detection of neutrinos through the coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEνNS) process opens a new window to study the fundamental properties of this elusive particle and to probe physics beyond the Standard Model. The CONUS experiment – operational since April 2018 – is located at a distance of 17m from the 3.9GWth core of the nuclear power plant Brokdorf (Germany). It aims to detect CEνNS in the fully coherent regime with four 1 kg HPGe point-contact detectors with a ~300eVee energy threshold.
The full spectral analysis of the first CONUS data set allows to set the current best limit on CEνNS with reactor antineutrinos and to deduce competitive limits on physics beyond the standard model, such as non-standard neutrino interactions or the neutrino magnetic moment. These new results will be presented in this talk. Special emphasis will be put on the strategy followed by the collaboration to further reduce the systematic uncertainties, in particular via a dedicated measurement of the ionization quenching factor of nuclear recoils in germanium.
