Browsing by Author "Cen, W. R."

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Improved measurement of the reactor antineutrino flux and spectrum at Daya Bay
(2017-01)
An, F. P.
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Balantekin, A. B.
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Band, H. R.
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Bishai, M.
;
Blyth, S.
A new measurement of the reactor antineutrino flux and energy spectrum by the Daya Bay reactor neutrino experiment is reported. The antineutrinos were generated by six 2.9 GW(th) nuclear reactors and detected by eight antineutrino detectors deployed in two near (560 m and 600 m flux-weighted baselines) and one far (1640 m flux-weighted baseline) underground experimental halls. With 621 days of data, more than 1.2 million inverse beta decay (IBD) candidates were detected. The IBD yield in the eight detectors was measured, and the ratio of measured to predicted flux was found to be 0.946 +/- 0.020 (0.992 +/- 0.021) for the Huber+Mueller (ILL+Vogel) model. A 2.9 sigma deviation was found in the measured IBD positron energy spectrum compared to the predictions. In particular, an excess of events in the region of 4-6 MeV was found in the measured spectrum, with a local significance of 4.4 sigma. A reactor antineutrino spectrum weighted by the IBD cross section is extracted for model-independent predictions.
Improved measurement of the reactor antineutrino flux and spectrum at Daya Bay
(2017-01-01)
An, F. P.
;
Balantekin, A. B.
;
Band, H. R.
;
Bishai, M.
;
Blyth, S.
A new measurement of the reactor antineutrino flux and energy spectrum by the Daya Bay reactor neutrino experiment is reported. The antineutrinos were generated by six 2.9 GW(th) nuclear reactors and detected by eight antineutrino detectors deployed in two near (560 m and 600 m flux-weighted baselines) and one far (1640 m flux-weighted baseline) underground experimental halls. With 621 days of data, more than 1.2 million inverse beta decay (IBD) candidates were detected. The IBD yield in the eight detectors was measured, and the ratio of measured to predicted flux was found to be 0.946 +/- 0.020 (0.992 +/- 0.021) for the Huber+Mueller (ILL+Vogel) model. A 2.9 sigma deviation was found in the measured IBD positron energy spectrum compared to the predictions. In particular, an excess of events in the region of 4-6 MeV was found in the measured spectrum, with a local significance of 4.4 sigma. A reactor antineutrino spectrum weighted by the IBD cross section is extracted for model-independent predictions.
Improved Search for a Light Sterile Neutrino with the Full Configuration of the Daya Bay Experiment
(2016-10-07)
An, F. P.
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Balantekin, A. B.
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Band, H. R.
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Bishai, M.
;
Blyth, S.
This Letter reports an improved search for light sterile neutrino mixing in the electron antineutrino disappearance channel with the full configuration of the Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment. With an additional 404 days of data collected in eight antineutrino detectors, this search benefits from 3.6 times the statistics available to the previous publication, as well as from improvements in energy calibration and background reduction. A relative comparison of the rate and energy spectrum of reactor antineutrinos in the three experimental halls yields no evidence of sterile neutrino mixing in the 2 x 10(-4) less than or similar to vertical bar Delta m(41)(2)vertical bar less than or similar to 0.3 eV(2) mass range. The resulting limits on sin(2) 2 theta(14) are improved by approx imately a factor of 2 over previous results and constitute the most stringent constraints to date in the vertical bar Delta m(41)(2)vertical bar less than or similar to 0.2 eV(2) region.
Limits on Active to Sterile Neutrino Oscillations from Disappearance Searches in the MINOS, Daya Bay, and Bugey-3 Experiments
(2016-10-07)
Adamson, P.
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An, F. P.
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Anghel, I.
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Aurisano, A.
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Balantekin, A. B.
Searches for a light sterile neutrino have been performed independently by the MINOS and the Daya Bay experiments using the muon (anti) neutrino and electron antineutrino disappearance channels, respectively. In this Letter, results from both experiments are combined with those from the Bugey-3 reactor neutrino experiment to constrain oscillations into light sterile neutrinos. The three experiments are sensitive to complementary regions of parameter space, enabling the combined analysis to probe regions allowed by the Liquid Scintillator Neutrino Detector (LSND) and MiniBooNE experiments in a minimally extended four-neutrino flavor framework. Stringent limits on sin(2) 2 theta(mu e) are set over 6 orders of magnitude in the sterile mass-squared splitting Delta m(41)(2). The sterile-neutrino mixing phase space allowed by the LSND and MiniBooNE experiments is excluded for Delta m(41)(2) < 0.8 eV(2) at 95% CLs.
Measurement of electron antineutrino oscillation based on 1230 days of operation of the Daya Bay experiment
(2017-04-06)
An, F. P.
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Balantekin, A. B.
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Band, H. R.
;
Bishai, M.
;
Blyth, S.
A measurement of electron antineutrino oscillation by the Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment is described in detail. Six 2.9-GWth nuclear power reactors of the Daya Bay and Ling Ao nuclear power facilities served as intense sources of nu((e) over bar)'s. Comparison of the (v) over bare rate and energy spectrum measured by antineutrino detectors far from the nuclear reactors (similar to 1500-1950 m) relative to detectors near the reactors (similar to 350-600 m) allowed a precise measurement of (v) over bar (e) disappearance. More than 2.5 million (v) over bar (e) inverse beta-decay interactions were observed, based on the combination of 217 days of operation of six antineutrino detectors (December, 2011-July, 2012) with a subsequent 1013 days using the complete configuration of eight detectors (October, 2012-July, 2015). The (v) over bar (e) rate observed at the far detectors relative to the near detectors showed a significant deficit, R = 0.949 +/- 0.002(stat) +/- 0.002(syst). The energy dependence of (v) over bar (e) disappearance showed the distinct variation predicted by neutrino oscillation. Analysis using an approximation for the three-flavor oscillation probability yielded the flavor-mixing angle sin(2)2 theta(13) = 0.0841 +/- 0.0027(stat) +/- 0.0019(syst) and the effective neutrino mass-squared difference of broken vertical bar Delta m(ee)(2)vertical bar = (2.50 +/- 0.06(stat) +/- 0.06(syst)) x 10(-3) eV(2). Analysis using the exact three-flavor probability found Delta m(32)(2) = (2.45 +/- 0.06(stat) +/- 0.06d(syst)) x 10(-3) eV(2) assuming the normal neutrino mass hierarchy and Delta m(32)(2) = (-2.56 +/- 0.06(stat) +/- 0.06(syst)) x 10(-3) eV(2) for the inverted hierarchy.
Measurement of the Reactor Antineutrino Flux and Spectrum at Daya Bay
(2016-02-12)
An, F. P.
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Balantekin, A. B.
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Band, H. R.
;
Bishai, M.
;
Blyth, S.
This Letter reports a measurement of the flux and energy spectrum of electron antineutrinos from six 2.9 GW(th) nuclear reactors with six detectors deployed in two near (effective baselines 512 and 561 m) and one far (1579 m) underground experimental halls in the Daya Bay experiment. Using 217 days of data, 296 721 and 41 589 inverse beta decay (IBD) candidates were detected in the near and far halls, respectively. The measured IBD yield is (1.55 +/- 0.04) x 10(-18) cm(2) GW(-1) day(-1) or (5.92 +/- 0.14) x 10(-43) cm(2) fission(-1). This flux measurement is consistent with previous short-baseline reactor antineutrino experiments and is 0.946 +/- 0.022 (0.991 +/- 0.023) relative to the flux predicted with the Huber-Mueller (ILL-Vogel) fissile antineutrino model. The measured IBD positron energy spectrum deviates from both spectral predictions by more than 2 sigma over the full energy range with a local significance of up to similar to 4 sigma between 4-6 MeV. A reactor antineutrino spectrum of IBD reactions is extracted from the measured positron energy spectrum for model-independent predictions.
New Measurement of Antineutrino Oscillation with the Full Detector Configuration at Daya Bay
(2015-09-11)
An, F. P.
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Balantekin, A. B.
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Band, H. R.
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Bishai, M.
;
Blyth, S.
We report a new measurement of electron antineutrino disappearance using the fully constructed Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment. The final two of eight antineutrino detectors were installed in the summer of 2012. Including the 404 days of data collected from October 2012 to November 2013 resulted in a total exposure of 6.9 x 10(5) GW(th) ton days, a 3.6 times increase over our previous results. Improvements in energy calibration limited variations between detectors to 0.2%. Removal of six Am-241-C-13 radioactive calibration sources reduced the background by a factor of 2 for the detectors in the experimental hall furthest from the reactors. Direct prediction of the antineutrino signal in the far detectors based on the measurements in the near detectors explicitly minimized the dependence of the measurement on models of reactor antineutrino emission. The uncertainties in our estimates of sin(2)2 theta(13) and vertical bar Delta m(ee)(2)vertical bar were halved as a result of these improvements. An analysis of the relative antineutrino rates and energy spectra between detectors gave sin(2)2 theta(13) = 0.084 +/- 0.005 and vertical bar Delta m(ee)(2)vertical bar = (2.42 +/- 0.11) x 10(-3) eV(2) in the three-neutrino framework.
New measurement of theta(13) via neutron capture on hydrogen at Daya Bay
(2016-04-21)
An, F. P.
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Balantekin, A. B.
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Band, H. R.
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Bishai, M.
;
Blyth, S.
This article reports an improved independent measurement of neutrino mixing angle theta(13) at the Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment. Electron antineutrinos were identified by inverse beta-decays with the emitted neutron captured by hydrogen, yielding a data set with principally distinct uncertainties from that with neutrons captured by gadolinium. With the final two of eight antineutrino detectors installed, this study used 621 days of data including the previously reported 217-day data set with six detectors. The dominant statistical uncertainty was reduced by 49%. Intensive studies of the cosmogenic muon-induced Li-9 and fast neutron backgrounds and the neutron-capture energy selection efficiency, resulted in a reduction of the systematic uncertainty by 26%. The deficit in the detected number of antineutrinos at the far detectors relative to the expected number based on the near detectors yielded sin(2)2 theta(13) = 0.071 +/- 0.011 in the three-neutrino-oscillation framework. The combination of this result with the gadolinium-capture result is also reported.
Study of the wave packet treatment of neutrino oscillation at Daya Bay
(2017-09-14)
An, F. P.
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Balantekin, A. B.
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Band, H. R.
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Bishai, M.
;
Blyth, S.
The disappearance of reactor (v) over bar (e) observed by the Daya Bay experiment is examined in the framework of a model in which the neutrino is described by a wave packet with a relative intrinsic momentum dispersion sigma(rel). Three pairs of nuclear reactors and eight antineutrino detectors, each with good energy resolution, distributed among three experimental halls, supply a high-statistics sample of (v) over bar (e) acquired at nine different baselines. This provides a unique platform to test the effects which arise from the wave packet treatment of neutrino oscillation. The modified survival probability formula was used to fit Daya Bay data, providing the first experimental limits: 2.38 x 10(-1)7 < sigma(rel) < 0.23. Treating the dimensions of the reactor cores and detectors as constraints, the limits are improved: 10-(14) less than or similar to sigma(rel) < 0.23, and an upper limit of sigma(rel) < 0.20 (which corresponds to sigma(x) greater than or similar to 10(-11) cm) is obtained. All limits correspond to a 95% C. L. Furthermore, the effect due to the wave packet nature of neutrino oscillation is found to be insignificant for reactor antineutrinos detected by the Daya Bay experiment thus ensuring an unbiased measurement of the oscillation parameters sin(2) 2 theta(13) and Delta m(32)(2) within the plane wave model.
The detector system of the Daya Bay reactor neutrino experiment
(2016-03-01)
An, F. P.
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Bai, J. Z.
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Balantekin, A. B.
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Band, H. R.
;
Beavis, D.
The Daya Bay experiment was the first to report simultaneous measurements of reactor antineutrinos at multiple baselines leading to the discovery of (nu) over bar (e) oscillations over km-baselines. Subsequent data has provided the world\'s most precise measurement of sin 2 2013 and the effective mass splitting Delta m(ee)(2). The experiment is located in Daya Bay, China where the cluster of six nuclear reactors is among the world\'s most prolific sources of electron antineutrinos. Multiple antineutrino detectors are deployed in three underground water pools at different distances from the reactor cores to search for deviations in the antineutrino rate and energy spectrum due to neutrino mixing. Instrumented with photomultiplier tubes, the water pools serve as shielding against natural radioactivity from the surrounding rock and provide efficient muon tagging. Arrays of resistive plate chambers over the top of each pool provide additional muon detection. The antineutrino detectors were specifically designed for measurements of the antineutrino flux with minimal systematic uncertainty. Relative detector efficiencies between the near and far detectors are known to better than 0.2%. With the unblinding of the final two detectors\' baselines and target masses, a complete description and comparison of the eight antineutrino detectors can now be presented. This paper describes the Daya Bay detector systems, consisting of eight antineutrino detectors in three instrumented water pools in three underground halls, and their operation through the first year of eight detector data-taking. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.