On the contribution of the $^{40}$K geo-antineutrino to single Borexino events

TL;DR

This paper investigates the impact of $^{40}$K geo-antineutrinos on Borexino's event spectrum, suggesting their contribution could be significant and comparable to CNO neutrinos, based on the Hydridic Earth model.

Contribution

It introduces the inclusion of $^{40}$K geo-antineutrino scattering in Borexino analysis and evaluates its significance under the Hydridic Earth model.

Findings

$^{40}$K geo-antineutrino interactions are comparable to CNO neutrino interactions.

The contribution depends on potassium concentration in the Earth.

Hydridic Earth model influences the expected geo-antineutrino flux.

Abstract

We propose to include in the analysis of Borexino single event energy spectrum the scattering of $^{40}$K geo-antineutrinos by scintillator electrons. The Hydridic Earth model predicts the concentration of potassium in modern Earth from 1\% to 4\% of the Earth mass. We calculated contribution of $^{40}$K geo-antineutrino interactions in single Borexino events for these concentrations. This contribution is comparable to the contribution from the interaction of CNO neutrinos. We discuss the reasons for using the Hydridic Earth model.