Published September 1, 2018 | Version v1
Journal article Metadata-only

A calorimeter for the precise determination of the activity of the 144Ce-144Pr anti-neutrino source in the SOX experiment

Creators

  • 1. Physik-Department and Excellence Cluster Universe, Technische Universität München, James-Franck-Str.1, 85748 Garching (Germany)
  • 2. Dipartimento di Fisica, Universitá degli studi di Genova, Via Dodecaneso 33, 16146 Genova (Italy)
  • 3. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare Sezione di Genova, Via Dodecaneso 33, 16146 Genova (Italy)
  • 4. INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Via G. Acitelli 22, 67010 Assergi (AQ) (Italy)
  • 5. Physik-Department, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Geschwister-Scholl-Platz, 72072 Tübingen (Germany)
  • 6. Institute of Physics, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Staudinger Weg 7, 55099 Mainz (Germany)

Description

We describe the design and the performance of a high precision thermal calorimeter, whose purpose was the measurement of the total activity of the 144Ce-144Pr anti-neutrino source of the SOX (Short distance neutrino Oscillation with BoreXino) experiment. SOX aimed at the search for eV-scale sterile neutrinos by means of the Borexino detector at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso in Italy and of a very powerful artificial anti-neutrino source located at 8.51 m from the detector center. In order to obtain the required sensitivity, the activity of the source (approximately 150 kCi) had to be known at 1% precision. In this work we report the design of the experimental apparatus and the results of calibration measurements performed with an electrical mockup of the source. We show that the calorimeter sensitivity exceeds design goals, reaching a precision of a few %.

Availability note (English)

Available from http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-0221/13/09/P09008

Additional details

Identifiers

DOI
10.1088/1748-0221/13/09/P09008;

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Journal of Instrumentation
Journal Volume
13
Journal Issue
09
Journal Page Range
p. P09008
ISSN
1748-0221

INIS

Country of Publication
United Kingdom
Country of Input or Organization
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
INIS RN
51051088
Subject category
S46: INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY;
Descriptors DEI
ANTINEUTRINOS; BOREXINO DETECTOR; CALIBRATION; CALORIMETERS; CERIUM 144; DESIGN; EQUIPMENT; GRAN SASSO NATIONAL LABORATORY; NEUTRINO OSCILLATION; PERFORMANCE; PRASEODYMIUM 144; SENSITIVITY; STERILE NEUTRINOS
Descriptors DEC
ANTILEPTONS; ANTIMATTER; ANTIPARTICLES; BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES; BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES; CERIUM ISOTOPES; DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES; ELEMENTARY PARTICLES; EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI; FERMIONS; INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI; ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES; ISOTOPES; LEPTONS; MASSLESS PARTICLES; MATTER; MEASURING INSTRUMENTS; MINUTES LIVING RADIOISOTOPES; NEUTRINO DETECTORS; NEUTRINOS; NUCLEI; ODD-ODD NUCLEI; POSTULATED PARTICLES; PRASEODYMIUM ISOTOPES; RADIATION DETECTORS; RADIOISOTOPES; RARE EARTH NUCLEI