Testing the Reactor and Gallium Anomalies with Intense (Anti)Neutrino Emitters

TL;DR

This paper proposes using intense neutrino and antineutrino sources placed near large detectors to test anomalies suggesting a possible fourth neutrino, aiming to clarify neutrino mass differences and mixing angles.

Contribution

It introduces a novel experimental approach employing compact neutrino sources within large detectors to directly test the reactor and gallium anomalies.

Findings

Potential to unambiguously identify neutrino oscillation patterns

Ability to measure neutrino mass differences and mixing angles

Feasibility of deploying intense sources for anomaly testing

Abstract

Several observed anomalies in neutrino oscillation data could be explained by a hypothetical fourth neutrino separated from the three standard neutrinos by a squared mass difference of a few 0.1 eV$^2$ or more. This hypothesis can be tested with MCi neutrino electron capture sources ($^{51}$Cr) or kCi antineutrino $\beta$-source ($^{144}$Ce) deployed inside or next to a large low background neutrino detector. In particular, the compact size of this source coupled with the localization of the interaction vertex lead to an oscillating pattern in event spatial (and possibly energy) distributions that would unambiguously determine neutrino mass differences and mixing angles.