1,721,339 research outputs found
A very low background HPGe detector operating deep underground at 4800 m water equivalent
No full textA very low background HPGe detector has been installed in the Fréjus underground laboratory in order to investigate radioactive contaminations. The main features and capabilities of the detector are described here
A plastic scintillator detector for beta particles
No full textA bench test facility, using a plastic scintillator detector, has been built in order to investigate in a fast and simple way possible beta contamination for small samples. The sensitivity reached is in the order of 450 mBq/cm2 for 14C and of 1210 mBq/cm2 for tritium for a time of measurement of 1 day (90% confidence level)
Achievements in solar neutrino physics with the Borexino detector
No full textBorexino is an organic liquid scintillator detector located in the Gran Sasso National Laboratory in central Italy. It has been designed for real-time spectroscopy of low energy solar neutrinos. In Phase I of the experiment lasting for three years, between May 2007 and May 2010, the Collaboration performed the first independent measurements of 7Be, 8B, and pep solar neutrino fluxes. After a dedicated purification campaign of the liquid scintillator in 2011, Borexino entered into Phase II which allowed to investigate the seasonal modulation in the 7Be signal. In 2014, Borexino provided the first direct real time measurement of pp neutrinos accomplishing the whole pp-cycle that powers the Sun
The calibration and the monitoring of the borexino detector
No full textIn this paper I summarize the philosophy of the Borexino calibrations both for what concerns the initial calibration and for the periodical monitoring of its long term stability
Neutrinoless double beta decay : current status and perspectives. The CAMEO project
No full text0ν2β decay is a very powerful tool for probing the physics beyond the particle Standard Model. After the recent discovery of neutrino flavor oscillation, we know that neutrinos must have a mass (at least two of them). The 0ν2β decay discovery could fix the neutrino mass scale and its nature (Majorana particle). The unique characteristics of the Borexino detector and its Counting Test Facility (CTF) can be employed for high sensitivity studies of 116Cd 0ν2β decay: the CAMEO project. A first step foresees 24 enriched 116CdWO4 crystals for a total mass of 65 kg in the Counting Test Facility; then, 370 enriched 116CdWO4 crystals, for a total mass of 1 ton in the Borexino detector. Measurements of 116CdWO4 crystals and Monte Carlo simulations have shown that the CAMEO experiment sensitivity will be , for the 65 kg phase, and for the 1 ton phase; consequently the limit on the effective neutrino mass will be ≤ 60 meV, and ≤ 20 meV, respectively. This work is based upon the experiments performed by the INR (Kiev) (and from 1998 also by the University of Florence) at the Solotvina Underground Laboratory (Ukraine). The current status of 0ν2β, and future projects of 0ν2β decay research are also briefly reviewed
Status report of Borexino experiment
No full textThe aim of Borexino is to measure the low energy solar neutrino flux via the pure leptonic neutrino scattering ν+e→ν+e, with particular attention to the 7Be 862 keV neutrino line. This paper describes the conceptual design and the expected performances of the Borexino detector installed underground at the Gran Sasso national laboratory
A low energy threshold scintillation detector for X and low energy gamma rays at the Fréjus underground laboratory
No full textA low energy threshold scintillation detector for X and low energy gamma rays has been built in the Fréjus underground laboratory in order to investigate radioactive contaminations at very low energies down to about 5 keV. The main features and capabilities are described here
Solar neutrinos : from their production to their detection
No full textNuclear fusion reactions take place in the core of the Sun. On our neighborhood star, hydrogen is being fused into helium in the proton-proton chain reaction in which four protons are fused and two of them undergo a beta decay to become neutrons, releasing positrons and neutrinos. More than 40 years ago it was suggested to detect solar neutrinos to test the validity of solar models. The first measurement of the neutrino flux took place in the Homestake mine in South Dakota in 1968. The experiment detected only one third of the expected flux value, giving birth to the Solar Neutrino Problem. Since then different experiments were built in order to understand the origin of this discrepancy. Now we know that neutrinos undergo oscillation phenomena and change their nature while travelling from the core of the Sun to Earth. Thanks to neutrinos detection it is possible to infer and to prove how the Sun shines. This paper introduces solar neutrino physics from a historical point of view from its beginning to our days
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