Theia: an advanced optical neutrino detector

Askins, M.; Bagdasarian, Z.; Barros, N.; Beier, E. W.; Blucher, E.; Bonventre, R.; Bourret, E.; Callaghan, E. J.; Caravaca, J.; Diwan, M.; Dye, S. T.; Eisch, J.; Elagin, A.; Enqvist, T.; Fischer, V.; Frankiewicz, K.; Grant, C.; Guffanti, D.; Hagner, C.; Hallin, A.; Jackson, C. M.; Jiang, R.; Kaptanoglu, T.; Klein, J. R.; Kolomensky, Yu. G.; Kraus, C.; Krennrich, F.; Kutter, T.; Lachenmaier, T.; Land, B.; Lande, K.; Learned, J. G.; Lozza, V.; Ludhova, L.; Malek, M.; Manecki, S.; Maneira, J.; Maricic, J.; Martyn, J.; Mastbaum, A.; Mauger, C.; Moretti, F.; Napolitano, J.; Naranjo, B.; Nieslony, M.; Oberauer, L.; Orebi&nbsp;,; Gann, G. D.; Ouellet, J.; Pershing, T.; Petcov, S. T.; Pickard, L.; Rosero, R.; Sanchez, M. C.; Sawatzki, J.; Seo, S. H.; Smiley, M.; Smy, M.; Stahl, A.; Steiger, H.; Stock, M. R.; Sunej, H.; Svoboda, R.; Tiras, E.; Trzaska, W. H.; Tzanov, M.; Vagins, M.; Vilela, C.; Wang, Z.; Wang, J.; Wetstein, M.; Wilking, M. J.; Winslow, L.; Wittich, P.; Wonsak, B.; Worcester, E.; Wurm, M.; Yang, G.; Yeh, M.; Zimmerman, E. D.; Zsoldos, S.; Zuber, K.

doi:10.1140/epjc/s10052-020-7977-8

New developments in liquid scintillators, high-efficiency, fast photon detectors, and chromatic photon sorting have opened up the possibility for building a large-scale detector that can discriminate between Cherenkov and scintillation signals. Such a detector could reconstruct particle direction and species using Cherenkov light while also having the excellent energy resolution and low threshold of a scintillator detector. Situated deep underground, and utilizing new techniques in computing and reconstruction, this detector could achieve unprecedented levels of background rejection, enabling a rich physics program spanning topics in nuclear, high-energy, and astrophysics, and across a dynamic range from hundreds of keV to many GeV. The scientific program would include observations of low- and high-energy solar neutrinos, determination of neutrino mass ordering and measurement of the neutrino CP-violating phase δ, observations of diffuse supernova neutrinos and neutrinos from a supernova burst, sensitive searches for nucleon decay and, ultimately, a search for neutrinoless double beta decay, with sensitivity reaching the normal ordering regime of neutrino mass phase space. This paper describes Theia, a detector design that incorporates these new technologies in a practical and affordable way to accomplish the science goals described above.

Theia: an advanced optical neutrino detector / Askins, M.; Bagdasarian, Z.; Barros, N.; Beier, E. W.; Blucher, E.; Bonventre, R.; Bourret, E.; Callaghan, E. J.; Caravaca, J.; Diwan, M.; Dye, S. T.; Eisch, J.; Elagin, A.; Enqvist, T.; Fischer, V.; Frankiewicz, K.; Grant, C.; Guffanti, D.; Hagner, C.; Hallin, A.; Jackson, C. M.; Jiang, R.; Kaptanoglu, T.; Klein, J. R.; Kolomensky, Yu. G.; Kraus, C.; Krennrich, F.; Kutter, T.; Lachenmaier, T.; Land, B.; Lande, K.; Learned, J. G.; Lozza, V.; Ludhova, L.; Malek, M.; Manecki, S.; Maneira, J.; Maricic, J.; Martyn, J.; Mastbaum, A.; Mauger, C.; Moretti, F.; Napolitano, J.; Naranjo, B.; Nieslony, M.; Oberauer, L.; Orebi , ; Gann, G. D.; Ouellet, J.; Pershing, T.; Petcov, S. T.; Pickard, L.; Rosero, R.; Sanchez, M. C.; Sawatzki, J.; Seo, S. H.; Smiley, M.; Smy, M.; Stahl, A.; Steiger, H.; Stock, M. R.; Sunej, H.; Svoboda, R.; Tiras, E.; Trzaska, W. H.; Tzanov, M.; Vagins, M.; Vilela, C.; Wang, Z.; Wang, J.; Wetstein, M.; Wilking, M. J.; Winslow, L.; Wittich, P.; Wonsak, B.; Worcester, E.; Wurm, M.; Yang, G.; Yeh, M.; Zimmerman, E. D.; Zsoldos, S.; Zuber, K.. - In: THE EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL. C, PARTICLES AND FIELDS. - ISSN 1434-6044. - 80:5(2020). [10.1140/epjc/s10052-020-7977-8]