Theia: An advanced optical neutrino detector

• Published in: arXiv.org
• Main Authors: Askins, M, Bagdasarian, Z, Barros, N, Beier, E W, Blucher, E, Bonventre, R, Callaghan, E, Caravaca, J, Diwan, M, Dye, S T, Eisch, J, Elagin, A, Enqvist, T, Fischer, V, Frankiewicz, K, Grant, C, Guffanti, D, Hagner, C, Hallin, A, Jackson, C M, Jiang, R, Kaptanoglu, T, Klein, J R, Kolomensky, Yu G, Kraus, C, Krennrich, F, Kutter, T, Lachenmaier, T, Land, B, Lande, K, Learned, J G, Lozza, V, Ludhova, L, Malek, M, Manecki, S, Maneira, J, Maricic, J, Martyn, J, Mastbaum, A, Mauger, C, Napolitano, J, Naranjo, B, Nieslony, M, Oberauer, L, Orebi Gann, G D, Ouellet, J, Pershing, T, Petcov, S T, Picard, L, Rosero, R, Sanchez, M, Sawatzki, J, Seo, S H, Smiley, M, Smy, M, Stahl, A, Steiger, H, Stock, M R, Sunej, H, Svoboda, R, Tiras, E, Trzaska, W, Tzanov, M, Vagins, M, Vilela, C, Wang, Z, Wang, J, Wetstein, M, Wilking, M J, Winslow, L, Wittich, P, Wonsak, B, Worcester, E, Wurm, M, Yang, G, Yeh, M, Zimmerman, E D, Zuber, K
• Format: Paper Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ithaca Cornell University Library, arXiv.org 22.02.2021
• Subjects: Astrophysics; Beta decay; Caverns; Energy resolution; New technology; Nucleons; Photons; Physics - High Energy Physics - Experiment; Physics - Instrumentation and Detectors; Physics - Nuclear Experiment; Scintillation counters; Sensors; Solar neutrinos; Underground caverns
• ISSN: 2331-8422
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.1911.03501

New developments in liquid scintillators, high-efficiency, fast photon detectors, and chromatic photon sorting have opened up the possibility for building a large-scale detector that can discriminate between Cherenkov and scintillation signals. Such a detector could exploit these two distinct signals to observe particle direction and species using Cherenkov light while also having the excellent energy resolution and low threshold of a scintillator detector. Situated in a deep underground laboratory, and utilizing new techniques in computing and reconstruction techniques, such a detector could achieve unprecedented levels of background rejection, thus enabling a rich physics program that would span topics in nuclear, high-energy, and astrophysics, and across a dynamic range from hundreds of keV to many GeV. The scientific program would include observations of low- and high-energy solar neutrinos, determination of neutrino mass ordering and measurement of the neutrino CP violating phase, observations of diffuse supernova neutrinos and neutrinos from a supernova burst, sensitive searches for nucleon decay and, ultimately, a search for NeutrinoLess Double Beta Decay (NLDBD) with sensitivity reaching the normal ordering regime of neutrino mass phase space. This paper describes Theia, a detector design that incorporates these new technologies in a practical and affordable way to accomplish the science goals described above. We consider two scenarios, one in which Theia would reside in a cavern the size and shape of the caverns intended to be excavated for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) which we call Theia 25, and a larger 100 ktonne version (Theia 100) that could achieve an even broader and more sensitive scientific program.