English

First Constraints on Long-Range Neutrino Interactions using IceCube DeepCore

High Energy Physics - Phenomenology 2026-01-06 v1 High Energy Physics - Experiment Instrumentation and Detectors

Abstract

We present the first search for new flavor-dependent long-range interactions (LRI) of neutrinos using publicly available 8 years of high-purity νμ\nu_\mu CC data from IceCube DeepCore. These interactions are mediated by ultra-light gauge bosons with masses below 101010^{-10} eV, which can arise due to a new lepton-number gauge symmetry, such as LeLμL_e - L_\mu or LeLτL_e - L_\tau. These long-range interactions induce matter potential between neutrinos and abundant electrons present in distant astrophysical sources. These LRI potentials could modify neutrino oscillation probabilities. By probing the effects of LRI on atmospheric neutrino oscillations at IceCube DeepCore, we place world-leading constraints on the coupling strength of these interactions.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2601.01220,
  title  = {First Constraints on Long-Range Neutrino Interactions using IceCube DeepCore},
  author = {Gopal Garg and J Krishnamoorthi and Anil Kumar and Sanjib Kumar Agarwalla},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2601.01220},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

5 pages main text, 9 figures, 1 table, and technical appendices. Comments are welcome. Happy New Year to all of you

R2 v1 2026-07-01T08:49:24.455Z