Probing long-range forces in neutrino oscillations at the ESSnuSB experiment

Neutrino oscillations constitute an excellent tool to probe physics beyond the Standard Model. In this paper, we investigate the potential of the ESSnuSB experiment to constrain the effects of flavour-dependent long-range forces (LRFs) in neutrino oscillations, which may arise due to the extension of the Standard Model gauge group by introducing new U(1) symmetries. Focusing on three specific U(1) symmetries — Le − Lμ, Le − Lτ, and Lμ − Lτ, we demonstrate that ESSnuSB offers a favourable environment to search for LRF effects. Our analyses reveal that ESSnuSB can set 90% confidence level bounds of Veμ < 2.99 × 10−14 eV, Veτ < 2.05 × 10−14 eV, and Vμτ < 1.81 × 10−14 eV, which are competitive to the upcoming Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE). It is also observed that reducing the systematic uncertainties from 5% to 2% improves the ESSnuSB limits on Vαβ. Interestingly, we find limited correlations between LRF parameters and the less constrained lepton mixing parameters θ23 and δCP, preserving the robustness of ESSnuSB’s sensitivity to CP violation. Even under extreme LRF potentials (Vαβ ≫ 10−13 eV), the CP-violation sensitivity and δCP precision remain largely unaffected. These results establish ESSnuSB as a competitive experimental setup for probing LRF effects, complementing constraints from other neutrino sources and offering critical insights into the physics of long-range forces.