Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS April Meeting 2014
Volume 59, Number 5
Saturday–Tuesday, April 5–8, 2014; Savannah, Georgia
Session K12: Neutrinos from Reactors and the Cosmos |
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Sponsoring Units: DPF Chair: Sally Seidel, University of New Mexico Room: 100 |
Sunday, April 6, 2014 1:30PM - 1:42PM |
K12.00001: PROSPECT: A Precision Reactor Oscillation and Spectrum Experiment Bryce Littlejohn Antineutrino detectors operated close to a compact reactor core can provide excellent sensitivity to short-baseline oscillation effects by precisely measuring any relative distortion of the $\overline{\nu}_e$ spectrum as a function of both energy and baseline. Such a measurement can be performed in the United States at several highly-enriched uranium fueled research reactors using near-surface segmented scintillator detectors. This talk will describe the preliminary conceptual design and oscillation physics potential of the PROSPECT experiment, a U.S.-based, multi-phase, 2-detector experiment with reactor-detector baselines of 4-20 meters capable of excluding a majority of the suggested sterile neutrino oscillation parameter space at high confidence level. Additional goals, such as precise measurement of the $\overline{\nu}_e$ spectrum from a highly-enriched uranium core, as well as development of detection techniques and technology for reactor monitoring applications, will be discussed. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, April 6, 2014 1:42PM - 1:54PM |
K12.00002: Background Characterization for PROSPECT: a US Short-baseline Neutrino Oscillation Experiment Thomas Langford Segmented antineutrino detectors placed near compact research reactors provide an excellent opportunity to probe short-baseline neutrino oscillations and precisely measure the reactor antineutrino spectrum. The PROSPECT collaboration has developed a conceptual design for an experiment covering the favored reactor anomaly parameter space using two detectors located within 4-20 m of an existing reactor. Research reactors offer the benefits of compact cores, distinct reactor-off periods, and single-isotope fuel. However, they are typically located at ground level, providing little to no overburden to shield detectors. This talk will present the background requirements of the PROSPECT experiment and discuss feasibility studies that have been performed for three potential locations: NIST, INL, and ORNL. Two fast neutron detectors, a muon telescope, and HPGE and NaI gamma detectors have been deployed at the sites to measure reactor-related and cosmogenic backgrounds. The results of background measurements at each site during reactor operation and shutdown will be shown. Additionally, the planned techniques to reduce the impact of each background on the physics reach of the full experiment will also be discussed. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, April 6, 2014 1:54PM - 2:06PM |
K12.00003: Scintillator Development for the PROSPECT Experiment Minfang Yeh Doped scintillator is the target material of choice for antineutrino detection as it utilizes the time-delayed coincidence signature of the positron annihilation and neutron capture resulting from the Inverse Beta Decay (IBD) interaction. Additionally, the multiple gamma rays or heavy ions emitted after neutron capture on either Gd or $^{6}$Li respectively provide a distinct signal for the identification of antineutrino events and therefore significantly enhance accidental background reduction. The choice of scintillator and dopant depends on the detector requirements and scintillator performance criteria. Both Gd and $^{6}$Li doped scintillators have been used in past reactor antineutrino experiments such as Double Chooz, Daya Bay, RENO, and Bugey3 and are currently under investigation by the PROSPECT collaboration. Their properties in terms of light yield, optical transparency, chemical stability and background rejection efficiency using Pulse Shape Discrimination (PSD) will be reported. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, April 6, 2014 2:06PM - 2:18PM |
K12.00004: The Watchman Detector Design Steven Dazeley The Watchman collaboration is proposing a kiloton scale antineutrino detector of reactor-based antineutrinos for non-proliferation purposes. As an added bonus the detector will also have the capability to search for evidence of sterile neutrino oscillation, super-nova antineutrinos and, in a second phase, measure the neutrino mass hierarchy. Despite that fact that KamLAND demonstrated the feasibility of kiloton scale, long distance antineutrino detection with liquid scintillator, similar detectors at the megaton scale remain problematic for environmental, cost and light attenuation reasons. Water, with gadolinium added for neutron sensitivity, may be the detection medium of choice if its efficiency can be shown to be competitive with scintillator. The goal of the Watchman project, therefore, is to demonstrate medium distance reactor antineutrino detection, and thus demonstrate the feasibility of moving to water-based megaton scale antineutrino detectors in the future. In this talk I will describe the scope of the experiment, the physics and engineering challenges involved, the proposed design and the predicted performance of the experimental non-proliferation and high-energy physics program. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, April 6, 2014 2:18PM - 2:30PM |
K12.00005: WATCHMAN: Reactor Monitoring and Neutrino Physics with a Gadolinium Doped Water Detector Adam Bernstein WATCHMAN (WATer CHerenkov Monitoring of AntiNeutrinos) is a new US based experiment that will exploit the low energy antineutrino signal from reactors, supernova and decay-at-rest~antineutrino~beams to pursue a broad physics program. WATCHMAN aims to be the first detector in the world to detect low energy~antineutrinos in water, by~adding~a gadolinium~dopant that increases the efficiency for the final-state neutron arising from the antineutrino interactions on protons in the~water.~WATCHMAN will also serve as the world's first demonstration detector of remote reactor monitoring for nonproliferation applications, using a scalable water-based technology. In this talk,~I~will provide~an overview of the physics potential of WATCHMAN, and explain the overlap of its nonproliferation and fundamental science goals. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, April 6, 2014 2:30PM - 2:42PM |
K12.00006: The Atmospheric Neutrino Neutron Interaction Experiment (ANNIE) Matthew Wetstein Neutron tagging in Gadolinium-doped water may play a significant role in reducing backgrounds from atmospheric neutrinos in next generation proton-decay searches using Megaton-scale Water Cherenkov detectors. Similar techniques might also be useful in the detection of Supernova neutrinos. Accurate determination of neutron tagging efficiencies will require a detailed understanding of the number of neutrons produced by neutrino interactions in water, as a function of momentum transferred. In this talk we present the proposed Atmospheric Neutrino Neutron Interaction Experiment (ANNIE), designed to measure the neutron yield of atmospheric neutrino interactions in gadolinium-doped water. We will introduce some of the physics motivations for this measurement as well as the novel technological aspects. One important component of the ANNIE design is the use of precision timing to localize interaction vertices in the small fiducial volume of the detector. To achieve this, we propose to use early prototypes of LAPPDs (Large Area Picosecond Photodetectors), now in the commercialization phase. These photosensors and their status will also be discussed. [Preview Abstract] |
(Author Not Attending)
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K12.00007: Coherent Scattering Investigations at the Spallation Neutron Source Phil Barbeau The Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee, provides an intense isotropic flux of neutrinos in the few tens-of-MeV range, with a sharply-pulsed timing structure which is beneficial for background rejection. This talk will describe how the SNS source can be used for a measurement of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CENNS), the physics reach of such a measurement, and status of the planned experimental program (CSI: Coherent Scattering Investigations at the SNS). [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, April 6, 2014 2:54PM - 3:06PM |
K12.00008: The IceCube DeepCore Detector Laura Gladstone The IceCube Neutrino Observatory, located at the geographic South Pole, has an infill array called DeepCore in the core of its instrumented volume. To date, DeepCore has recorded well over $10^5$ neutrino interactions at energies of 10 to 300 GeV at trigger level. Analyzing signals in this energy range requires adjustments to standard IceCube tools, such as position and energy reconstruction and noise simulation. With these lower energies, the available science opportunities for IceCube include more sensitive studies of neutrino properties, including oscillations, and indirect dark matter searches from the Sun and Galactic Center. Atmospheric neutrino oscillations have been observed, and the current status of their ongoing study will be discussed. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, April 6, 2014 3:06PM - 3:18PM |
K12.00009: Determination of the neutrino mass hierarchy with PINGU Tyce DeYoung The Precision IceCube Next Generation Upgrade (PINGU) is a proposed low energy infill extension to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, with the primary scientific goal of determining the neutrino mass hierarchy. With an effective neutrino target mass of several megatons and an energy threshold of a few GeV, PINGU will be able to determine the mass hierarchy at a significance of 3$\sigma$ with an estimated 3.5 years of data by measuring matter effects on atmospheric neutrinos traversing the Earth over a wide energy range and on a variety of baselines. PINGU will use technology similar to the existing IceCube instrumentation, enabling it to be deployed quickly and at a relatively modest cost. [Preview Abstract] |
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