CeLAND: A PBq Source in KamLAND and the Hunt for Sterile Neutrinos

by Prof. Jelena Maricic (UH Physics)

Thursday Oct 10, 2013, 3:30 PM → 4:30 PM Pacific/Honolulu

112 (Watanabe Hall)

In 2011, yet another hint for massive sterile neutrinos surfaced as a consequence of careful recalculation of reactor neutrino fluxes. The effect was named Reactor Antineutrino Anomaly (RAA). One way to establish if the source of RAA is indeed oscillation into a new neutrino type is to perform a measurement that would have a) a complementary type of neutrino source and b) ability to detect the oscillation signature as a function of energy and position. The combination of the two makes a convincing test of the RAA sterile neutrino claim, which if verified would be revolutionary in elementary particle physics. We plan to test the RAA by deploying a massive 76 kCi electron anti-neutrino source (Cerium-144 and Praseodymium-144) in the veto region of Kamioka Liquid Scintillator Anti-neutrino Detector (KamLAND), 1 kiloton size detector. The project is called CeLAND. It will search for the sterile neutrino oscillation in 3-16 m distance range and probe the majority of the oscillation phase space suggested by the RAA with 95% confidence level. The status and prospects of the experiment, in which UH has a leading role, will be presented.