arXiv subjects

David Cerdeño

Publications and source records attributed to David Cerdeño.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

$\texttt{SNuDD}$: Solar Neutrinos for Direct Detection

We introduce Solar Neutrinos for Direct Detection ($\texttt{SNuDD}$): an open-source Python package that enables the computation of the solar neutrino rate spectrum at direct detection experiments. $\texttt{SNuDD}$ can be used to determine the differential rate for both nuclear and electron recoils within the Standard Model and in the presence of beyond Standard Model physics effects, such as those arising from neutral-current non-standard interactions (NSI). The package accounts for matter effects during neutrino propagation through both the Sun and the Earth and for modifications to the scattering cross sections at the interaction site. We employ $\texttt{SNuDD}$ to place new limits on the effective NSI couplings using results from the xenon-based direct detection experiments LZ, XENONnT, and PandaX-4T, and we project the sensitivity of a future xenon detector based on the planned XLZD and PandaX-xT observatories. We find that current direct detection experiments are rapidly approaching sensitivities comparable to those of dedicated neutrino experiments and that future xenon detectors can provide leading constraints. We recommend that $\texttt{SNuDD}$ be used to combine incoming direct detection data with those from neutrino experiments in future global fits, placing direct detection within the broader landscape of neutrino physics.

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arXiv2026

New benchmarks for direct detection of freeze-in dark matter in vector portal models

We investigate the freeze-in of MeV-scale fermionic dark matter (DM) that couples to the Standard Model via a new vector mediator to assess the potential that future direct detection experiments have to observe new physics in either the DM or neutrino sectors. We study the minimal kinetic mixing dark photon of a secluded $U(1)_D$ as well as gauge bosons of the anomaly-free $U(1)_{L_i-L_j}$, with $i,j=e,μ,τ$, and $U(1)_{B-L}$ gauge extensions, exploring the impact of low reheating temperatures on the DM production rates. For the ultralight dark photon scenario, we show that current experimental constraints from electron recoil data in DAMIC-M and PandaX-4T can be avoided if the DM fermion is only a subcomponent (smaller than 40%) of the total cold DM and that future detectors can be sensitive to a DM fraction below 1% for masses above 1 MeV. For a massive dark photon, there are allowed regions of the parameter space with masses in the range 50 MeV $\lesssim m_{\rm DM}\lesssim$ 500 MeV that can be within the reach of direct detection experiments through nuclear recoils if freeze-in occurred at a low reheating temperature. Finally, the case of $U(1)_{L_i-L_j}$ and $U(1)_{B-L}$ is particularly interesting since the discovery of new physics can come from either the DM or the neutrino sector, which features new interactions. We find that freeze-in at low reheating temperatures can reproduce the observed abundance in large parts of the parameter space up to gauge couplings of $g_X\sim10^{-2}$ for MeV DM. Most notably, direct detection experiments will be sensitive to considerable parts of this parameter space in nuclear recoils for 50 MeV $\lesssim m_{\rm DM}\lesssim$ 500 MeV. Additionally, the enhanced signal from solar neutrino coherent scattering is observable in these scenarios, which can serve as a further handle to identify the underlying particle physics model.

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arXiv2026

Stochastic galactic supernova flux of semi-relativistic particles

New exotic particles with MeV masses, such as axion-like particles or light dark matter, can be emitted from core-collapse supernovae (SNe) with semi-relativistic velocities. Due to their speed dispersion, they would arrive at Earth as an extended packet with a time spread that can be as large as tens of millennia for typical detectors. It has been argued in the literature that the superposition of packets from all galactic SNe would give rise to a smooth and stationary diffuse flux that could be observable on terrestrial experiments. In this article, we critically examine this hypothesis by carrying out a numerical simulation of the galactic history of SN explosions. We show that, although the particle packets do overlap, due to the short observational time window, each of them only contributes with a very narrow range of energies and with an intensity that depends on the SN distance. As a consequence, the energy dependence of the resulting flux is extremely sensitive to the stochastic nature of the SN population and far from smooth. This has profound implications for the expected signature in terrestrial experiments, which displays a spectral shape that is not properly described by the smooth approximation. We develop a numerical tool to compute this stochastic galactic flux for generic semi-relativistic particles, which also allows us to explore sub-MeV particles, where the smooth diffuse flux approach does not hold. To test this framework, we revisit existing bounds on axion-like particles and fermionic dark matter, finding weaker constraints than previously reported.

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arXiv2025

Probing a diffuse flux of axion-like particles from galactic supernovae with neutrino water Cherenkov detectors

In this article, we claim that axion-like particles (ALPs) with MeV masses can be produced with semi-relativistic velocities in core-collapse supernovae (SNe), generating a diffuse galactic flux. We show that these ALPs can be detected in neutrino water Cherenkov detectors via $a \, p \rightarrow p \, γ$ interactions. Using Super-Kamiokande data, we derive new constraints on the ALP parameter space, excluding a region spanning one order of magnitude in the ALP-proton coupling above cooling bounds for ALP masses in the range of $1-70$~MeV and ALP-proton couplings between $\sim 2\times10^{-5}-2\times10^{-4}$. We show that the future Hyper-Kamiokande will be able to probe couplings as small as $\sim 10^{-5}$, considerably constraining the allowed region above SN 1987A cooling bounds.

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arXiv2024

Disentangling axion-like particle couplings to nucleons via a delayed signal in Super-Kamiokande from a future supernova

In this work, we show that, if axion-like particles (ALPs) from core-collapse supernovae (SNe) couple to protons, they would produce very characteristic signatures in neutrino water Cherenkov detectors through their scattering off free protons via $a \, p \rightarrow p \, γ$ interactions. Specifically, sub-MeV ALPs would generate photons with energies $\sim 30$ MeV, which could be observed by Super-Kamiokande and Hyper-Kamiokande as a delayed signal after a future detection of SN neutrinos. We apply this to a hypothetical neighbouring SN (at a maximum distance of 100 kpc) and demonstrate that the region in the parameter space with ALP masses between $10^{-4}$ MeV and $1$ MeV and ALP-proton couplings in the range $3 \times 10^{-6}-4 \times 10^{-5}$ could be probed. We argue that this new signature, combined with the one expected at $\sim 7$ MeV from oxygen de-excitation, would allow us to disentangle ALP-neutron and ALP-proton couplings.

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arXiv2011

Cosmic ray constraints on singlino-like dark matter candidates

Recent results from direct detection experiments (Dama, CoGeNT), though subject to debate, seem to point toward a low mass (few GeV) dark matter (DM) particle. However, low mass DM candidates are not easily achieved in the MSSM nor NMSSM. As shown by some authors, singlet extensions of the MSSM can lead to GeV mass neutralinos and satisfy relic abundance constraints. We propose here to extract indirect detection constraints on these models in a generic way from cosmic-ray anti-proton measurements (PAMELA data)

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