1. Current Status and Future Prospects of the SNO+ Experiment
- Author
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Andringa, S, Arushanova, E, Asahi, S, Askins, M, Auty, DJ, Back, AR, Barnard, Z, Barros, N, Beier, EW, Bialek, A, Biller, SD, Blucher, E, Bonventre, R, Braid, D, Caden, E, Callaghan, E, Caravaca, J, Carvalho, J, Cavalli, L, Chauhan, D, Chen, M, Chkvorets, O, Clark, K, Cleveland, B, Coulter, IT, Cressy, D, Dai, X, Darrach, C, Davis-Purcell, B, Deen, R, Depatie, MM, Descamps, F, Di Lodovico, F, Duhaime, N, Duncan, F, Dunger, J, Falk, E, Fatemighomi, N, Ford, R, Gorel, P, Grant, C, Grullon, S, Guillian, E, Hallin, AL, Hallman, D, Hans, S, Hartnell, J, Harvey, P, Hedayatipour, M, Heintzelman, WJ, Helmer, RL, Hreljac, B, Hu, J, Iida, T, Jackson, CM, Jelley, NA, Jillings, C, Jones, C, Jones, PG, Kamdin, K, Kaptanoglu, T, Kaspar, J, Keener, P, Khaghani, P, Kippenbrock, L, Klein, JR, Knapik, R, Kofron, JN, Kormos, LL, Korte, S, Kraus, C, Krauss, CB, Labe, K, Lam, I, Lan, C, Land, BJ, Langrock, S, LaTorre, A, Lawson, I, Lefeuvre, GM, Leming, EJ, Lidgard, J, Liu, X, Liu, Y, Lozza, V, Maguire, S, Maio, A, Majumdar, K, Manecki, S, Maneira, J, Marzec, E, Mastbaum, A, McCauley, N, McDonald, AB, McMillan, JE, Mekarski, P, Miller, C, Mohan, Y, Mony, E, and Mottram, MJ
- Subjects
Nuclear and Plasma Physics ,Particle and High Energy Physics ,Physical Sciences ,physics.ins-det ,hep-ex ,Mathematical Sciences ,Mathematical sciences ,Physical sciences - Abstract
SNO+ is a large liquid scintillator-based experiment located 2 km underground at SNOLAB, Sudbury, Canada. It reuses the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory detector, consisting of a 12 m diameter acrylic vessel which will be filled with about 780 tonnes of ultra-pure liquid scintillator. Designed as a multipurpose neutrino experiment, the primary goal of SNO+ is a search for the neutrinoless double-beta decay (0ββ) of 130Te. In Phase I, the detector will be loaded with 0.3% natural tellurium, corresponding to nearly 800 kg of 130Te, with an expected effective Majorana neutrino mass sensitivity in the region of 55-133 meV, just above the inverted mass hierarchy. Recently, the possibility of deploying up to ten times more natural tellurium has been investigated, which would enable SNO+ to achieve sensitivity deep into the parameter space for the inverted neutrino mass hierarchy in the future. Additionally, SNO+ aims to measure reactor antineutrino oscillations, low energy solar neutrinos, and geoneutrinos, to be sensitive to supernova neutrinos, and to search for exotic physics. A first phase with the detector filled with water will begin soon, with the scintillator phase expected to start after a few months of water data taking. The 0νββ Phase I is foreseen for 2017.
- Published
- 2016