Separating double-beta decay events from solar neutrino interactions in a kiloton-scale liquid scintillator detector by fast timing
© 2016 Elsevier B.V. We present a technique for separating nuclear double beta decay (ββ-decay) events from background neutrino interactions due to 8B decays in the sun. This background becomes dominant in a kiloton-scale liquid-scintillator detector deep underground and is usually considered as irr...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier BV
2021
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/133932 |
| _version_ | 1826214143798018048 |
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| author | Elagin, Andrey Frisch, Henry J Naranjo, Brian Ouellet, Jonathan Winslow, Lindley Wongjirad, Taritree |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics Elagin, Andrey Frisch, Henry J Naranjo, Brian Ouellet, Jonathan Winslow, Lindley Wongjirad, Taritree |
| author_sort | Elagin, Andrey |
| collection | MIT |
| description | © 2016 Elsevier B.V. We present a technique for separating nuclear double beta decay (ββ-decay) events from background neutrino interactions due to 8B decays in the sun. This background becomes dominant in a kiloton-scale liquid-scintillator detector deep underground and is usually considered as irreducible due to an overlap in deposited energy with the signal. However, electrons from 0νββ-decay often exceed the Cherenkov threshold in liquid scintillator, producing photons that are prompt and correlated in direction with the initial electron direction. The use of large-area fast photodetectors allows some separation of these prompt photons from delayed isotropic scintillation light and, thus, the possibility of reconstructing the event topology. Using a simulation of a 6.5 m radius liquid scintillator detector with 100 ps resolution photodetectors, we show that a spherical harmonics analysis of early-arrival light can discriminate between 0νββ-decay signal and 8B solar neutrino background events on a statistical basis. Good separation will require the development of a slow scintillator with a 5 ns risetime. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T16:00:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/133932 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T16:00:30Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publisher | Elsevier BV |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1339322023-03-15T20:55:59Z Separating double-beta decay events from solar neutrino interactions in a kiloton-scale liquid scintillator detector by fast timing Elagin, Andrey Frisch, Henry J Naranjo, Brian Ouellet, Jonathan Winslow, Lindley Wongjirad, Taritree Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics © 2016 Elsevier B.V. We present a technique for separating nuclear double beta decay (ββ-decay) events from background neutrino interactions due to 8B decays in the sun. This background becomes dominant in a kiloton-scale liquid-scintillator detector deep underground and is usually considered as irreducible due to an overlap in deposited energy with the signal. However, electrons from 0νββ-decay often exceed the Cherenkov threshold in liquid scintillator, producing photons that are prompt and correlated in direction with the initial electron direction. The use of large-area fast photodetectors allows some separation of these prompt photons from delayed isotropic scintillation light and, thus, the possibility of reconstructing the event topology. Using a simulation of a 6.5 m radius liquid scintillator detector with 100 ps resolution photodetectors, we show that a spherical harmonics analysis of early-arrival light can discriminate between 0νββ-decay signal and 8B solar neutrino background events on a statistical basis. Good separation will require the development of a slow scintillator with a 5 ns risetime. 2021-10-27T19:57:16Z 2021-10-27T19:57:16Z 2017 2019-06-13T12:23:35Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/133932 Elagin, Andrey, et al. "Separating Double-Beta Decay Events from Solar Neutrino Interactions in a Kiloton-Scale Liquid Scintillator Detector by Fast Timing." Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research Section a-Accelerators Spectrometers Detectors and Associated Equipment 849 (2017): 102-11. en 10.1016/J.NIMA.2016.12.033 Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ application/pdf Elsevier BV arXiv |
| spellingShingle | Elagin, Andrey Frisch, Henry J Naranjo, Brian Ouellet, Jonathan Winslow, Lindley Wongjirad, Taritree Separating double-beta decay events from solar neutrino interactions in a kiloton-scale liquid scintillator detector by fast timing |
| title | Separating double-beta decay events from solar neutrino interactions in a kiloton-scale liquid scintillator detector by fast timing |
| title_full | Separating double-beta decay events from solar neutrino interactions in a kiloton-scale liquid scintillator detector by fast timing |
| title_fullStr | Separating double-beta decay events from solar neutrino interactions in a kiloton-scale liquid scintillator detector by fast timing |
| title_full_unstemmed | Separating double-beta decay events from solar neutrino interactions in a kiloton-scale liquid scintillator detector by fast timing |
| title_short | Separating double-beta decay events from solar neutrino interactions in a kiloton-scale liquid scintillator detector by fast timing |
| title_sort | separating double beta decay events from solar neutrino interactions in a kiloton scale liquid scintillator detector by fast timing |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/133932 |
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