Joint NPA/WIDG seminar: Antonin Vacheret, University of Oxford, “SoLid Search for Oscillations with a Lithium-6 Detector at the SCK•CEN BR2 Reactor”

Tuesday Feb 3, 2015, 12:00 PM → 1:00 PM US/Eastern

WLC 108

The disappearance of reactor antineutrino into a new neutral state (called sterile neutrino) has been proposed as a possible explanation for the recent reactor and Gallium anomalies arising from the re-analysis of reactor flux and calibration data of previous neutrino experiments. A way to test this hypothesis is to look for distortions of the anti-neutrino energy caused by oscillation from active to sterile neutrino at close stand-off (~ 6-8m) of a compact reactor core. Due to the small anti-neutrino cross-section, the main challenge in achieving a precise measurement is to control the high level of gamma rays and neutron background that are present at close stand off. The SoLid experiment intends to search for active-to-sterile anti-neutrino oscillation at very short baseline of the SCK•CEN BR2 research reactor. It utilises a novel approach to anti-neutrino detection based on a highly segmented detector design. High experimental sensitivity can be achieved compared to other state-of-the-art technology with the combination of high granularity, high neutron-gamma discrimination using 6LiF:ZnS(Ag) and precise localisation of the Inverse Beta Decay products. This compact system requires limited passive shielding and rely on spatial topology to determine the different class of backgrounds. l will introduce the BR2 reactor and the SoLid experimental set up. The principle of detection and detector design with expected performance will be described and the expected sensitivity to new oscillations will be presented.