A semi-analytical energy response model for low-energy events in JUNO

TL;DR

This paper presents a semi-analytical model for the energy response of the JUNO neutrino detector, focusing on low-energy events and the non-linearity of light yield for electrons, positrons, and gammas.

Contribution

It introduces a novel energy non-linearity model for electrons and a fast algorithm to convert this to positron and gamma responses, aiding detector calibration.

Findings

Provides a model for electron energy non-linearity in JUNO

Develops a quick algorithm for gamma-induced secondary electron spectra

Discusses how to derive positron non-linearity from gamma calibration data

Abstract

The Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) is a next-generation neutrino experiment under construction in China expected to be completed in 2022. As the main goal it aims to determine the neutrino mass ordering with 3-4 $\sigma$ significance using a 20 kton liquid scintillator detector. It will measure the oscillated energy spectrum of electron anti-neutrinos from two nuclear power plants at about 53 km baseline with an unprecedented energy resolution of 3% at 1 MeV. A requirement of the JUNO experiment is the knowledge of the energy non-linearity of the detector with a sub-percent precision. As the light yield of the liquid scintillator is not fully linear to the energy of the detected particle and dependent on the particle type, a model for this light yield is presented in this paper. Based on an energy non-linearity model of electrons, this article provides the conversion to the more complex energy response of positrons and gammas. This conversion uses a fast and simple algorithm to calculate the spectrum of secondary electrons generated by a gamma, which is introduced here and made open access to potential users. It is also discussed how the positron non-linearity can be obtained from the detector calibration with gamma sources using the results presented in this article.