Directional measurement in Borexino: Calibration of Cherenkov photons in a liquid scintillator detector using gamma sources

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Jülich Research Centre
  • RWTH Aachen University

Abstract

Borexino is a 280-ton liquid scintillator detector located at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS), Italy. The main goal of Borexino is to measure solar neutrinos via elastic scattering off electrons in the liquid scintillator. The electrons are then detected by the photo-multiplier tubes via isotropically emitted scintillation photons. However, in the first few nanoseconds after a neutrino interaction, Cherenkov photons (<1% of all detected photons) are also produced in the scintillator for electrons with kinetic energy >0.16 MeV. Borexino has successfully obtained the first directional measurement of sub-MeV solar neutrinos, and the 7Be solar neutrino interaction rate, through the exploitation of this Cherenkov light signal. This is performed through the so-called Correlated and Integrated Directionality (CID) method, by correlating the first few detected photons to the well-known position of the Sun and integrating the angle for a large number of events. This measurement requires a calibration of the relative time differences between Cherenkov and scintillation photons. In Borexino, we obtain this through gamma calibration sources namely, 40K and 54Mn. A group velocity correction estimated through the gamma sources is then used for the solar neutrino analysis. This article will discuss the analysis strategy and methods used for this calibration, and provide motivation for a dedicated Cherenkov calibration in next-generation liquid scintillator detectors.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number012184
Pages (from-to)1-4
Number of pages5
JournalJournal of Physics: Conference Series
Volume2156
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - 21 Feb 2022
Peer-reviewedYes

Conference

Title17th International Conference on Topics in Astroparticle and Underground Physics
Abbreviated titleTAUP 2021
Conference number17
Duration26 August - 3 September 2021
Website
LocationOnline
CityValencia
CountrySpain

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Library keywords