Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS April Meeting 2010
Volume 55, Number 1
Saturday–Tuesday, February 13–16, 2010; Washington, DC
Session H12: Neutrino Physics B |
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Sponsoring Units: DPF Chair: Erik Blaufuss, University of Maryland Room: Virginia A |
Sunday, February 14, 2010 10:45AM - 10:57AM |
H12.00001: Effects of Systematic Uncertainties on Short-Baseline Reactor Antineutrino Experiments Arthur Franke The forthcoming generation of short-baseline reactor antineutrino experiments will attempt to measure the small neutrino oscillation amplitude $~\sin^2{\left( 2\theta_{13} \right)}$ with an order of magnitude better sensitivity than their predecessors. These experiments will be limited by systematic uncertainties. We will present a method for calculating the sensitivity of a typical reactor antineutrino experiment based on a ``pulls" approach. We will survey common sources of systematic uncertainty in reactor experiments and quantitatively examine their impacts on experimental sensitivity to $\sin^2{\left( 2\theta_{13} \right)}$. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, February 14, 2010 10:57AM - 11:09AM |
H12.00002: Double Chooz Experimental Plan and Detector Design Brandon White The goal for the Double Chooz experiment is to determine the value of sin$^{2}$(2$\theta _{13})$, the remaining unmeasured neutrino mixing angle of the PMNS matrix. The Double Chooz experiment will perform new highly sensitive measurements for the oscillations of electron anti-neutrinos from nuclear reactors to probe small values of sin$^{2}$(2$\theta _{13})$. To achieve the necessary sensitivity two identical detectors will be constructed. The near detector will be 400m from the reactor cores to measure the flux of electron anti-neutrinos. The far detector at 1.05km from the reactors will measure the electron anti-neutrinos after oscillations have occurred. The comparison of the anti-neutrino rates at both detectors will eliminate the uncertainty from the nuclear reactor anti-neutrino flux calculations and detector efficiencies. Improvements in systematic errors will be achieved also by advanced detector design. Each Double Chooz detector will have three inner regions; a target area, gamma catcher, and a buffer area. After three years of running with both detectors, the experiment will be sensitive to value of 0.03 for sin$^{2}$(2$\theta _{13})$. The present limit from the first Chooz experiment is sin$^{2}$(2$\theta _{13}) \quad <$ 0.15 for $\Delta $m$^{2}_{31}$= 2.5x10$^{-3}$ eV$^{2}$. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, February 14, 2010 11:09AM - 11:21AM |
H12.00003: Estimating the Lithium-9 Production Rate due to Muon Capture in Double Chooz Cara Henson Neutrino detectors rely on low background levels in order to detect rare neutrino interactions. A major background for the Double Chooz and other reactor neutrino experiments is Lithium-9, a beta delayed neutron emitter that mimics the inverse decay signal. Radioactive isotopes like Lithium-9 are known to be produced by muon spallation processes on Carbon, but at Double Chooz depths production from muon capture on Carbon may be significant. The production of Lithium-9 from muon capture is sensitive to the stopping muon rate and the branching ratio of muon capture to Lithium-9. The branching ratio to Lithium-9 is not known, but may be a significant fraction of the 81.4$\%$ particle emission branching ratio. The stopped muon rate in the Double Chooz far detector is simulated using a detailed overburden model and the resulting Lithium-9 production rate is estimated. The prospects for measurement in Double Chooz is also evaluated. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, February 14, 2010 11:21AM - 11:33AM |
H12.00004: Background Studies for Double Chooz: Identifying $^9$Li Decay Claire Thomas Double Chooz is a reactor neutrino experiment that aims to measure the mixing parameter $\theta_{ 13}$. The experiment detects electron antineutrinos via inverse beta decay. Neutrons and light nuclei produced in muon spallation are a major background to the experiment. The delayed neutron emitter $^9$Li is especially problematic because it mimics the inverse beta decay signal. Since Double Chooz is not sensitive to the sign of the electric charge, an electron from $^9$Li decay is not easily distinguished from an inverse beta decay positron. However, the emitted neutron energies differ substantially between $^9$Li decay and inverse beta decay. The neutron from $^9$Li decay has energy on the order of an MeV, whereas the inverse beta decay neutron has a negligible kinetic energy. Furthermore, in three of the five neutron-emitting $^9$Li decay branches, an alpha particle is also emitted. To test whether Double Chooz can detect these differences, I developed general software to simulate radioactive decays in the detector. In this talk, I compare pulse timing information of each $^9$Li neutron-emitting decay branch to that of inverse beta decay. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, February 14, 2010 11:33AM - 11:45AM |
H12.00005: Inverse Beta Decay Reconstruction in the Double Chooz Monte Carlo Anne Norrick The Double Chooz Experiment will search for neutrino oscillations using the ``Inverse Beta-Decay'' (IBD) interactions of electron antineutrinos from a nuclear reactor in Chooz, France. The experiment needs to isolate IBD events by detecting and reconstructing the positions and deposited energies of the outgoing positron and neutron. Methods for isolating this process will be described. In addition, results of simulation studies of two different reconstruction algorithms will be presented and their performances compared. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, February 14, 2010 11:45AM - 11:57AM |
H12.00006: Non-Standard $\bar{\nu}_e\rightarrow X$ Oscillations in Double Chooz Javier Duarte According to a final fit by G. Karagiorgi, et. al. over short base-line (SBL) experiments, which included updated MiniBooNE neutrino and antineutrino results, (3+1) and (3+2) sterile neutrino mixing models and CP violation do not seem sufficient to reconcile the SBL experiment results. Due to these results, exotic oscillation models should be explored. Double Chooz is a reactor antineutrino disappearance experiment that will be sensitive to non-standard $\bar{\nu}_e\rightarrow X$ oscillations. We present a study of non-standard neutrino oscillations at Double Chooz, specifically additional mixing at short baselines. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, February 14, 2010 11:57AM - 12:09PM |
H12.00007: The Status of KamLAND After Purification Christopher Grant KamLAND is a 1-kton liquid scintillation detector located in the Kamioka underground laboratory, in Japan. KamLAND has provided a precision measurement of ${\Delta}$m$^{2}_{21}$ using reactor anti-neutrinos, and yielded first observational evidence of geologically produced anti-neutrinos. Since April of 2007, the collaboration has been working on the purification of the detector with the goal of observing 862 keV, $^{7}$Be solar neutrinos. Two purification campaigns have concluded, with a total of 5.4 ktons of scintillator circulated through a distillation and nitrogen purge system. The results of purification and the overall background reduction factors will be presented, along with an update of the $^{7}$Be solar neutrino analysis. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, February 14, 2010 12:09PM - 12:21PM |
H12.00008: The Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment Zhe Wang The 3x3 PMNS leptonic mixing matrix relates the mass and flavor eigenstates of the 3 known neutrinos. The $\theta_{13}$ mixing angle is the last unknown mixing angle in the PMNS matrix, the parameters of which must be determined experimentally. The Daya Bay experiment will search for the ``disappearance'' of reactor anti-neutrinos from the Daya Bay and Ling Ao Nuclear Power Plants located in Daya Bay, Guangdong, China using multiple identical detectors at different baselines. The disappearance probability of reactor anti-neutrinos at short baselines of 1-2km is directly proportional to $\sin^2 (2 \theta_{13})$. The goal of the Daya Bay experiment is to reach a sensitivity of $\sin^2 (2 \theta_{13})$ = 0.01 at the $90 \%$ C.L. The status and prospects of the experiment will be presented. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, February 14, 2010 12:21PM - 12:33PM |
H12.00009: Simulation and Prediction of SONGS Reactor Antineutrino Flux Using the DRAGON Code Christopher Jones, Janet Conrad, Adam Bernstein We present a comparison of the predicted antineutrino flux from the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) PWR reactor with the determinstic lattice code, DRAGON. This simulation will be used to benchmark the DRAGON code for use in predicting an antineutrino flux for the Double Chooz experiment. We can also make a comparison between DRAGON and ORIGEN-ARP, another code used to model the antineutrino flux. [Preview Abstract] |
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