Search for electron-neutrino transitions to sterile states in the BEST experiment

Published

June 9, 2022

Author(s)

Jeffrey S. Nico, V. Barinov, S.N. Danshin, V.N. Gavrin, V.V. Gorbachev, D.S. Gorbunov, T.V. Ibragimova, Yu.P. Kozlova, L.V. Kravchuk, V.V. Kuzminov, B.K. Lubsandorzhiev, Yu.M. Malyshkin, I.N. Mirmov, A.A. Shikhin, E.P. Veretenkin, B.T. Cleveland, H. Ejiri, S.R. Elliott, I. Kim, R. Massarczyk, D. Frekers, W.C. Haxton, V.A. Matveev, G.V. Trubnikov, A.L. Petelin, V.A. Tarasov, A.I. Zvir, R.G.H. Robertson, D. Sinclair, J.F. Wilkerson

Abstract

The Baksan Experiment on Sterile Transitions (BEST) probes the gallium anomaly and its possible connections to oscillations between active and sterile neutrinos. Based on the Gallium- Germanium Neutrino Telescope (GGNT) technology of the SAGE experiment, BEST employs two zones of liquid Ga target to explore neutrino oscillations on the meter scale. Oscillations on this short scale could produce de cits in the 71Ge production rates within the two zones, as well as a possible rate di erence between the zones. From July 5th to October 13th 2019, the two-zone target was exposed to a primarily monoenergetic, 3.4-MCi 51Cr neutrino source 10 times for a total of 20 independent 71Ge extractions from the two Ga targets. The 71Ge production rates from the neutrino source were measured from July 2019 to March 2020. At the end of these measurements, the counters were lled with 71Ge doped gas and calibrated during November 2020. In this paper, results from the BEST sterile neutrino oscillation experiment are presented in details. The ratio of the measured 71Ge production rates to the predicted rates for the inner and the outer target volumes are calculated from the known neutrino capture cross section. Comparable de cits in the measured ratios relative to predicted values are found for both zones, with the 4 deviations from unity consistent with the previously reported gallium anomaly. If interpreted in the context of neutrino oscillations, the de cits give best arXiv:2201.07364v2 [nucl-ex] 3 Mar 2022 2 t oscillation parameters of m2 = 3:3+1 2:3 eV2 and sin22 = 0:42+0:15 0:17, consistent with e ! s oscillations governed by a surprisingly large mixing angle.

Citation

Physical Review C (Nuclear Physics)

Volume

105

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.105.065502

Local Download

Keywords

neutrino, neutrino oscillations, sterile neutrinos, radiochemical experiment

Citation

Nico, J. , Barinov, V. , Danshin, S. , Gavrin, V. , Gorbachev, V. , Gorbunov, D. , Ibragimova, T. , Kozlova, Y. , Kravchuk, L. , Kuzminov, V. , Lubsandorzhiev, B. , Malyshkin, Y. , Mirmov, I. , Shikhin, A. , Veretenkin, E. , Cleveland, B. , Ejiri, H. , Elliott, S. , Kim, I. , Massarczyk, R. , Frekers, D. , Haxton, W. , Matveev, V. , Trubnikov, G. , Petelin, A. , Tarasov, V. , Zvir, A. , Robertson, R. , Sinclair, D. and Wilkerson, J. (2022), Search for electron-neutrino transitions to sterile states in the BEST experiment, Physical Review C (Nuclear Physics), [online], https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.105.065502, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=934459 (Accessed December 4, 2024)