The standard three-neutrino oscillation paradigm, associated with small squared mass splittings Delta m super(2) << 0.1 eV super(2), has been successfully built up over the last 15 years using solar, ...atmospheric, long baseline accelerator and reactor neutrino experiments. However, this well-established picture might suffer from anomalous results reported at very short baselines in some of these experiments. If not experimental artifacts, such results could possibly be interpreted as the existence of at least an additional fourth sterile neutrino species, mixing with the known active flavors with an associated mass splitting (ProQuest: Formulae and/or non-USASCII text omitted) >> 0.01 eV super(2) and being insensitive to standard weak interactions. Precision measurements at very short baselines (5-15 m) with intense MeV nu sub(e) emitters can be used to probe these anomalies. In this article, the expected nu sub(e) signal and backgrounds of a generic experiment which consists of deploying an intense beta super(-) radioactive source inside or in the vicinity of a large liquid scintillator detector are studied. The technical challenges to perform such an experiment are identified, along with quantifying the possible source- and detector-induced systematics and their impact on the sensitivity to the observation of neutrino oscillations at short baselines.
Solar neutrino detectors as sterile neutrino hunters Pallavicini, Marco; Agostini, M.; Altenmüller, K. ...
Journal of physics. Conference series,
09/2017, Volume:
888, Issue:
1
Journal Article, Conference Proceeding
Peer reviewed
Open access
The large size and the very low radioactive background of solar neutrino detectors such as Borexino at the Gran Sasso Laboratory in Italy offer a unique opportunity to probe the existence of neutrino ...oscillations into new sterile components by means of carefully designed and well calibrated anti-neutrino and neutrino artificial sources. In this paper we briefly summarise the key elements of the SOX experiment, a program for the search of sterile neutrinos (and other short distance effects) by means of a 144Ce-144Pr anti-neutrino source and, possibly in the medium term future, with a 51Cr neutrino source.
The third phase of the Borexino experiment that's referred to as SOX is devoted to test the hypothesis of the existence of one (or more) sterile neutrinos at a short baseline (~5-10m). The ...experimental measurement will be made with artificial sources namely with a 144Ce-144Pr antineutrino source at the first stage (CeSOX) and possibly with a 51Cr neutrino source at the second one. The fixed 144Ce-144Pr sample will be placed beneath the detector in a special pit and the initial activity will be about 100 - 150 kCi. The start of data taking is scheduled for April 2018. The article gives a short description of the preparation for the first stage and shows the expected sensitivity.
The aim of the SOX experiment is to test the hypothesis of existence of light sterile neutrinos trough a short baseline experiment. Electron antineutrinos will be produced by an high activity source ...and detected in the Borexino experiment. Both an oscillometry approach and a conventional disappearance analysis will be performed and, if combined, SOX will be able to investigate most of the anomaly region at 95% c.l. This paper focuses on the improvements performed on the simulation code and on the techniques (calibrations) used to validate the results.
The Borexino detector has convincingly shown its outstanding performances in the low energy regime through its accomplishments in the observation and study of the solar and geo neutrinos. It is then ...an ideal tool to perform a state of the art source-based experiment for testing the longstanding hypothesis of a fourth sterile neutrino with ~ eV2 mass, as suggested by several anomalies accumulated over the past three decades in source, reactor, and accelerator-based experiments. The SOX project aims at successively deploying two intense radioactive sources, made of Cerium (antineutrino) and Chromium (neutrino), respectively, in a dedicated pit located beneath the detector. The existence of such an ~ eV2 sterile neutrino would then show up as an unambiguous spatial and energy distortion in the count rate of neutrinos interacting within the active detector volume. This article reports on the latest developments about the first phase of the SOX experiment, namely CeSOX, and gives a realistic projection of CeSOX sensitivity to light sterile neutrinos in a simple (3+1) model.
The Borexino detector has convincingly shown its outstanding performance in the in the sub-MeV regime through its unprecedented accomplishments in the solar and geo-neutrinos detection, which make it ...the ideal tool to unambiguously test the long-standing issue of the existence of a sterile neutrino, as suggested by several anomalies: the outputs of the LSND and Miniboone experiments, the results of the source calibration of the two Gallium solar ν experiments, and the recently hinted reactor anomaly. The SOX project will exploit two sources, based on chromium and cerium, which deployed under the experiment will emit two intense beams of (Cr) and (Ce). Interacting in the active volume of the liquid scintillator, each beam would create a spatial wave pattern in case of oscillation of the (or ) into the sterile state, which would be the smoking gun proving the existence of the new sterile member of the neutrino family. Otherwise, its absence will allow setting very stringent limit on its existence.
The aim of the SOX-Borexino project is to verify or falsify the existence of eV-scale sterile neutrinos. The existence of sterile neutrinos is suspected because of several anomalies, which were ...observed in previous experiments. A ~3.7 PBq electron antineutrino source made of
144
Ce will be installed below the Borexino detector at LNGS, Italy, to search for short-baseline oscillations of active-to-sterile neutrinos within the detector volume. Source delivery and beginning of data acquisition is planned for end of 2016, preliminary results are expected already in 2017.
The aim of the SOX-Borexino project is to verify or falsify the existence of eV-scale sterile neutrinos. The existence of sterile neutrinos is suspected because of several anomalies, which were ...observed in previous experiments. A ~3.7 PBq electron antineutrino source made of sup.144Ce will be installed below the Borexino detector at LNGS, Italy, to search for short-baseline oscillations of active-to-sterile neutrinos within the detector volume. Source delivery and beginning of data acquisition is planned for end of 2016, preliminary results are expected already in 2017.
The 144 Ce source for SOX Vivier, M; Agostini, M; Altenmüller, K ...
Journal of physics. Conference series,
02/2016, Volume:
675, Issue:
1
Journal Article
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