The Monte Carlo simulation of the Borexino detector

S Marcocci ,R Roncin ,A Di Lüdovico ,O Smirnov ,S Davini ,S Weinz ,L Lukyanchenko ,S Caprioli ,E Meroni ,V Atroshchenko ,L Miramonti ,G Korga ,N Rossi ,J Martýn ,V Kobychev ,K Fomenko ,G Bellini ,J Thurn ,D D’angelo ,G Ranucci ,S Zavatarelli ,A Vishneva ,T Houdy ,D Jeschke ,Aldo Ianni ,R Tartaglia ,B Neumair ,D Basilico ,A Re ,L Ludhová ,M Carlini ,B Opitz ,M Skorokhvatov ,L F F Stokes ,M Wójcik ,N Pilipenko ,L Papp ,E Unzhakov ,J Benziger ,E Litvinovich ,M Misiaszek ,S Schönert ,Κ Zuber ,L Collica ,A Formozov ,F Ortica ,I Drachnev ,R B Vogelaar ,D Bravo ,Andrea Ianni ,A Razeto ,G Lukyanchenko ,Z Bagdasarian ,L Di Noto ,O Zaimidoroga ,D Semenov ,Z Yokley ,A Chepurnov ,A Caminata ,A Porcelli ,Koun Choi ,D Korablëv ,F Lombardi ,Y Suvorov ,M Gromov ,G Testera ,M Giammarchi ,V Orekhov ,D Güffanti ,Aldo Romani ,F Von Feilitzsch ,X Ding ,A Derbin ,M Wurm ,K Altenmüller ,B Caccianiga ,F Gabriele ,A Goretti ,C Hagner ,M Agostini ,A Jany ,D Kryn ,C Ghiano ,G Bonfini ,V Muratova ,M Laubenstein ,P Cavalcante ,M Redchuk ,C Galbiati ,P Lombardi ,H Wang ,L Oberauer ,M Toropova ,A Pocar ,M Meyer ,M Pallavicini ,D Franco ,D Bick ,Ö Penek ,F Calaprice ,A Sotnikov ,E Hungerford ,I Machulin ,G Manuzio ,S Appel ,G Zuzel

doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1342/1/012035

Abstract

Borexino is a 300 ton sub-MeV liquid scintillator solar neutrino detector which has been running at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (Italy) since 2007. Thanks to its unprecedented radio-purity, it was able to measure the flux of 7Be, 8B, pp, and pep solar neutrinos and to detect geo-neutrinos. A reliable simulation of the detector is an invaluable tool for all Borexino physics analyses. The simulation accounts for the energy loss of particles in all the detector components, the generation of the scintillation photons, their propagation within the liquid scintillator volume, and a detailed simulation of the electronics chain. A novel efficient method for simulating the external background which survives the Borexino passive shield was developed. This technique allows to reliably predict the effect of the contamination in the peripheral construction materials. The techniques developed to simulate the Borexino detector and their level of refinement are of possible interest to the neutrino and dark matter communities, especially for current and future large-volume liquid scintillator experiments.

Highlights

International Conference on Topics in Astroparticle and Underground PhysicsM Agostini , K Altenmuller, S Appel, V Atroshchenko, Z Bagdasarian, D Basilico, G Bellini, J Benziger, D Bick, G Bonfini, D Bravo , B Caccianiga, F Calaprice, A Caminata, S Caprioli, M Carlini, P Cavalcante , A Chepurnov, K Choi, L Collica, D D’Angelo, S Davini, A Derbin, X F Ding , A Di Ludovico, L Di Noto, I Drachnev , K Fomenko, A Formozov , D Franco, F Gabriele, C Galbiati, C Ghiano, M Giammarchi, A Goretti, M Gromov, D Guffanti , C Hagner, T Houdy, E Hungerford, Aldo Ianni2 †, Andrea Ianni, A Jany, D Jeschke, V Kobychev, D Korablev, G Korga, D Kryn, M Laubenstein, E Litvinovich , F Lombardi2 ‡, P Lombardi, L Ludhova , G Lukyanchenko, L Lukyanchenko, I Machulin , G Manuzio, J Martyn, E Meroni, M Meyer, L Miramonti, M Misiaszek, V Muratova, B Neumair, L Oberauer, B Opitz, V Orekhov, F Ortica, M Pallavicini, L Papp, O Penek , N Pilipenko, A Pocar, A Porcelli, G Ranucci, A Razeto, A Re7, M Redchuk , A Romani, R Roncin , N Rossi, S Schonert, D Semenov, M Skorokhvatov , O Smirnov, A Sotnikov, L F F Stokes, Y Suvorov , R Tartaglia, G Testera, J Thurn, M Toropova, E Unzhakov, A Vishneva, R B Vogelaar, F von Feilitzsch, H Wang, S Weinz, M Wojcik, M Wurm, Z Yokley, O Zaimidoroga, S Zavatarelli, K Zuber, and G Zuzel (Borexino Collaboration)
Borexino pioneered the development of ultra-low radioactive background detectors twenty-five years ago
The most recent developments of the Borexino Monte Carlo ab initio simulation allowed to reach an accuracy better than 1% in all the relevant quantities for solar physics analyses

Summary

International Conference on Topics in Astroparticle and Underground Physics

M Agostini , K Altenmuller, S Appel, V Atroshchenko, Z Bagdasarian, D Basilico, G Bellini, J Benziger, D Bick, G Bonfini, D Bravo , B Caccianiga, F Calaprice, A Caminata, S Caprioli, M Carlini, P Cavalcante , A Chepurnov, K Choi, L Collica, D D’Angelo, S Davini, A Derbin, X F Ding , A Di Ludovico, L Di Noto, I Drachnev , K Fomenko, A Formozov , D Franco, F Gabriele, C Galbiati, C Ghiano, M Giammarchi, A Goretti, M Gromov, D Guffanti , C Hagner, T Houdy, E Hungerford, Aldo Ianni2 †, Andrea Ianni, A Jany, D Jeschke, V Kobychev, D Korablev, G Korga, D Kryn, M Laubenstein, E Litvinovich , F Lombardi2 ‡, P Lombardi, L Ludhova , G Lukyanchenko, L Lukyanchenko, I Machulin , G Manuzio, J Martyn, E Meroni, M Meyer, L Miramonti, M Misiaszek, V Muratova, B Neumair, L Oberauer, B Opitz, V Orekhov, F Ortica, M Pallavicini, L Papp, O Penek , N Pilipenko, A Pocar, A Porcelli, G Ranucci, A Razeto, A Re7, M Redchuk , A Romani, R Roncin , N Rossi, S Schonert, D Semenov, M Skorokhvatov , O Smirnov, A Sotnikov, L F F Stokes, Y Suvorov , R Tartaglia, G Testera, J Thurn, M Toropova, E Unzhakov, A Vishneva, R B Vogelaar, F von Feilitzsch, H Wang, S Weinz, M Wojcik, M Wurm, Z Yokley, O Zaimidoroga, S Zavatarelli, K Zuber, and G Zuzel (Borexino Collaboration). Russia 13 Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA. St. Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute NRC Kurchatov Institute, 188350 Gatchina, Russia Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, 141980 Dubna, Russia AstroParticule et Cosmologie, Universite Paris Diderot, CNRS/IN2P3, CEA/IRFU, Observatoire de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cite, 75205 Paris Cedex 13, France Department of Physics, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, USA M.

Introduction

Findings

Conclusions and outlook