Electron antineutrino search at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory
Upper limits on the νe flux at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory have been set based on the νe charged-current reaction on deuterium. The reaction produces a positron and two neutrons in coincidence. This distinctive signature allows a search with very low background for νe's from the Sun and ot...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2004
|
| Summary: | Upper limits on the νe flux at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory have been set based on the νe charged-current reaction on deuterium. The reaction produces a positron and two neutrons in coincidence. This distinctive signature allows a search with very low background for νe's from the Sun and other potential sources. Both differential and integral limits on the νe flux have been placed in the energy range from 4-14.8 MeV. For an energy-independent νe → νe conversion mechanism, the integral limit on the flux of solar νe's in the energy range from 4-14.8 MeV is found to be Φνe ≤ 3.4 × 104 cm-2 s -1 (90% C.L.), which corresponds to 0.81% of the standard solar model 8B νe flux of 5.05 × 106 cm -2 s-1, and is consistent with the more sensitive limit from KamLAND in the 8.3-14.8 MeV range of 3.7 × 102 cm -2 s-1 (90% C.L.). In the energy range from 4-8 MeV, a search for νe's is conducted using coincidences in which only the two neutrons are detected Assuming a νe spectrum for the neutron induced fission of naturally occurring elements, a flux limit of Φνe ≤ 2.0 × 106 cm-2 s -1 (90% C.L.) is obtained. |
|---|