Insofar as the detection of anti-neutrinos from nuclear reactors is concerned, the SNO+ detector -- a 1 kilo-tonne liquid scintillator detector that inherits the experimental infrastructure from the recently finished SNO experiment -- is expected to perform just as well as the KamLAND experiment. The most important difference between these experiments is the distribution of nuclear reactors: whereas KamLAND has 9 nuclear reactor sites within 300 km with a flux-averaged baseline of about 180 km, SNO+ has only 1 within 300 km, with an average baseline of $\approx 750$ km. As a result, the reactor anti-neutrino flux at SNO+ is only about 1/5 that at KamLAND, and the ability of SNO+ to constrain the solar neutrino oscillation parameter is diminished by a factor of about $\sqrt{1/5} = 1/2.2$ relative to KamLAND. In spite of this, SNO+ has comparable sensitivity to $Δm^{2}_{12}$ as KamLAND because the rate of change of the spectral distortion as a function of this parameter is much greater than for KamLAND. In this report, this advantage is examined quantitatively using a geometric approximation that makes clear how the shape from SNO+ has more statistical power than that from KamLAND. This result then is confirmed by determining the sensitivity to $Δm^{2}_{12}$ using an ensemble experiment technique.
We present a short review of the existing evidence in favor of neutrino mass and neutrino oscillations which come from different kinds of experiments. We focus our attention in particular on solar neutrinos, presenting a review of some recent analysis of all available neutrino oscillation evidence in Solar experiments including the recent $SNO CC$ and $NC$ data. We present in detail the power of the reactor experiment KamLAND for discriminating existing solutions to the SNP and giving accurate information on neutrino masses and mixing angles.
In the recent years important discoveries in the field of low energy neutrino physics (E$_ν$ in the $\approx$ MeV range) have been achieved. Results of the solar neutrino experiment SNO show clearly flavor transitions from $ν_e$ to $ν_{μ,τ}$. In addition, the long standing solar neutrino problem is basically solved. With KamLAND, an experiment measuring neutrinos emitted from nuclear reactors at large distances, evidence for neutrino oscillations has been found. The values for the oscillation parameters, amplitude and phase, have been restricted. In this paper the potential of future projects …
The evolution of the reactor antineutrino spectrum toward equilibrium above the inverse beta-decay threshold during the reactor operating period and the decay of residual antineutrino radiation after reactor shutdown are considered. It is found that, under certain conditions, these processes can play a significant role in experiments seeking neutrino oscillations.
The calculations of the time-dependent reactor antineutrino energy spectrum are presented. Some problems associated with sensitive searches for neutrino magnetic moment and neutrino oscillations in reactor antineutrino flux are considered.
The direct measuring method is considered to get nuclear reactor antineutrino spectrum. We suppose to isolate partial spectra of the fissile isotopes by using the method of antineutrino spectrum extraction from the inverse beta decay positron spectrum applied at Rovno experiment. This admits to increase the accuracy of partial antineutrino spectra forming the total nuclear reactor spectrum. It is important for the analysis of the reactor core fuel composition and could be applied for non-proliferation purposes.
We study the time evolution of the typical nuclear reactor antineutrino energy spectrum during reactor ON period and the decay of the residual antineutrino spectrum after reactor is stopped. We find that relevant variations of the soft recoil electron spectra produced via weak and magnetic ${\widetilde ν}_{e},e$ scattering process can play a signigicant role in the current and planned searches for the neutrino magnetic moment at reactors.
We review the current status of the solar neutrino oscillation parameters. We discuss the conditions under which measurements from future solar neutrino experiments would determine the oscillation parameters precisely. Finally we expound the potential of long baseline reactor anti-neutrino experiments in measuring the solar neutrino oscillation parameters.
Tests of Lorentz and CPT violation in the medium baseline reactor antineutrino experiment are presented in the framework of the Standard Model Extension (SME). Both the spectral distortion and sidereal variation are employed to derive the limits of Lorentz violation (LV) coefficients. We do the numerical analysis of the sensitivity of LV coefficients by taking the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) as an illustration, which can improve the sensitivity by more than two orders of magnitude compared with the current limits from reactor antineutrino experiments.
We update our study of neutrino mass hierarchy determination using a high statistics reactor electron anti-neutrino experiment in the light of the recent evidences of a relatively large non-zero value of θ_{13} from the Daya Bay and RENO experiments. We find that there are noticeable modifications in the results, which allow a relaxation in the detector's characteristics, such as the energy resolution and exposure, required to obtain a significant sensitivity to, or to determine, the neutrino mass hierarchy in such a reactor experiment.
Novel Constraints on Spin-Dependent Light Dark Matter Scattering
School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota（明尼苏达大学物理与天文学院）；William I. Fine Theoretical Physics Institute, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota（明尼苏达大学物理与天文学院威廉·I·芬恩理论物理研究所）
New ${\barν_e},e$ scattering experiments aimed for sensitive searches of the $ν_e$ magnetic moment and projects to explore small mixing angle oscillations at reactors call for a better understanding of the reactor antineutrino spectrum. Here we consider six components, which contribute to the total ${\barν_e}$ spectrum generated in nuclear reactor. They are: beta decay of the fission fragments of $^{235}$U, $^{239}$Pu, $^{238}$U and $^{241}$Pu, decay of beta-emitters produced as a result of neutron capture in $^{238}$U and also due to neutron capture in accumulated fission fragments which pert…
The masses of sterile neutrinos are not yet known, and depending on the orders of magnitudes, their existence may explain reactor anomalies or the spectral shape of reactor neutrino events at 1.5km-baseline detector. Here, we present four-neutrino analysis of the results announced by RENO and Daya Bay, which performed the definitive measurements of $θ_{13}$ based on the disappearance of reactor antineutrinos at km-order baselines. Our results using 3+1 scheme include the exclusion curve of $Δm^2_{41}$ vs. $θ_{14}$ and the adjustment of $θ_{13}$ due to correlation with $θ_{14}$. The value of $θ…
We have examined the impact of new Daya Bay, Double Chooz, and RENO measurements on global fits of reactor antineutrino flux data to a variety of hypotheses regarding the origin of the reactor antineutrino anomaly. In comparing RENO and Daya Bay measurements of inverse beta decay (IBD) yield versus $^{239}$Pu fission fraction, we find differing levels of precision in measurements of time-integrated yield and yield slope, but similar central values, leading to modestly enhanced isotopic IBD yield measurements in a joint fit of the two datasets. In the absence of sterile neutrino oscillations, g…
We reformulate the probabilities of disappearance neutrino or antineutrino oscillations so as to single out the interference term proportional to the product of \sin[Δm^2_{21} L/(4 E)] and \sin[(Δm^2_{31} + Δm^2_{32}) L/(4 E)], which is transparently sensitive to the neutrino mass ordering. We elaborate this issue for a reactor-based antineutrino oscillation experiment like JUNO, and take account of terrestrial matter effects. If a light sterile neutrino species contributes to P(\overlineν_e \to \overlineν_e), we find that there will be a new interference term proportional to the product of \s…
Short distance reactor antineutrino experiments measure an antineutrino spectrum a few percent lower than expected from theoretical predictions. In this work we study the potential of low energy threshold reactor experiments in the context of a light sterile neutrino signal. We discuss the perspectives of the recently detected coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering in future reactor antineutrino experiments. We find that the expectations to improve the current constraints on the mixing with sterile neutrinos are promising. We also analyse the measurements of antineutrino scattering off e…
In 2012 the Daya Bay experiment made an unambiguous observation of reactor antineutrino disappearance over kilometer-long baselines and determined that the neutrino mixing angle $θ_{13}$ is non-zero. The measurements of Daya Bay have provided the most precise determination of $θ_{13}$ to date. This whitepaper outlines the prospects for precision studies of reactor antineutrinos at Daya Bay in the coming years. This includes precision measurements of sin$^2 2θ_{13}$ and $Δm^2_{ee}$ to $<$3%, high-statistics measurement of reactor flux and spectrum, and non-standard physics searches.
We present an updated estimate of reactor antineutrino signal all over the world, with particular attention to the sites proposed for existing and future geo-neutrino experiment. In our calculation we take into account the most updated data on Thermal Power for each nuclear plant, on reactor antineutrino spectra and on three neutrino oscillation mechanism.
The disappearance of reactor antineutrinos in the Double Chooz experiment is used to investigate the possibility of neutrino-antineutrino oscillations arising due to the breakdown of Lorentz invariance. We find no evidence for this phenomenon and set the first limits on 15 coefficients describing neutrino-antineutrino mixing within the framework of the Standard-Model Extension.
SuperKamiokande (SK) doped with gadolinium has the capability to efficiently identify electron-antineutrinos through inverse beta-decay. Given the size of SK and the number of nuclear reactors in its vicinity, we argue that SK can observe the oscillations of reactor antineutrinos driven by the so-called solar mass-squared difference $Δm^2_{21}$. After only one year of data taking, we estimate that SK can measure $Δm^2_{21}$ with enough precision to help inform the current small tension between existing results from KamLAND and solar neutrino experiments.
In this work we present an accurate parameterization of the anti-neutrino flux produced by the isotopes 235U, 239Pu and 241Pu in nuclear reactors. We determine the coefficients of this parameterization, as well as their covariance matrix, by performing a fit to spectra inferred from experimentally measured beta spectra. Subsequently we show that flux shape uncertainties play only a minor role in the KamLAND experiment, however, we find that future reactor neutrino experiments to measure the mixing angle $θ_{13}$ are sensitive to the fine details of the reactor neutrino spectra. Finally, we inv…
We study the status of the reactor antineutrino anomaly in light of recent reactor flux models obtained with the conversion and summation methods. We present a new improved calculation of the IBD yields of the standard Huber-Mueller (HM) model and those of the new models. We show that the reactor rates and the fuel evolution data are consistent with the predictions of the Kurchatov Institute (KI) conversion model and with those of the Estienne-Fallot (EF) summation model, leading to a plausible robust demise of the reactor antineutrino anomaly. We show that the results of several goodness of f…
We present the bounds on 3+1 active-sterile neutrino mixing obtained from the first results of the KATRIN experiment. We show that the KATRIN data extend the Mainz and Troitsk bound to smaller values of $Δ{m}^2_{41}$ for large mixing and improves the exclusion of the large-$Δ{m}^2_{41}$ solution of the Huber-Muller reactor antineutrino anomaly. We also show that the combined bound of the Mainz, Troitsk, and KATRIN tritium experiments and the Bugey-3, NEOS, PROSPECT, and DANSS reactor spectral ratio measurements exclude most of the region in the ($\sin^2\!2\vartheta_{ee},Δ{m}^2_{41}$) plane all…
Model-independent reactor isotopic cross sections per fission are determined by global fits of the reactor antineutrino data from High-Enriched Uranium (HEU) reactor rates, Low-Enriched Uranium (LEU) reactor rates, and reactor fuel evolution data. Taking account of the implicit quasi-linear relationship between the fission fractions of $^{239}\rm{Pu}$ and $^{241}\rm{Pu}$ in the LEU reactor data, the Inverse-Beta-Decay (IBD) yields and their correlations of the fissionable isotopes $^{235}\rm{U}$, $^{238}\rm{U}$, and Pu's are obtained. The data-driven isotopic IBD yields provide an anomaly-free…
We present a review of the antineutrino spectra emitted from reactors. Knowledge of these and their associated uncertainties are crucial for neutrino oscillation studies. The spectra used to-date have been determined by either conversion of measured electron spectra to antineutrino spectra or by summing over all of the thousands of transitions that makeup the spectra using modern databases as input. The uncertainties in the subdominant corrections to beta-decay plague both methods, and we provide estimates of these uncertainties. Improving on current knowledge of the antineutrino spectra from …
The $\sim 3σ$ discrepancy between the predicted and observed reactor anti-neutrino flux, known as the reactor anti-neutrino anomaly, continues to intrigue. The recent discovery of an unexpected bump in the reactor anti-neutrino spectrum, as well as indications that the flux deficit is different for different fission isotopes seems to disfavour the explanation of the anomaly in terms of sterile neutrino oscillations. We critically review this conclusion in view of all available data on electron (anti)neutrino disappearance. We find that the sterile neutrino hypothesis cannot be rejected based o…
One has investigated possibility of performing NEUTRINO-4 experiment on search for reactor neutrino oscillations into a sterile state at research reactors. The simulated experiment has been conducted at 16 MW reactor WWR-M in PNPI with the purpose of implementing a full scale experiment with the help of 100 MW reactor SM-3 in RIAR. Background conditions for making such an experiment have been examined at both reactors. The conclusion has been made on possible implementation of a full scale experiment NEUTRINO-4 at the reactor SM-3 in RIAR.
The existence of a new interaction involving the electron neutrino and the nucleons, which has received a convincing confirmation through a good agreement between the theoretical and experimental results concerning all observable processes with solar neutrinos, should also inevitably manifest itself in the deuteron disintegration by reactor antineutrinos neutral currents. In this paper, the analytical and numerical characteristics of such a disintegration are presented. The attention is drawn to the problem of finding the neutron registration efficiency, discussed in the preparation of the exp…
We present a reanalysis of nonstandard neutrino-down-quark interactions of electron and tau neutrinos using solar, reactor and accelerator data. In addition updating the analysis by including new solar data from SNO phase III and Borexino, as well as new KamLAND data and solar fluxes, a key role is played in our analysis by the combination of these results with the CHARM data. The latter allows us to better constrain the axial and axial-vector electron and tau-neutrino nonstandard interaction parameters characterizing the deviations from the Standard Model predictions.
Positron spectrum from inverse beta decay reaction on proton was measured in 1988-1990 as a result of neutrino exploration experiment. The measured spectrum has the largest statistics and lowest energy threshold between other neutrino experiments made that time at nuclear reactors. On base of the positron spectrum the standard antineutrino spectrum for typical reactor fuel composition was restored. In presented analysis the partial spectra forming this standard spectrum were extracted using specific method. They could be used for neutrino experiments data analysis made at any fuel composition …
We discuss reactor antineutrino oscillations with non-standard interactions (NSIs) at the neutrino production and detection processes. The neutrino oscillation probability is calculated with a parametrization of the NSI parameters by splitting them into the averages and differences of the production and detection processes respectively. The average parts induce constant shifts of the neutrino mixing angles from their true values, and the difference parts can generate the energy (and baseline) dependent corrections to the initial mass-squared differences. We stress that only the shifts of mass-…
Recently new reactor antineutrino spectra have been provided for 235U, 239Pu, 241Pu and 238U, increasing the mean flux by about 3 percent. To good approximation, this reevaluation applies to all reactor neutrino experiments. The synthesis of published experiments at reactor-detector distances <100 m leads to a ratio of observed event rate to predicted rate of 0.976(0.024). With our new flux evaluation, this ratio shifts to 0.943(0.023), leading to a deviation from unity at 98.6% C.L. which we call the reactor antineutrino anomaly. The compatibility of our results with the existence of a fourth…
Building on earlier studies, we investigate the possibility to determine the type of neutrino mass spectrum (i.e., "the neutrino mass hierarchy") in a high statistics reactor electron antineutrino experiment with a relatively large KamLAND-like detector and an optimal baseline of 60 Km. We analyze systematically the Fourier Sine and Cosine Transforms (FST and FCT) of simulated reactor antineutrino data with reference to their specific mass hierarchy-dependent features discussed earlier in the literature. We perform also a binned χ^2 analysis of the sensitivity of simulated reactor electron ant…
We consider an alternative explanation for the deficit of nu_e in Ga solar neutrino calibration experiments and of the anti nu_e in short baseline reactor experiments by a model where neutrinos can oscillate into sterile Kaluza-Klein modes that can propagate in compactified sub-micrometer flat extra dimensions. We have analyzed the results of the Gallium radioactive source experiments and 19 reactor experiments with baseline shorter than 100 m, and showed that these data can be fitted into this scenario. The values of the lightest neutrino mass and of the size of the largest extra dimension th…
We analyze the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) and Super-Kamiokande (SK) data on charged current (CC), neutral current (NC) and neutrino electron elastic scattering (ES) reactions to constrain the leading weak axial two-body current parameterized by L_1A. This two-body current is the dominant uncertainty of every low energy weak interaction deuteron breakup process, including SNO's CC and NC reactions. Our method shows that the theoretical inputs to SNO's determination of the CC and NC fluxes can be self-calibrated, be calibrated by SK, or be calibrated by reactor data. The only assumption …
Despite the dramatic progress made in neutrino oscillation studies recently, several fundamental neutrino parameters remain either unknown or poorly measured. We discuss in detail a method for their measurement by precision studies of oscillation-caused neutrino energy spectrum distortions, for which a large underwater inverse beta decay detector appears to be a perfect tool. Results determine optimal baselines and necessary exposures in the presence of systematic uncertainties and the unavoidable background from terrestrial antineutrinos.
We identify a new, flux-dependent correction to the antineutrino spectrum as produced in nuclear reactors. The abundance of certain nuclides, whose decay chains produce antineutrinos above the threshold for inverse beta decay, has a nonlinear dependence on the neutron flux, unlike the vast majority of antineutrino producing nuclides, whose decay rate is directly related to the fission rate. We have identified four of these so-called nonlinear nuclides and determined that they result in an antineutrino excess at low-energies below 3.2MeV, dependent on the reactor thermal neutron flux. We develo…
We performed Monte Carlo calculations of the statistical distribution of the $χ^2$ test statistic used in the analysis of the data of the NEOS, DANSS, Bugey-3, and PROSPECT short-baseline reactor experiments. We show that the statistical significance of the NEOS and DANSS indications in favor of active-sterile neutrino oscillations is smaller than that obtained with the usual method based on the $χ^2$ distribution. In the combined analysis of the data of the four experiments we find that the statistical significance of active-sterile neutrino oscillations is reduced from $2.4σ$ to $1.8σ$.
The RENO experiment recently reported the disappearance of reactor electron antineutrinos consistent with neutrino oscillations, with a significance of 4.9 standard deviations. The published ratio of observed to expected number of antineutrinos in the far detector is R=0.920 +-0.009(stat.) +-0.014(syst.) and corresponds to sin^2 2theta13 = 0.113 +-0.013(stat.) +-0.019(syst), using a rate-only analysis. In this letter we reanalyze the data and we find a ratio R=0.903 +-0.01(stat.), leading to sin^2 2theta13 = 0.135. Moreover we show that the sin^2 2theta13 measurement still depend of the prompt…
The recent agreement to transfer nuclear submarine reactors and technology from two nuclear-weapon states to a non-nuclear-weapon state (AUKUS deal) highlights an unsolved problem in international safeguards: how to safeguard naval reactor fuel while it is on-board an operational nuclear submarine. Proposals to extend existing safeguards technologies and practices are complicated by the need for civilian international inspectors to gain access to the interior of the submarine and the reactor compartment, which raises national security concerns. In this paper we show that implementing safeguard…
Restriction on the neutron-antineutron oscillation time in vacuum is obtained from latest SNO data on the deuteron stability, $τ_D\,>\,3.01^.10^{31}$ years. Calculation performed within the quantum field theory based diagram technique reproduces satisfactorily results of the potential approach previously developed. The dependence of the obtained restriction on the total spin of the annihilating $N\bar N$ system and the deuteron wave function modifications is discussed.
Hints for the existence of a sterile neutrino at nuclear reactors are reexamined using two updated predictions for the fluxes of antineutrinos produced in fissions. These new predictions diverge in their preference for the rate deficit anomaly, relative to previous analyses, but the anomaly in the ratios of measured antineutrino spectra persists. We comment on upcoming experiments and their ability to probe the preferred region of the sterile-neutrino parameter space in the electron neutrino disappearance channel.
The reactor antineutrinos are used for the precise measurement of oscillation parameters in the 3-neutrino model, and also used to investigate active-sterile neutrino mixing sensitivity in the 3$+$1 neutrino framework. In the present work, we study the feasibility of sterile neutrino search with the Indian Scintillator Matrix for Reactor Anti-Neutrino (ISMRAN) experimental set-up using electron antineutrinos ($\overlineν_e$) produced from reactor as a source. The so-called 3$+$1 scenario is considered for active-sterile neutrino mixing, which leads to projected exclusion curves in the sterile …
We describe a method for determining the hierarchy of the neutrino mass spectrum and theta_13 through remote detection of antineutrinos from a nuclear reactor. This method utilizing a single, 10-kt scintillating liquid detector at a distance of 50-64 kilometers from the reactor complex measures mass-squared differences involving nu_3 with a one (ten) year exposure provided sin2(2theta_13)>0.05 (0.02). Our technique applies the Fourier transform to the event rate as a function of neutrino flight distance over energy. Sweeping over a relevant range of delta-m2 resolves separate spectral peaks fo…
There has been designed an experimental project "Neutrino-4" for 100 MW reactor SM-3 to test the hypothesis of the "reactor antineutrino anomaly". Advantages of the reactor SM-3 for such an experiment are low background conditions as well as small dimensions of a reactor core - 35x42x42 cm3. One has carried on the Monte-Carlo modeling of a position sensitive antineutrino detector consisting of 5 operation sections, which as a result of displacement, covers the distance from 6 to 13 meters from the reactor core. One has succeeded in obtaining an experimental area of sensitivity to oscillation p…
We discuss a possibility that the so-called reactor antineutrino anomaly can be, at least in part, explained by applying a quantum field-theoretical approach to neutrino oscillations, which in particular predicts a small deviation from the classical inverse-square law at short but macroscopic distances between the neutrino source and detector. An extensive statistical analysis of the reactor data is performed to examine this speculation.
After the neutrino mixing angle $θ_{13}$ has been precisely measured by the reactor antineutrino experiments, one of the most important open questions left in neutrino physics is the neutrino mass hierarchy. Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) is designed to determine the neutrino mass hierarchy (MH) without exploring the matter effect. The JUNO site location is optimized to have the best sensitivity for the mass hierarchy determination. JUNO will employ a 20 kton liquid scintillator detector located in a laboratory 700 meters underground. The excellent energy resolution and PMT c…
According to different effects on neutrino oscillations, the unitarity violation in the MNSP matrix can be classified into the direct unitarity violation and the indirect unitarity violation which are induced by the existence of the light and the heavy sterile neutrinos respectively. Of which sub-eV sterile neutrinos are of most interesting. We study in this paper the possibility of searching for sub-eV sterile neutrinos in the precision reactor antineutrino oscillation experiments with three different baselines at around 500 m, 2 km and 60 km. We find that the antineutrino survival probabilit…
We present results from global fits to the available reactor antineutrino dataset, as of Fall 2019, to determine the global preference for a fourth, sterile neutrino. We have separately considered experiments that measure the integrated inverse-beta decay (IBD) rate from those that measure the energy spectrum of IBD events at one or more locations. The software used is the newly developed GLoBESfit tool set which is based on the publicly available GLoBES framework and will be released as open-source software.
Antineutrino detectors are practical, non-intrusive tools capable of remotely monitoring the activity of nuclear reactors. Here we explore the sensitivity of the Super-Kamiokande water-Cherenkov detector, following gadolinium loading, to antineutrinos from a nuclear reactor complex at a distance of approximately 190 km. The livetimes required to observe the two currently operating cores in the reactor complex depend on the activity of other reactors in the vicinity, as well as on estimates of detection efficiency and background rates. Under reasonable assumptions, we find that gadolinium-loade…
The 96.4 day exposure of a 3 kg ultra-low noise germanium detector to the high flux of antineutrinos from a power nuclear reactor is described. A very strong preference ($p<1.2\times10^{-3}$) for the presence of a coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CE$ν$NS) component in the data is found, when compared to a background-only model. No such effect is visible in 25 days of operation during reactor outages. The best-fit CE$ν$NS signal is in good agreement with expectations based on a recent characterization of germanium response to sub-keV nuclear recoils. Deviations of order 60\% from t…
Nuclear reactors are strong, pure and well localized sources of electron antineutrinos with energies in the few MeV range. Therefore they provide a suitable environment to study neutrino properties, in particular neutrino oscillation parameters. Recent predictions of the expected antineutrino flux at nuclear reactors are about 6% higher than the average rate measured in different experiments. This discrepancy, known as the reactor antineutrino anomaly, is significant at the 2.5σ level. Several new experiments are searching for the origin of this observed neutrino deficit. One hypothesis to be …
We explore the potential of measuring the solar neutrino oscillation parameters in the proposed gadolinium loaded Super-Kamiokande (SK-Gd) detector. Gadolinium dissolved in water can detect neutrons much more efficiently than pure water. This imparts the detector the ability to observe electron type antineutrinos, transforming Super-Kamiokande into a huge reactor antineutrino detector with an event rate approximately 43 times higher than that observed in KamLAND. We simulate the reactor antineutrino data expected in this high statistics detector. We use these prospective data to study the prec…
In connection with the question of possible existence of sterile neutrino the laboratory on the basis of SM-3 reactor was created to search for oscillations of reactor antineutrino. A prototype of a neutrino detector with scintillator volume of 400 l can be moved at the distance of 6-11 m from the reactor core. The measurements of background conditions have been made. It is shown that the main experimental problem is associated with cosmic radiation background. Test measurements of dependence of a reactor antineutrino flux on the distance from a reactor core have been made. The prospects of se…
Baksan Experiment on Sterile Neutrino (BEST) is presently at the stage of production of the artificial neutrino source Cr-51, the gallium exposure will start in July and proceed for three months. While aiming specifically at investigating the Gallium neutrino anomaly (SAGE and GALLEX experiments), BEST can do more and it is tempting to estimate its ability in testing sterile neutrino explanation of antineutrino (reactor) anomalies. We observe a moderate sensitivity to the region in model parameter space (sterile neutrino mass and mixing with active electron neutrino) outlined by the old reacto…
