Low energy neutrino detection with a compact water-based liquid scintillator detector

Ayse Bat; Emrah Tiras; Vincent Fischer; Mirac Kamislioglu

doi:10.1140/epjc/s10052-022-10658-6

2023 Impact factor 4.2

Particles and Fields

Open Access

Eur. Phys. J. C (2022) 82: 734
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-022-10658-6

Regular Article - Experimental Physics

Low energy neutrino detection with a compact water-based liquid scintillator detector

Ayse Bat¹, Emrah Tiras¹^,2^b, Vincent Fischer³ and Mirac Kamislioglu⁴

¹ Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey
² Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
³ Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, 60510, Batavia, IL, USA
⁴ Medical Imaging Department, Vocational School of Health Services, Bandırma Onyedi Eylül University, Balıkesir, Turkey

^b etiras@fnal.gov, emrahtiras@erciyes.edu.tr

Received: 9 December 2021
Accepted: 11 July 2022
Published online: 22 August 2022

Abstract

In this study, the conceptual design and physics simulations of a near-field Water-based Liquid Scintillator (WbLS) detector placed 100 m from the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant (ANPP), currently under construction and aiming at being Turkey’s first nuclear power plant, is presented. The ANPP is an excellent opportunity for neutrino studies and the development of an R &D program for neutrino detectors in Turkey. The Reactor Neutrino Experiments of Turkey (RNET) program includes a compact detector with a 2.5-ton volume of WbLS and a $\sim$ $\sim$ 30% photo-coverage, and the program is planned to be expanded with a medium-size 30-ton detector that will be an international testbed for WbLS and new detector technologies through low energy neutrino studies. In the following, the focus will be on the smaller $\sim$ $\sim$ 2.5 ton detector, instrumented with 8-in. high quantum efficiency PMTs and two layers of cosmic veto paddles, covering all sides of the detector, to track and veto cosmic particles. Inverse Beta Decay (IBD) events from electron anti-neutrinos generated in the reactor core are simulated using the RAT-PAC simulation package and several liquids with different percentages of Liquid Scintillator (LS) and Gadolinium (Gd) are investigated.

© The Author(s) 2022

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