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Title: Measurement of the reactor antineutrino flux and spectrum at Daya Bay

Abstract

This Letter reports a measurement of the flux and energy spectrum of electron antineutrinos from six 2.9~GWth nuclear reactors with six detectors deployed in two near (effective baselines 512~m and 561~m) and one far (1,579 m) underground experimental halls in the Daya Bay experiment. Using 217 days of data, 296,721 and 41,589 inverse beta decay (IBD) candidates were detected in the near and far halls, respectively. The measured IBD yield is (1.55 ± 0.04) × 10–18 cm2/GW/day or (5.92 ± 0.14) × 10–43 cm2/fission. This flux measurement is consistent with previous short-baseline reactor antineutrino experiments and is 0.946 ± 0.022 (0.991 ± 0.023) relative to the flux predicted with the Huber+Mueller (ILL+Vogel) fissile antineutrino model. The measured IBD positron energy spectrum deviates from both spectral predictions by more than 2σ over the full energy range with a local significance of up to ~4σ between 4-6 MeV. Furthermore, a reactor antineutrino spectrum of IBD reactions is extracted from the measured positron energy spectrum for model-independent predictions.

Authors:
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;  [1]
  1. et. al.
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ. (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP)
Contributing Org.:
Daya Bay Collaboration
OSTI Identifier:
1235879
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1237875; OSTI ID: 1379090; OSTI ID: 1594403
Report Number(s):
BNL-111707-2016-JA
Journal ID: ISSN 0031-9007; PRLTAO; R&D Project: PO-022; KA2201020; TRN: US1600803
Grant/Contract Number:  
SC00112704; AC02-05CH11231; SC0009973
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Physical Review Letters
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 116; Journal Issue: 6; Journal ID: ISSN 0031-9007
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS; reactor; antineutrino flux; energy spectrum; Daya Bay; 21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS

Citation Formats

D. E. Jaffe, Bishai, M, Diwan, M., Gill, R., Hackenburg, R. W., Hans, S., Hu, L. M., Jaffe, D. E., Kettell, S. H., Tang, W., Viren, B., Worcester, E., Yeh, M., and Zhang, C. Measurement of the reactor antineutrino flux and spectrum at Daya Bay. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.061801.
D. E. Jaffe, Bishai, M, Diwan, M., Gill, R., Hackenburg, R. W., Hans, S., Hu, L. M., Jaffe, D. E., Kettell, S. H., Tang, W., Viren, B., Worcester, E., Yeh, M., & Zhang, C. Measurement of the reactor antineutrino flux and spectrum at Daya Bay. United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.061801
D. E. Jaffe, Bishai, M, Diwan, M., Gill, R., Hackenburg, R. W., Hans, S., Hu, L. M., Jaffe, D. E., Kettell, S. H., Tang, W., Viren, B., Worcester, E., Yeh, M., and Zhang, C. 2016. "Measurement of the reactor antineutrino flux and spectrum at Daya Bay". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.061801. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1235879.
@article{osti_1235879,
title = {Measurement of the reactor antineutrino flux and spectrum at Daya Bay},
author = {D. E. Jaffe and Bishai, M and Diwan, M. and Gill, R. and Hackenburg, R. W. and Hans, S. and Hu, L. M. and Jaffe, D. E. and Kettell, S. H. and Tang, W. and Viren, B. and Worcester, E. and Yeh, M. and Zhang, C.},
abstractNote = {This Letter reports a measurement of the flux and energy spectrum of electron antineutrinos from six 2.9~GWth nuclear reactors with six detectors deployed in two near (effective baselines 512~m and 561~m) and one far (1,579 m) underground experimental halls in the Daya Bay experiment. Using 217 days of data, 296,721 and 41,589 inverse beta decay (IBD) candidates were detected in the near and far halls, respectively. The measured IBD yield is (1.55 ± 0.04) × 10–18 cm2/GW/day or (5.92 ± 0.14) × 10–43 cm2/fission. This flux measurement is consistent with previous short-baseline reactor antineutrino experiments and is 0.946 ± 0.022 (0.991 ± 0.023) relative to the flux predicted with the Huber+Mueller (ILL+Vogel) fissile antineutrino model. The measured IBD positron energy spectrum deviates from both spectral predictions by more than 2σ over the full energy range with a local significance of up to ~4σ between 4-6 MeV. Furthermore, a reactor antineutrino spectrum of IBD reactions is extracted from the measured positron energy spectrum for model-independent predictions.},
doi = {10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.061801},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1235879}, journal = {Physical Review Letters},
issn = {0031-9007},
number = 6,
volume = 116,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Feb 12 00:00:00 EST 2016},
month = {Fri Feb 12 00:00:00 EST 2016}
}

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