SearcharxivSearch

arXiv · 2109.10782

Potential for a precision measurement of solar $pp$ neutrinos in the Serappis Experiment

Abstract

The Serappis (SEarch for RAre PP-neutrinos In Scintillator) project aims at a precision measurement of the flux of solar $pp$ neutrinos on the few-percent level. Such a measurement will be a relevant contribution to the study of solar neutrino oscillation parameters and a sensitive test of the solar luminosity constraint. The concept of Serappis relies on a small organic liquid scintillator detector ($\sim$20 m$^3$) with excellent energy resolution ($\sim$2.5 % at 1 MeV), low internal background and sufficient shielding from surrounding radioactivity. This can be achieved by a minor upgrade of the OSIRIS facility at the site of the JUNO neutrino experiment in southern China. To go substantially beyond current accuracy levels for the $pp$ flux, an organic scintillator with ultra-low $^{14}$C levels (below $10^{-18}$) is required. The existing OSIRIS detector and JUNO infrastructure will be instrumental in identifying suitable scintillator materials, offering a unique chance for a low-budget high-precision measurement of a fundamental property of our Sun that will be otherwise hard to access.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

BibTeXRIS

Lukas Bieger, Thilo Birkenfeld, David Blum, Wilfried Depnering, Timo Enqvist, Heike Enzmann, Feng Gao, Christoph Genster, Alexandre Göttel, Christian Grewing, Maxim Gromov, Paul Hackspacher, Caren Hagner, Tobias Heinz, Philipp Kampmann, Michael Karagounis, Andre Kruth, Pasi Kuusiniemi, Tobias Lachenmaier, Daniel Liebau, Runxuan Liu, Kai Loo, Livia Ludhova, David Meyhöfer, Axel Müller, Pavithra Muralidharan, Lothar Oberauer, Rainer Othegraven, Nina Parkalian, Yatian Pei, Oliver Pilarczyk, Henning Rebber, Markus Robens, Christian Roth, Julia Sawatzki, Konstantin Schweizer, Giulio Settanta, Maciej Slupecki, Oleg Smirnov, Achim Stahl, Hans Steiger, Jochen Steinmann, Tobias Sterr, Matthias Raphael Stock, Jian Tang, Eric Theisen, Alexander Tietzsch, Wladyslaw Trzaska, Johannes van den Boom, Stefan van Waasen, Cornelius Vollbrecht, Christopher Wiebusch, Bjoern Wonsak, Michael Wurm, Christian Wysotzki, Yu Xu, Ugur Yegin, Andre Zambanini, Jan Züfle. 2021-09-22. Potential for a precision measurement of solar $pp$ neutrinos in the Serappis Experiment. https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc%2Fs10052-022-10725-y

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

High-Speed Semi-FE Readout Module for ATLAS MDT at HL-LHC: Design and Production-Level Characterization

The High-Luminosity upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) introduces increased demands on the ATLAS Muon Spectrometer, particularly in terms of data throughput, timing distribution and system reliability. The Phase-II Chamber Service Module (CSM) is a key component of the upgraded Monitored Drift Tube (MDT) trigger and readout system, providing a high-speed interface between the front-end electronics and the backend systems. This paper describes the design and implementation of the Phase-II CSM, together with its validation. The results show that the CSM supports two independent optical uplinks, each operating at a line rate of 10.24 Gbps, together with clock distribution and slow control in the expected operating environment. Integration with small-diameter MDT (sMDT) chambers and tests with the prototype L0MDT trigger system are also presented. The CSM boards are now in production and will be used for installation and integration during the upcoming LHC Long Shutdown.

physics.ins-det

Spectral Discrimination of Deposited Gamma-Ray Energies in a Simulated CeBr$_3$ Scintillator

We show that wavelength measurements of individual detected optical photons may provide additional information about gamma-ray energy deposited in a CeBr$_3$ crystal when the detected-photon-count distributions overlap for nearby gamma-ray energies. Monoenergetic 662 and 629 keV gammas are used in a Geant4 simulation of a $25\times25\times20~\mathrm{mm^3}$ CeBr$_3$ crystal. Assuming a light yield of $6.0\times10^4$ photons/MeV, a wavelength-independent photon-detection efficiency of 30%, and a wavelength resolution of $\sigma_{\lambda}=40$ nm, we find that the fraction of photons reconstructed above 385 nm gives an event-level separation of $\sim$ 2 standard deviations between the 662 and 629 keV event populations selected within the same $\sim$ 1%-wide detected-photon-count interval. No timing or reconstructed interaction-position information is used. The result demonstrates, within the present simulation model, that event-dependent optical spectra can retain energy information beyond an undifferentiated photon count.

physics.ins-det

Operation of a negative ion gas time projection chamber without electronegative fill gases

The high fidelity reconstruction of particle tracks in micropatterned gaseous time projection chambers renders this technology ideal for future rare-event searches, including direction-sensitive dark matter experiments. Large drift distances are typically required for such experiments, so that the overall spatial resolution is limited by diffusion. Negative ion drift exhibits lower diffusion than electron drift and is thus an attractive option for realising a large-scale detector. The use of electronegative gases to create negative ions introduces technical challenges, most notably a reduction in gain when compared to conventional gas mixtures. In this study, we demonstrate a new method for negative ion generation via dissociative electron attachment using the conventional molecular fill gas CF$_4$. Our optical measurements of negative ion drift indicate electron attachment lengths of $<$1 mm and comparable gain to electron avalanches. The individual negative ion avalanches were also time-resolved, allowing the number of ions reaching the readout to be counted. We measure an improved energy resolution by single ion counting, relative to an integrated electron avalanche signal measured under identical gain conditions.

physics.ins-det