The COHERENT Experiment at the Spallation Neutron Source

Understand

The COHERENT collaboration's primary objective is to measure coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEvNS) using the unique, high-quality source of tens-of-MeV neutrinos provided by the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).

• In spite of its large cross section, the CEvNS process has never been observed, due to tiny energies of the resulting nuclear recoils which are out of reach for standard neutrino detectors.
• The measurement of CEvNS has now become feasible, thanks to the development of ultra-sensitive technology for rare decay and weakly-interacting massive particle (dark matter) searches.
• The CEvNS cross section is cleanly predicted in the standard model; hence its measurement provides a standard model test.