Göttingen 2025 – scientific programme

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T: Fachverband Teilchenphysik

T 38: Neutrino Physics III

T 38.3: Talk

Tuesday, April 1, 2025, 16:45–17:00, VG 3.103

Detection of neutrons produced in neutrino-nucleus interactions — •Asit Srivastava — Johannes Gutenberg - Universität Mainz

T2K is a long-baseline experiment which measures parameters of neutrino oscillations. This can be done by analysing the interaction of neutrinos closer to the point of beam production and 295 km downstream. The detector located near the source of beam production, called ND280, primarily includes the interactions of neutrinos with carbon nuclei. The particles produced as a result of the interactions deposit energy in ND280 which is used to characterise the incoming neutrino flux and neutrino cross-sections before oscillations occur.

Out of all the particles produced in typical neutrino interactions, neutrons are by far the most challenging to detect since they are electrically neutral and do not leave a visible track in the detector. As a result, they provide uncertainties in identifying the interactions happening in the detector and measuring cross-sections. ND280 has a newly installed Super Fine-Grained Detector (SFGD) made of plastic scintillator cubes. The upgraded detector capable of better position resolution and 3D reconstruction opens up the possibilities of improving the efficiency of neutron detection. Presence of a neutron is established using cuts on energy deposits and hence, possible neutron candidates, such as based on time of flight, kinetic energy of the candidate and the separation of energy deposit from the interaction vertex. This talk will go through neutron selection and how neutrons can help in understanding nuclear effects better.

Keywords: T2K; Neutrino; SFGD; Neutron