Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2021 Fall Meeting of the APS Division of Nuclear Physics
Volume 66, Number 8
Monday–Thursday, October 11–14, 2021; Virtual; Eastern Daylight Time
Session FK: Mini-Symposium: Neutrinos and Nuclei V: Astrophysical Neutrinos and Neutrino Mass II; Sterile and Reactor Neutrinos I |
Hide Abstracts |
Chair: Kate Scholberg, Duke University Room: Arlington |
Tuesday, October 12, 2021 2:00PM - 2:12PM |
FK.00001: The Free-Space CRES demonstrator for Phase III of the Project 8 neutrino mass experiment Arina B Telles The Project 8 experiment aims to directly measure the neutrino mass down to ∼40 meV/c2 by reconstructing the kinematics of tritium beta decay, using a novel technique called Cyclotron Radiation Emission Spectroscopy (CRES). The operating principle is to put tritium in a uniform magnetic field, causing the emitted electron to undergo cyclotron motion and radiate. Measuring the electron’s radiation frequency yields its energy, and the energy spectrum constrains the mass of the neutrino involved in the decay. This method has been demonstrated in a small waveguide, but needs to be scaled to a larger volume to improve neutrino mass sensitivity. The next phase of this experiment will be done in a medical MRI magnet with an array of antennas viewing a volume of gaseous molecular tritium. Detection is challenging because a single electron emits <1 fW at ∼26 GHz in a 1 T field, and exhibits complex spectral features due to its motion. This talk will describe the major subsystems of the Free-space CRES Demonstrator (FSCD), and discuss recent efforts in simulation, event reconstruction, and experimental R&D on the path towards a full detector design. |
Tuesday, October 12, 2021 2:12PM - 2:24PM |
FK.00002: Near quantum-noise limited amplifiers for the Project 8 neutrino mass experiment Juliana Stachurska, Patrick M Harrington, Wouter Van de Pontseele, Mingyu Li, Joseph A Formaggio Project 8 is a proposed neutrino-mass experiment using tritium beta decay. The targeted sensitivity of 40 meV, covering the entire mass region allowed in the inverted neutrino mass hierarchy, imposes stringent requirements on all subsystems. In particular, low-noise high-gain amplifiers are needed to collect cyclotron radiation emitted by magnetically trapped electrons at the tritium endpoint. Josephson Traveling Wave Parametric Amplifiers (JTWPAs) are broadband and near quantum-noise limited amplifiers in the 5-10 GHz range, which have been developed for applications such as multiplexed superconducting qubit readout. Project 8 has partnered with quantum system engineers to adapt JTWPAs to its needs: with an operating frequency around 25 GHz and coupled to a free space antenna. I will present the recent progress in making JTWPAs compatible with Project 8. |
Tuesday, October 12, 2021 2:24PM - 2:36PM |
FK.00003: First Limits on sub-MeV BSM Physics in the Neutrino Sector from Phase-II of the BeEST Experiment Kyle G Leach The lepton sector of the Standard Model (SM) provides perhaps the best window into Beyond Standard Model (BSM) physics through investigations into non-zero neutrino mass states. Searches for mass states in the keV-MeV range - associated with mostly sterile flavors - are among the most highly motivated since they have the right cosmological properties to explain the observed dark matter in our universe and may offer insight into the baryon asymmetry of the Universe. The Beryllium Electron-capture with Superconducting Tunnel junctions (BeEST) experiment probes BSM neutrino physics in the sub-MeV mass range using momentum reconstruction in 7Be electron capture (EC) decay with quantum sensors. In this talk, I will present our first limits from Phase-II of the experiment which used a single sensor counting for 28 days at low rate [PRL 126, 021803 (2021)] which are up to an order of magnitude better than all previous decay limits in the 100 - 860 keV region. |
Tuesday, October 12, 2021 2:36PM - 2:48PM |
FK.00004: Monte-Carlo Simulations of Superconducting Tunnel Junction Quantum Sensors for the BeEST Experiment Connor Bray, Larry Hiller, Kyle G Leach, Stephan Friedrich The BeEST experiment uses Superconducting Tunnel Junction (STJ) quantum sensors to search for sterile neutrinos in the electron capture decay of Be-7. We are developing Monte-Carlo simulations to understand electron escape after the Be-7 decay and to distinguish between instrument artifacts and possible sterile neutrino signals. The goal of the simulation is to model the spatial trajectory of quasiparticles, phonons and the Li-7 daughter nucleus in the sensor. We will show preliminary results of the energy relaxation and the dependence of electron escape on the Be-7 implantation depth. |
Tuesday, October 12, 2021 2:48PM - 3:00PM |
FK.00005: Precise Measurement of Reactor Antineutrino Spectra from Joint Analyses of PROSPECT, STEREO, and Daya Bay Benjamin T Foust The PROSPECT, Daya Bay, and STEREO reactor antineutrino experiments have made world-leading measurements of the 235U antineutrino spectra from fission reactors using high-performance liquid scintillator detectors. |
Tuesday, October 12, 2021 3:00PM - 3:12PM |
FK.00006: PROSPECT-II: Physics goals with an upgraded precision reactor oscillation and spectrum neutrino experiment Thomas J Langford The Precision Reactor Oscillation and Spectrum Experiment (PROSPECT) has made a series of world-leading short-baseline (SBL) measurements of neutrinos from the highly enriched High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) at Oak Ridge National Lab. In its first phase of operation, PROSPECT has produced the strongest limits on the existence of eV-scale sterile neutrinos in the high-mass range and the first modern measurement of the 235U neutrino energy spectrum. The detector was a pathfinder, demonstrating effective neutrino detection with signal-to-background greater than 1:1 without significant overburden. The collaboration is preparing an upgraded detector, PROSPECT-II, leveraging the successes of the first phase to increase robustness and extend sensitivity beyond that already achieved. In a proposed two-year deployment at HFIR, PROSPECT-II would substantially improve the measurement of the 235U antineutrino spectrum and make a measurement of the absolute 235U antineutrino flux allowing for detailed studies of discrepancies between theoretical models and experimental data. The increased sensitivity of the SBL sterile neutrino sensitivity extends beyond the Reactor Antineutrino Anomaly and reaches into the range of importance for long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments. As a robust, movable detector, PROSPECT-II could also be deployed at a low-enriched reactor enabling the separate determination of 239Pu. PROSPECT-II is an opportunity for continued probes of neutrino physics utilizing nuclear reactors while training the next generation of neutrino physicists. |
Tuesday, October 12, 2021 3:12PM - 3:24PM |
FK.00007: Working Towards an Absolute Reactor Antineutrino Flux Measurement using PROSPECT-I Data Paige Kunkle The Precision Oscillation and Spectrum Experiment (PROSPECT) is a short-baseline reactor antineutrino experiment designed to perform a sterile neutrino oscillation search and make a precise measurement of the neutrino energy spectrum from a compact reactor core, located at the highly enriched High Flux Isotope Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. In its first phase, PROSPECT demonstrated a superior signal-to-background while operating with minimal overburden, motivating an absolute flux measurement at the few percent level that has potential impacts on understanding the reactor antineutrino anomaly and the global flux picture, as well as reactor monitoring with neutrino detectors. This talk will outline the major components of an absolute flux measurement with PROSPECT and present a first look at the analysis. Potential improvements on an absolute flux measurement with a second run of the PROSPECT experiment based on this initial analysis will also be presented. |
Tuesday, October 12, 2021 3:24PM - 3:36PM |
FK.00008: Reactor Background Measurements at HFIR in Support of the PROSPECT-II Experiment BLAINE HEFFRON Nuclear reactors are the brightest man-made source of neutrinos and have been actively studied in recent decades to investigate neutrino oscillations and further our understanding of the underlying decay processes in a fission reactor. The High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is an 85 MW highly enriched Uranium reactor with a compact core that is ideal for studying reactor antineutrinos. The Precision Oscillation and Spectrum (PROSPECT) experiment, a ton scale liquid scintillator measurement of the antineutrino spectrum at HFIR, was designed to test for short baseline oscillations. A proposed upgrade to the experiment, PROSPECT-II, would operate at the same HFIR location. This talk gives an overview of background measurements made this year at HFIR to better understand the directionality of the reactor correlated gamma backgrounds in the PROSPECT location at the experimental hall. Also detailed are measurements made in a well shielded low background portion of the experiment hall in order to test the feasibility of future neutrino experiments. |
Tuesday, October 12, 2021 3:36PM - 3:48PM |
FK.00009: Impact of isomeric ratios on reactor antineutrino spectra: a sensitivity study Andrea Mattera, Alejandro A Sonzogni, Elizabeth McCutchan, Ryan J Lorek, Caroline Sears, Cassandra Billings
|
Follow Us |
Engage
Become an APS Member |
My APS
Renew Membership |
Information for |
About APSThe American Physical Society (APS) is a non-profit membership organization working to advance the knowledge of physics. |
© 2024 American Physical Society
| All rights reserved | Terms of Use
| Contact Us
Headquarters
1 Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844
(301) 209-3200
Editorial Office
100 Motor Pkwy, Suite 110, Hauppauge, NY 11788
(631) 591-4000
Office of Public Affairs
529 14th St NW, Suite 1050, Washington, D.C. 20045-2001
(202) 662-8700