The SNO+ Experiment: Reactor & Solar $\nu$ Prospects

TL;DR

The SNO+ experiment is a versatile neutrino detector at SNOLAB, transitioning from water Cherenkov to liquid scintillator to study solar neutrinos, reactor antineutrinos, and neutrinoless double beta decay.

Contribution

This paper details the upgrade of SNO+ from water Cherenkov to liquid scintillator, enabling diverse neutrino physics measurements and neutrinoless double beta decay searches.

Findings

Set new limits on invisible nucleon decay modes

First observation of reactor antineutrinos in pure water

Preparing for solar neutrino and neutrinoless double beta decay measurements

Abstract

The SNO+ experiment is a large-scale, multipurpose neutrino experiment situated 2 km underground at SNOLAB in Canada. Successor to the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory, the SNO+ detector has inherited much of the original infrastructure including the 12-m diameter acrylic vessel which serves as the main detector body. Initially filled with ultrapure water, the SNO+ experiment has completed operations as a water Cherenkov detector, having set new limits on multiple invisible nucleon decay modes, performed measurements on $^8\mathrm{B}$ solar neutrinos, and made the first observation of reactor antineutrinos in pure water. The detector medium has now been replaced with liquid scintillator, and a new physics programme is being pursued including measurements of solar neutrinos and $\Delta\mathrm{m}^2_{12}$ from reactor antineutrinos. The liquid scintillator will be doped with >4 tonnes of $^{\mathrm{nat}}\mathrm{Te}$ to enable a search for neutrinoless double beta decay.