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Title: The PROSPECT reactor antineutrino experiment

Journal Article · · Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment

The Precision Reactor Oscillation and Spectrum Experiment, PROSPECT, is designed to make both a precise measurement of the antineutrino spectrum from a highly-enriched uranium reactor and to probe eV-scale sterile neutrinos by searching for neutrino oscillations over meter-long baselines. PROSPECT utilizes a segmentedLi-doped liquid scintillator detector for both efficient detection of reactor antineutrinos through the inverse beta decay reaction and excellent background discrimination. PROSPECT is a movable 4-ton antineutrino detector covering distances of 7 m to 13 m from the High Flux Isotope Reactor core. It will probe the best-fit point of the disappearance experiments at 4 in 1 year and the favored regions of the sterile neutrino parameter space at more than in 3 years. PROSPECT will test the origin of spectral deviations observed in recent experiments, search for sterile neutrinos, and address the hypothesis of sterile neutrinos as an explanation of the reactor anomaly. This paper describes the design, construction, and commissioning of PROSPECT and reports first data characterizing the performance of the PROSPECT antineutrino detector.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP); USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
Contributing Organization:
PROSPECT collaboration
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012704; AC52-07NA27344; SC0016357; SCW1504; AC05-00OR22725; SC0008347
OSTI ID:
1491145
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1502042; OSTI ID: 1547902; OSTI ID: 1564147; OSTI ID: 1595058
Report Number(s):
BNL-210855-2019-JAAM; LLNL-JRNL-755965
Journal Information:
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 922; ISSN 0168-9002
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 40 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (14)

Sterile neutrino oscillations: the global picture journal May 2013
Measurement of the Reactor Antineutrino Flux and Spectrum at Daya Bay journal February 2016
Improved measurements of the neutrino mixing angle θ 13 with the Double Chooz detector journal October 2014
The impact of sterile neutrinos on CP measurements at long baselines journal November 2015
The PROSPECT physics program journal October 2016
First Search for Short-Baseline Neutrino Oscillations at HFIR with PROSPECT journal December 2018
The Rate of Decay of Fission Products journal June 1948
Calculation of the antineutrino spectrum from thermal fission of 235U journal April 1982
Background radiation measurements at high power research reactors
  • Ashenfelter, J.; Balantekin, B.; Baldenegro, C. X.
  • Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 806 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2015.10.023
journal January 2016
Phase stability and lithium loading capacity in a liquid scintillation cocktail journal August 2017
Performance of a segmented 6 Li-loaded liquid scintillator detector for the PROSPECT experiment journal June 2018
Light collection and pulse-shape discrimination in elongated scintillator cells for the PROSPECT reactor antineutrino experiment journal November 2015
The Daya Bay antineutrino detector filling system and liquid mass measurement journal September 2013
The detector system of the Daya Bay reactor neutrino experiment
  • An, F. P.; Bai, J. Z.; Balantekin, A. B.
  • Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 811 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2015.11.144
journal March 2016

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