2004/10/01 by C. Hagmann, Chris Hagmann, A. Bernstein +1 · 106 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena #Detector #Fissile material #Ionization #Neutrino #Neutrino Physics Research #Neutrino detector #Particle detector #Scattering #nucl-ex
paper · pdf · doi:10.1109/tns.2004.836061
published in IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science 51(5), 2151-2155 (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) · 5 pages, Nuclear Science Symposium, Portland, OR, Oct 19-25, 2003
openalex publication_date 2004/10/01 · arxiv created 2004/11/04 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Coherent scattering is a flavor-blind, high-rate, as yet undetected neutrino interaction predicted by the Standard Model. We propose to use a compact (kg-scale), two-phase (liquid-gas) argon ionization detector to measure coherent neutrino scattering off nuclei. In our approach, neutrino-induced nuclear recoils in the liquid produce a weak ionization signal, which is transported into a gas under the influence of an electric field, amplified via electroluminescence, and detected by phototubes or avalanche diodes. This paper describes the features of the detector, and estimates signal and background rates for a reactor neutrino source. Relatively compact detectors of this type, capable of detecting coherent scattering, offer a new approach to flavor-blind detection of man-made and astronomical neutrinos, and may allow development of compact neutrino detectors capable of nonintrusive real-time monitoring of fissile material in reactors.