Low energy antineutrino detection using neutrino capture on electron capture decaying nuclei

Abstract

In this paper we present a study of the interaction of a low energy electron antineutrino on nuclei that undergo electron capture. We show that the two corresponding crossed reactions have a sizable cross section and are both suitable for detection of low energy antineutrino. However, only in the case where very specific conditions on the $Q$ value of the decay are met or significant improvements on the performances of ion storage rings are achieved, these reactions could be exploited in the future to address the long standing problem of a direct detection of cosmological neutrino background.