New physics probes: Atomic parity violation, polarized electron scattering and neutrino-nucleus coherent scattering

Abstract

Atomic Parity Violation (APV) is usually quantified in terms of the weak nuclear charge Q(W) of a nucleus, which depends on the coupling strength between the atomic electrons and quarks. In this work, we review the importance of APV to probing new physics using effective field theory. Furthermore, we correlate our findings with the results from neutrino-nucleus coherent scattering. We revisit signs of parity violation in polarized electron scattering and show how precise measurements on the Weinberg's angle give rise to competitive bounds on light mediators over a wide range of masses and interactions strengths. Our bounds are firstly derived in the context of simplified setups and then applied to several concrete models, namely Dark Z, Two Higgs Doublet Model-U(1)(X) and 3-3-1, considering both light and heavy mediator regimes. (C) 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.