Experimental Parameters for a Reactor Antineutrino Experiment at Very Short Baselines

Published

April 23, 2013

Author(s)

Hans P. Mumm

Abstract

Reactor antineutrinos are used to study neutrino oscillation, search for signatures of non-standard neutrino interactions, and to monitor reactor operation for safeguard applications. The flux and energy spectrum of reactor antineutrinos can be predicted from the decays of the nuclear fission products. A comparison of recent reactor calculations with past measurements at baselines of 10- 100 m suggests a 5.7 % deficit. Precision measurements of reactor antineutrinos at very short baselines ~(1-10 m) can be used to probe this anomaly and search for possible oscillations into sterile neutrino species. This paper studies the experimental requirements for a new reactor antineutrino measurement at very short baselines and calculates the sensitivity of various scenarios. We conclude that an experiment at a typical research reactor provides 5$\sigma$ discovery potential for the favored oscillation parameter space with 3 years of data collection.

Citation

Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology)

Volume

87

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

Short baseline neutrino oscillation, sterile neutrinos, neutrino oscillation

Citation

Mumm, H. (2013), Experimental Parameters for a Reactor Antineutrino Experiment at Very Short Baselines, Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology), [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=913270 (Accessed October 15, 2025)