First Search for Dark Sector $e^+e^-$ Explanations of the MiniBooNE Anomaly at MicroBooNE

Blake, A. and Gu, L. and Mahmud, T. and Mawby, I. and Nowak, J. and Patel, N. and Pophale, I. (2025) First Search for Dark Sector $e^+e^-$ Explanations of the MiniBooNE Anomaly at MicroBooNE. Physical review letters. ISSN 1079-7114 (In Press)

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Abstract

We present MicroBooNE's first search for dark sector $e^+e^-$ explanations of the long-standing MiniBooNE anomaly. The MiniBooNE anomaly has garnered significant attention over the past 20 years including previous MicroBooNE investigations into both anomalous electron and photon excesses, but its origin still remains unclear. In this letter, we provide the first direct test of dark sector models in which dark neutrinos, produced through neutrino-induced scattering, decay into missing energy and visible $e^+e^-$ pairs comprising the MiniBooNE anomaly. Many such models have recently gained traction as a viable solution to the anomaly while evading past bounds. Using an exposure of $6.87 \times 10^{20}$ protons-on-target in the Booster Neutrino Beam, we implement a selection targeting forward-going, coherently produced $e^+e^-$ events. After unblinding, we observe 95 events, which we compare with the constrained background-only prediction of $69.7 \pm 17.3$. This analysis sets the world's first direct limits on these dark sector models and, at the 95\% confidence level, excludes the majority of the parameter space viable as a solution to the MiniBooNE anomaly.