The PROSPECT Physics Program

Published

October 17, 2016

Author(s)

Hans P. Mumm, Michael P. Mendenhall

Abstract

The Precision Reactor Oscillation and Spectrum Experiment, PROSPECT, is designed to make a precise measurement of the antineutrino spectrum from a highly-enriched uranium reactor and probe eV-scale sterile neutrinos by searching for neutrino oscillations over meter-long distances. PROSPECT is conceived as a 2-phase experiment utilizing segmented 6Li-doped liquid scintillator detectors for both efficient detection of reactor antineutrinos through the inverse beta decay reaction and excellent background discrimination. PROSPECT Phase I consists of a movable 3-ton antineu- trino detector at distances of 7–12 m from the reactor core. It will probe the best-fit point of the νe disappearance experiments at 4σ in 1 year and the favored region of the sterile neutrino parameter space at >3σ in 3 years. With a second antineutrino detector at 15–19 m from the reactor, Phase II of PROSPECT can probe the entire allowed parameter space below 10 eV2 at 5σ in 3 additional years. The measurement of the reactor antineutrino spectrum and the search for short-baseline oscillations with PROSPECT will test the origin of the spectral deviations observed in recent θ13 experiments, search for sterile neutrinos, and conclusively address the hypothesis of sterile neutrinos as an expla- nation of the reactor anomaly.

Citation

Journal of Physics G-Nuclear and Particle Physics

Volume

43

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1088/0954-3899/43/11/113001

Keywords

neutrino oscillation, short-baseline, reactor anomaly, neutrino-based nuclear safeguards

Citation

Mumm, H. and Mendenhall, M. (2016), The PROSPECT Physics Program, Journal of Physics G-Nuclear and Particle Physics, [online], https://doi.org/10.1088/0954-3899/43/11/113001 (Accessed April 26, 2024)