• Open Access

Developing the MeV potential of DUNE: Detailed considerations of muon-induced spallation and other backgrounds

Guanying Zhu, Shirley Weishi Li, and John F. Beacom
Phys. Rev. C 99, 055810 – Published 23 May 2019

Abstract

The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) could be revolutionary for MeV neutrino astrophysics, because of its huge detector volume, unique event reconstruction capabilities, and excellent sensitivity to the νe flavor. However, its backgrounds are not yet known. A major background is expected due to muon spallation of argon, which produces unstable isotopes that later β decay. We present the first comprehensive study of MeV spallation backgrounds in argon, detailing isotope production mechanisms and decay properties, analyzing β energy and time distributions, and proposing experimental cuts. We show that above a nominal detection threshold of 5-MeV electron energy, the most important backgrounds are—surprisingly—due to low-A isotopes, such as Li, Be, and B, even though high-A isotopes near argon are abundantly produced. We show that spallation backgrounds can be powerfully rejected by simple cuts, with clear paths for improvements. We compare these background rates to rates of possible MeV astrophysical neutrino signals in DUNE, including solar neutrinos (detailed in a companion paper [Capozzi et al. arXiv:1808.08232 [hep-ph]], supernova burst neutrinos, and the diffuse supernova neutrino background. Further, to aid trigger strategies, in the Appendixes we quantify the rates of single and multiple MeV events due to spallation, radiogenic neutron capture, and other backgrounds, including through pileup. Our overall conclusion is that DUNE has high potential for MeV neutrino astrophysics, but reaching this potential requires new experimental initiatives.

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  • Received 3 January 2019
  • Revised 13 March 2019

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.99.055810

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by SCOAP3.

Published by the American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Nuclear Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Guanying Zhu1,2,*, Shirley Weishi Li1,2,3,†, and John F. Beacom1,2,4,‡

  • 1Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics (CCAPP), Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA
  • 2Department of Physics, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA
  • 3SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California, 94025, USA
  • 4Department of Astronomy, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA

  • *zhu.1475@osu.edu
  • shirleyl@slac.stanford.edu
  • beacom.7@osu.edu

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Issue

Vol. 99, Iss. 5 — May 2019

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