What can we learn from neutrino electron scattering ?

Precision tests of the standard model are essential for constraining models of new physics. Neutrino–electron elastic scattering offers a clean probe into many electroweak effects that are complimentary to the more canonical measurements done at collider facilities. Such reactions are rare, even as compared with the already tiny cross-sections for neutrino–nucleon scattering, and competitive precision measurements have historically been challenging to obtain. Due to new existing and proposed high-flux neutrino sources, this is about to change. We present a topical survey of precision measurements that can be done with neutrino–electron scattering in light of these new developments. Specifically, we consider four distinct neutrino sources: nuclear reactors, neutrino factories, beta-beams, and conventional beams. For each source we estimate the expected future precision of several representative observables, including the weak mixing angle, neutrino magnetic moments, and potential leptonic Z couplings. We find that future neutrino–electron scattering experiments should add non-trivially to our understanding of fundamental physics.