Proposal for an Electron Antineutrino Disappearance Search Using High-Rate 8Li Production and Decay

TL;DR

This paper proposes a high-intensity electron antineutrino source from 8Li decay, enabling sensitive searches for sterile neutrinos and beyond standard model physics using existing detectors.

Contribution

It introduces a novel 8Li-based antineutrino source with unprecedented sensitivity for sterile neutrino searches at ~1 eV^2 mass-squared differences.

Findings

Enhanced sensitivity to electron antineutrino disappearance.

Ability to distinguish between zero, one, and two sterile neutrinos.

Potential to explore beyond standard model physics.

Abstract

This paper introduces a novel, high-intensity source of electron antineutrinos from the production and subsequent decay of 8Li. When paired with an existing ~1 kton scintillator-based detector, this <E_\nu>=6.4 MeV source opens a wide range of possible searches for beyond standard model physics via studies of the inverse beta decay interaction. In particular, the experimental design described here has unprecedented sensitivity to electron antineutrino disappearance at $\Delta m^2\sim$ 1 eV$^2$ and features the ability to distinguish between the existence of zero, one, and two sterile neutrinos.