Optically driven emitter of neutrinos for testing of neutrino oscillations.

This paper proposes a new concept for generating controlled, high-flux pulses of neutrinos. Laser-induced generation of relativistic protons, followed by meson production and decay, provides the neutrino source. By conservative estimate, the source will yield nanosecond-range pulses of muon neutrinos, with fluxes of ∼ 10[sup 19] vμ s[sup -1]sr[sup -1] and energies of ∼ 20 - 40 MeV. This source is proposed for use in v[sub e] appearance and v[sub μ] disappearance tests. The expected lower limit for assessable v[sub e]/v[sub μ] mass difference is at least 10[sup -3] eV². Concept feasibility depends upon further progress in high-energy lasers; the process assumes a driving laser with pulse energy ∼ 8 kJ, providing an irradiance of ∼ 4 x 10[sup 23] W/cm². [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]