Short Baseline Reactor Experiments Research Articles

Prospects for heavy neutral lepton searches at short and medium baseline reactor experiments

Heavy neutrinos with masses in the MeV range can in principle simultaneously explain the light neutrino masses and the origin of baryonic matter in the universe. The strongest constraints on their properties come from their potential impact on the formation of light elements in the early universe. Since these constraints rely on assumptions about the cosmic history, independent checks in the laboratory are highly desirable. In this paper, we discuss the opportunity to search for heavy neutrinos within the MeV mass range in short and medium baseline reactor neutrino experiments, using the SoLid, JUNO and TAO experiments as examples. These experiments can give the currently strongest upper bound on the mixing between the light electron neutrinos and the heavy neutrino in the 2–9 MeV mass range.

Total Absorption Spectroscopy of Fission Fragments Relevant for Reactor Physics and Nuclear Structure and Astrophysics

The accurate determination of reactor antineutrino spectra remains a very hot research topic, where new questions have emerged in recent years. Indeed, after the “reactor anomaly” – a deficit of measured antineutrinos at short baseline reactor experiments with respect to spectral predictions – the three international reactor neutrino experiments Double Chooz, Daya Bay and Reno have evidenced spectral distortions in their measurements with respect to the same spectral predictions. This puzzle is called the “shape anomaly”. Recently summation calculations of reactor antineutrino spectra based on the use of nuclear data have obtained the best agreement to date with the reactor neutrino flux measurements at the level of 2% thanks to a decade of Total Absorption Gamma-ray Spectroscopy (TAGS) measurements at the radioactive beam facility of the University of Jyväskylä in two experimental campaigns. A selection of the results obtained so far is presented.

Review of sterile neutrino searches at very short-baseline reactor experiments

Search for New Physics beyond the Standard Model is the main direction in particle physics nowadays. There are several experimental hints of New Physics. The most statistically significant (5–6σ) are the hints of eV mass scale sterile neutrinos. They come from disappearance in reactor experiments, ν e disappearance in experiments with very powerful radioactive sources, and electron (anti)neutrino appearance in the muon (anti)neutrino beams. Very important results in this field were obtained in 2021 by the BEST, MicroBooNE, and Neutrino-4 collaborations as well as by several other experiments. However, the situation is still or maybe even more controversial. We review these indications of New Physics and prospects for the next few years with the emphasis on reactor experiments.

Improved eV-scale sterile-neutrino constraints from the second KATRIN measurement campaign

We present the results of the light sterile neutrino search from the second KATRIN measurement campaign in 2019. Approaching nominal activity, $3.76 \times 10^6$ tritium $\beta$-electrons are analyzed in an energy window extending down to $40\,$eV below the tritium endpoint at $E_0 = 18.57\,$keV. We consider the $3\nu+1$ framework with three active and one sterile neutrino flavor. The analysis is sensitive to a fourth mass eigenstate $m_4^2\lesssim1600\,$eV$^2$ and active-to-sterile mixing $|U_{e4}|^2 \gtrsim 6 \times 10^{-3}$. As no sterile-neutrino signal was observed, we provide improved exclusion contours on $m_4^2$ and $|U_{e4}|^2$ at $95\,$% C.L. Our results supersede the limits from the Mainz and Troitsk experiments. Furthermore, we are able to exclude the large $\Delta m_{41}^2$ solutions of the reactor antineutrino and gallium anomalies to a great extent. The latter has recently been reaffirmed by the BEST collaboration and could be explained by a sterile neutrino with large mixing. While the remaining solutions at small $\Delta m_{41}^2$ are mostly excluded by short-baseline reactor experiments, KATRIN is the only ongoing laboratory experiment to be sensitive to relevant solutions at large $\Delta m_{41}^2$ through a robust spectral shape analysis.

Statistical significance of reactor antineutrino active-sterile oscillations

We performed Monte Carlo calculations of the statistical distribution of the $\chi^2$ test statistic used in the analysis of the data of the NEOS, DANSS, Bugey-3, and PROSPECT short-baseline reactor experiments. We show that the statistical significance of the NEOS and DANSS indications in favor of active-sterile neutrino oscillations is smaller than that obtained with the usual method based on the $\chi^2$ distribution. In the combined analysis of the data of the four experiments we find that the statistical significance of active-sterile neutrino oscillations is reduced from $2.4\sigma$ to $1.8\sigma$.

Searches for sterile neutrinos at very short baseline reactor experiments

For a long time there were 3 main experimental indications in favor of the existence of sterile neutrinos: appearance in the beam in the LSND experiment, flux deficit in comparison with theoretical expectations in reactor experiments, and ve deficit in calibration runs with radioactive sources in the Ga solar neutrino experiments SAGE and GALEX. All three problems can be explained by the existence of sterile neutrinos with the mass square difference in the ballpark of 1 eV2. Recently the MiniBooNE collaboration observed electron (anti)neutrino appearance in the muon (anti)neutrino beams. The significance of the effect reaches 6.0σ level when combined with the LSND result. Even more recently the NEUTRINO-4 collaboration claimed the observation of oscillations to sterile neutrinos with a significance slightly higher than 3σ. If these results are confirmed, New Physics beyond the Standard Model would be required. More than 10 experiments are devoted to searches of sterile neutrinos. Six very short baseline reactor experiments are taking data just now. We review the present results and perspectives of these experiments.

Reactor neutrino oscillations as constraints on effective field theory

We study constraints on the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT) from neutrino oscillations in short-baseline reactor experiments. We calculate the survival probability of reactor antineutrinos at the leading order in the SMEFT expansion, that is including linear effects of dimension-6 operators. It is shown that, at this order, reactor experiments alone cannot probe charged-current contact interactions between leptons and quarks that are of the (pseudo)vector (V±A) or pseudo-scalar type. We also note that flavor-diagonal (pseudo)vector coefficients do not have observable effects in oscillation experiments. In this we reach novel or different conclusions than prior analyses of non-standard neutrino interactions. On the other hand, reactor experiments offer a unique opportunity to probe tensor and scalar SMEFT operators that are off-diagonal in the lepton-flavor space. We derive constraints on the corresponding SMEFT parameters using the most recent data from the Daya Bay and RENO experiments.

Constraints on the solar Δm2 using Daya Bay and RENO data

We demonstrate that the currently running short baseline reactor experiments, especially Daya Bay, can put a significant upper bound on $\Delta m^2_{21}$. This novel approach to determining $\Delta m^2_{21}$ can be performed with the current data of both Daya Bay \& RENO and provides additional information on $\Delta m^2_{21}$ in a different $L/E$ range ($\sim$ 0.5 km/MeV) for an important consistency check on the 3 flavor massive neutrino paradigm. Upper limits by Daya Bay and RENO and a possible lower limit from Daya Bay, before the end of 2020, will be the only new information on this important quantity until the medium baseline reactor experiment, JUNO, gives a very precise measurement in the middle of the next decade. In this study $\theta_{12}$ value is fixed since its impact on the $\Delta m^2_{21}$ measurement is relatively small as discussed in the Appendix.

The effective Δmee2 in matter

In this paper we generalize the concept of an effective $\Delta m^2_{ee}$ for $\nu_e/\bar{\nu}_e$ disappearance experiments, which has been extensively used by the short baseline reactor experiments, to include the effects of propagation through matter for longer baseline $\nu_e/\bar{\nu}_e$ disappearance experiments. This generalization is a trivial, linear combination of the neutrino mass squared eigenvalues in matter and thus is not a simple extension of the usually vacuum expression, although, as it must, it reduces to the correct expression in the vacuum limit. We also demonstrated that the effective $\Delta m^2_{ee}$ in matter is very useful conceptually and numerically for understanding the form of the neutrino mass squared eigenstates in matter and hence for calculating the matter oscillation probabilities. Finally we analytically estimate the precision of this two-flavor approach and numerically verify that it is precise at the sub-percent level.

Optimisation of the scintillation light collection and uniformity for the SoLid experiment

This paper presents a comprehensive optimisation study to maximise the light collection efficiency of scintillating cube elements used in the SoLid detector. Very short baseline reactor experiments, like SoLid, look for active to sterile neutrino oscillation signatures in the anti-neutrino energy spectrum as a function of the distance to the core and energy. Performing a precise search requires high light yield of the scintillating elements and uniformity of the response in the detector volume. The SoLid experiment uses an innovative hybrid technology with two different scintillators: polyvinyltoluene scintillator cubes and 6LiF:ZnS(Ag) screens. A precision test bench based on a 207Bi calibration source has been developed to study improvements on the energy resolution and uniformity of the prompt scintillation signal of antineutrino interactions. A trigger system selecting the 1 MeV conversion electrons provides a Gaussian energy peak and allows for precise comparisons of the different detector configurations that were considered to improve the SoLid detector light collection. The light collection efficiency is influenced by the choice of wrapping material, the position of the 6LiF:ZnS(Ag) screen, the type of fibre, the number of optical fibres and the type of mirror at the end of the fibre. This study shows that large gains in light collection efficiency are possible compared to the SoLid SM1 prototype. The light yield for the SoLid detector is expected to be at least 52±2 photo-avalanches per MeV per cube, with a relative non-uniformity of 6 %, demonstrating that the required energy resolution of at least 14 % at 1 MeV can be achieved.

Prospects for improved understanding of isotopic reactor antineutrino fluxes

Predictions of antineutrino fluxes produced by fission isotopes in a nuclear reactor have recently received increased scrutiny due to observed differences in predicted and measured inverse beta decay (IBD) yields, referred to as the 'reactor antineutrino flux anomaly.' In this paper, global fits are applied to existing IBD yield measurements to produce constraints on antineutrino production by individual plutonium and uranium fission isotopes. We find that fits including measurements from highly 235U-enriched cores and fits including Daya Bay's new fuel evolution result produce discrepant best-fit IBD yields for 235U and 239Pu. This discrepancy can be alleviated in a global analysis of all datasets through simultaneous fitting of 239Pu, 235U, and 238U yields. The measured IBD yield of U238 in this analysis is (7.02 +/- 1.65) x 10^-43 cm2/fission, nearly two standard deviations below existing predictions. Future hypothetical IBD yield measurements by short-baseline reactor experiments are examined to determine their possible impact on global understanding of isotopic IBD yields. It is found that future improved short-baseline IBD yield measurements at both high-enriched and low-enriched cores can significantly improve constraints for 235U, 238U, and 239Pu, providing comparable or superior precision to existing conversion- and summation-based antineutrino flux predictions. Systematic and experimental requirements for these future measurements are also investigated.

Neutrino scattering and the reactor antineutrino anomaly

Low energy threshold reactor experiments have the potential to give insight into the light sterile neutrino signal provided by the reactor antineutrino anomaly and the gallium anomaly. In this work we analyze short baseline reactor experiments that detect by elastic neutrino electron scattering in the context of a light sterile neutrino signal. We also analyze the sensitivity of experimental proposals of coherent elastic neutrino nucleus scattering (CENNS) detectors in order to exclude or confirm the sterile neutrino signal with reactor antineutrinos.

Total absorption spectroscopy of fission fragments relevant for reactor antineutrino spectra

The accurate determination of reactor antineutrino spectra remains a very active research topic for which new methods of study have emerged in recent years. Indeed, following the long-recognized reactor anomaly (measured antineutrino deficit in short baseline reactor experiments when compared with spectral predictions), the three international reactor neutrino experiments Double Chooz, Daya Bay and Reno have recently demonstrated the existence of spectral distortions in their measurements with respect to the same predictions. These spectral predictions were obtained through the conversion of integral beta-energy spectra obtained at the ILL research reactor. Several studies have shown that the underlying nuclear physics required for the conversion of these spectra into antineutrino spectra is not totally understood. An alternative to such converted spectra is a complementary approach that consists of determining the antineutrino spectrum by means of the measurement and processing of nuclear data. The beta properties of some key fission products suffer from the pandemonium effect which can be circumvented by the use of the Total Absorption Gammaray Spectroscopy technique (TAGS). The two main contributors to the Pressurized Water Reactor antineutrino spectrum in the region where the spectral distortion has been observed are ⁹²Rb and ¹⁴²Cs, which have been measured at the radioactive beam facility of the University of Jyvaskyla in two TAGS experiments. We present the results of the analysis of the TAGS measurements of the β-decay properties of ⁹²Rb along with preliminary results on ¹⁴²Cs and report on the measurements already performed.

Effects of Fission Yield Data in the Calculation of Antineutrino Spectra for ^{235}U(n,fission) at Thermal and Fast Neutron Energies.

Fission yields form an integral part of the prediction of antineutrino spectra generated by nuclear reactors, but little attention has been paid to the quality and reliability of the data used in current calculations. Following a critical review of the thermal and fast ENDF/B-VII.1 ^{235}U fission yields, deficiencies are identified and improved yields are obtained, based on corrections of erroneous yields, consistency between decay and fission yield data, and updated isomeric ratios. These corrected yields are used to calculate antineutrino spectra using the summation method. An anomalous value for the thermal fission yield of ^{86}Ge generates an excess of antineutrinos at 5-7MeV, a feature which is no longer present when the corrected yields are used. Thermal spectra calculated with two distinct fission yield libraries (corrected ENDF/B and JEFF) differ by up to 6% in the 0-7MeV energy window, allowing for a basic estimate of the uncertainty involved in the fission yield component of summation calculations. Finally, the fast neutron antineutrino spectrum is calculated, which at the moment can only be obtained with the summation method and may be relevant for short baseline reactor experiments using highly enriched uranium fuel.

What isΔmee2?

The current short baseline reactor experiments, Daya Bay and RENO (Double Chooz) have measured (or are capable of measuring) an effective $\Delta m^2$ associated with the atmospheric oscillation scale of 0.5 km/MeV in electron anti-neutrino disappearance. In this paper, I compare and contrast the different definitions of such an effective $\Delta m^2$ and argue that the simple, L/E independent, definition given by $\Delta m^2_{ee} \equiv \cos^2 \theta_{12} \Delta m^2_{31}+ \sin^2 \theta_{12} \Delta m^2_{32}$, i.e. "the $\nu_e$ weighted average of $\Delta m^2_{31}$ and $\Delta m^2_{32}$," is superior to all other definitions and is useful for both short baseline experiments mentioned above and for the future medium baseline experiments JUNO and RENO 50.

Bulk neutrinos as an alternative cause of the gallium and reactor anti-neutrino anomalies

We consider an alternative explanation for the deficit of nu_e in Ga solar neutrino calibration experiments and of the anti nu_e in short baseline reactor experiments by a model where neutrinos can oscillate into sterile Kaluza-Klein modes that can propagate in compactified sub-micrometer flat extra dimensions. We have analyzed the results of the Gallium radioactive source experiments and 19 reactor experiments with baseline shorter than 100 m, and showed that these data can be fitted into this scenario. The values of the lightest neutrino mass and of the size of the largest extra dimension that are compatible with these experiments are mostly not excluded by other neutrino oscillation experiments.

Probing active to sterile neutrino oscillations in the LENS detector

Sterile neutrino (${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{s}$) conversion in meter scale baselines can be sensitively probed using monoenergetic, sub-MeV, flavor-pure ${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{e}$'s from an artificial Megacurie source and the unique technology of the LENS low energy solar ${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{e}$ detector. Active-sterile oscillations can be directly observed in the granular LENS detector itself to critically test and extend results of short baseline accelerator and reactor experiments.

Damping signatures in future neutrino oscillation experiments

We discuss the phenomenology of damping signatures in the neutrino oscillation probabilities, where either the oscillating terms or the probabilities can be damped. This approach is a possibility for tests of non-oscillation effects in future neutrino oscillation experiments, where we mainly focus on reactor and long-baseline experiments. We extensively motivate different damping signatures due to small corrections by neutrino decoherence, neutrino decay, oscillations into sterile neutrinos, or other mechanisms, and classify these signatures according to their energy (spectral) dependencies. We demonstrate, at the example of short baseline reactor experiments, that damping can severely alter the interpretation of results, e.g., it could fake a value of $\sin(2\theta_{13})$ smaller than the one provided by Nature. In addition, we demonstrate how a neutrino factory could constrain different damping models with emphasis on how these different models could be distinguished, i.e., how easily the actual non-oscillation effects could be identified. We find that the damping models cluster in different categories, which can be much better distinguished from each other than models within the same cluster.

Status of theCPTviolating interpretations of the LSND signal

We study the status of the $\mathrm{CPT}$ violating neutrino mass spectrum which has been proposed to simultaneously accommodate the oscillation data from LSND, KamLAND, atmospheric and solar neutrino experiments, as well as the nonobservation of the antineutrino disappearance in short-baseline reactor experiments. We perform a three-generation analysis of the global data with the aim of elucidating the viability of this solution. We find no compatibility between the results of the oscillation analysis of the Liquid Scintillator Neutrino Detector (LSND) and all-but-LSND data sets below 3\ensuremath{\sigma} confidence level. Furthermore, the global data without LSND show no evidence for $\mathrm{CPT}$ violation: the best fit point of the all-but-LSND analysis occurs very close to a $\mathrm{CPT}$ conserving scenario.