2007/01/04 by David C. Latimer, D. C. Latimer, J. Escamilla +2
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #Neutrino Physics Research #Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies #hep-ex
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevc.75.042501
published as Phys.Rev.C75:042501,2007 · 4 pages, 2 figures
arxiv created 2007/01/04 · openalex publication_date 2007/04/11 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
An analysis of the world's neutrino oscillation data, including sterile neutrinos, [M. Sorel, C. M. Conrad, and M. H. Shaevitz, Phys. Rev. D 70, 073004 (2004)] found a peak in the allowed region at a mass-squared difference \ensuremathΔm2\ensuremath≅0.9\phantom\rule0.3em0exeV2. We trace its origin to harmonic oscillations in the electron survival probability Pee as a function of L/E, the ratio of baseline to neutrino energy, as measured in the near detector of the Bugey experiment. We find a second occurrence for \ensuremathΔm2\ensuremath≅1.9\phantom\rule0.3em0exeV2. We point out that the phenomenon of harmonic oscillations of Pee as a function of L/E, as seen in the Bugey experiment, can be used to measure the mass-squared difference associated with a sterile neutrino in the range from a fraction of an eV2 to several eV2 (compatible with that indicated by the LSND experiment), as well as measure the amount of electron-sterile neutrino mixing. We observe that the experiment is independent, to lowest order, of the size of the reactor and suggest the possibility of a small reactor with a detector sitting at a very short baseline.