Unfolding neutron spectrum with Markov Chain Monte Carlo at MIT research Reactor with He-3 Neutral Current Detectors [Measuring neutron spectrum at MIT research reactor utilizing He-3 Bonner Cylinder Approach with an unfolding analysis]

doi:10.1088/1748-0221/13/02/P02004

Title: Unfolding neutron spectrum with Markov Chain Monte Carlo at MIT research Reactor with He-3 Neutral Current Detectors [Measuring neutron spectrum at MIT research reactor utilizing He-3 Bonner Cylinder Approach with an unfolding analysis]

Abstract

Here, the Ricochet experiment seeks to measure Coherent (neutral-current) Elastic Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering (CEνNS) using dark-matter-style detectors with sub-keV thresholds placed near a neutrino source, such as the MIT (research) Reactor (MITR), which operates at 5.5 MW generating approximately 2.2 × 10¹⁸ ν/second in its core. Currently, Ricochet is characterizing the backgrounds at MITR, the main component of which comes in the form of neutrons emitted from the core simultaneous with the neutrino signal. To characterize this background, we wrapped Bonner cylinders around a ³₂He thermal neutron detector, whose data was then unfolded via a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) to produce a neutron energy spectrum across several orders of magnitude. We discuss the resulting spectrum and its implications for deploying Ricochet at the MITR site as well as the feasibility of reducing this background level via the addition of polyethylene shielding around the detector setup.

Authors:

^[1];

^[2]; Billard, J. ^[3]; Figueroa-Feliciano, E. ^[4]; Formaggio, J. A. ^[1]; Hasselkus, C. ^[5]; Newman, E. ^[1]; Palladino, K. ^[5]; Phuthi, M. ^[1]; Winslow, L. ^[1]; Zhang, L. ^[1]

Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); Univ. of Chicago, Chicago, IL (United States)
Univ. Lyon (France)
Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States)
Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)

Publication Date:: 2018-02-02

Research Org.:: Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP) (SC-25)

OSTI Identifier:: 1407124

Report Number(s):: FERMILAB-PUB-17-441-AE; arXiv:1710.00802
Journal ID: ISSN 1748-0221; 1628106

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-07CH11359

Resource Type:: Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:: Journal of Instrumentation

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Volume: 13; Journal Issue: 02; Journal ID: ISSN 1748-0221

Publisher:: Institute of Physics (IOP)

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS; 46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY; 72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS; Neutrino detectors; Neutron detectors (cold, thermal, fast neutrons); Detector modelling and simulations I (interaction of radiation with matter, interaction of photons with matter, interaction of hadrons with matter, etc); Gaseous detectors

Citation Formats


                    Leder, A., Anderson, A. J., Billard, J., Figueroa-Feliciano, E., Formaggio, J. A., Hasselkus, C., Newman, E., Palladino, K., Phuthi, M., Winslow, L., and Zhang, L. Unfolding neutron spectrum with Markov Chain Monte Carlo at MIT research Reactor with He-3 Neutral Current Detectors [Measuring neutron spectrum at MIT research reactor utilizing He-3 Bonner Cylinder Approach with an unfolding analysis].  United States: N. p., 2018. 
        Web.  doi:10.1088/1748-0221/13/02/P02004.

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                    Leder, A., Anderson, A. J., Billard, J., Figueroa-Feliciano, E., Formaggio, J. A., Hasselkus, C., Newman, E., Palladino, K., Phuthi, M., Winslow, L., & Zhang, L. Unfolding neutron spectrum with Markov Chain Monte Carlo at MIT research Reactor with He-3 Neutral Current Detectors [Measuring neutron spectrum at MIT research reactor utilizing He-3 Bonner Cylinder Approach with an unfolding analysis].  United States.  doi:10.1088/1748-0221/13/02/P02004.

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                    Leder, A., Anderson, A. J., Billard, J., Figueroa-Feliciano, E., Formaggio, J. A., Hasselkus, C., Newman, E., Palladino, K., Phuthi, M., Winslow, L., and Zhang, L. Fri .  
        "Unfolding neutron spectrum with Markov Chain Monte Carlo at MIT research Reactor with He-3 Neutral Current Detectors [Measuring neutron spectrum at MIT research reactor utilizing He-3 Bonner Cylinder Approach with an unfolding analysis]".  United States.  doi:10.1088/1748-0221/13/02/P02004.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1407124.

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@article{osti_1407124,

  title        = {Unfolding neutron spectrum with Markov Chain Monte Carlo at MIT research Reactor with He-3 Neutral Current Detectors [Measuring neutron spectrum at MIT research reactor utilizing He-3 Bonner Cylinder Approach with an unfolding analysis]},

  author       = {Leder, A. and Anderson, A. J. and Billard, J. and Figueroa-Feliciano, E. and Formaggio, J. A. and Hasselkus, C. and Newman, E. and Palladino, K. and Phuthi, M. and Winslow, L. and Zhang, L.},

  abstractNote = {Here, the Ricochet experiment seeks to measure Coherent (neutral-current) Elastic Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering (CEνNS) using dark-matter-style detectors with sub-keV thresholds placed near a neutrino source, such as the MIT (research) Reactor (MITR), which operates at 5.5 MW generating approximately 2.2 × 1018 ν/second in its core. Currently, Ricochet is characterizing the backgrounds at MITR, the main component of which comes in the form of neutrons emitted from the core simultaneous with the neutrino signal. To characterize this background, we wrapped Bonner cylinders around a 32He thermal neutron detector, whose data was then unfolded via a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) to produce a neutron energy spectrum across several orders of magnitude. We discuss the resulting spectrum and its implications for deploying Ricochet at the MITR site as well as the feasibility of reducing this background level via the addition of polyethylene shielding around the detector setup.},

  doi          = {10.1088/1748-0221/13/02/P02004},

  journal      = {Journal of Instrumentation},

  number       = 02,

  volume       = 13,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {2018},

  month        = {2}

}

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DOI: 10.1088/1748-0221/13/02/P02004

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Figure 1: Labeled schematic of the NCD detectors taken from [12]

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