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Goddard, B. W.

Publications and source records attributed to Goddard, B. W..

The PROSPECT reactor antineutrino experiment

The Precision Reactor Oscillation and Spectrum Experiment, PROSPECT, is designed to make both a precise measurement of the antineutrino spectrum from a highly-enriched uranium reactor and to probe eV-scale sterile neutrinos by searching for neutrino oscillations over meter-long baselines. PROSPECT utilizes a segmented 6 Li-doped liquid scintillator detector for both efficient detection of reactor antineutrinos through the inverse beta decay reaction and excellent background discrimination. PROSPECT is a movable 4-ton antineutrino detector covering distances of 7 m to 13 m from the High Flux Isotope Reactor core. It will probe the best-fit point of the v¯ e disappearance experiments at 4 σ in 1 year and the favored regions of the sterile neutrino parameter space at more than 3σ in 3 years. PROSPECT will test the origin of spectral deviations observed in recent θ 13 experiments, search for sterile neutrinos, and address the hypothesis of sterile neutrinos as an explanation of the reactor anomaly. This study describes the design, construction, and commissioning of PROSPECT and reports first data characterizing the performance of the PROSPECT antineutrino detector.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

The PROSPECT physics program

The precision reactor oscillation and spectrum experiment, PROSPECT, is designed to make a precise measurement of the antineutrino spectrum from a highly-enriched uranium reactor and probe eV-scale sterile neutrinos by searching for neutrino oscillations over a distance of several meters. The subject of this paper, PROSPECT, is conceived as a 2-phase experiment utilizing segmented 6 Li-doped liquid scintillator detectors for both efficient detection of reactor antineutrinos through the inverse beta decay reaction and excellent background discrimination. PROSPECT Phase I consists of a movable 3 ton antineutrino detector at distances of 7–12 m from the reactor core. It will probe the best-fit point of the ν e disappearance experiments at 4σ in 1 year and the favored region of the sterile neutrino parameter space at > 3σ in 3 years. With a second antineutrino detector at 15–19 m from the reactor, Phase II of PROSPECT can probe the entire allowed parameter space below 10 eV 2 at 5σ in 3 additional years. Finally, the measurement of the reactor antineutrino spectrum and the search for short-baseline oscillations with PROSPECT will test the origin of the spectral deviations observed in recent θ 13 experiments, search for sterile neutrinos, and conclusively address the hypothesis of sterile neutrinos as an explanation of the reactor anomaly.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗