Related papers: The aCORN Backscatter-Suppressed Beta Spectrometer
The nuclear fission process that occurs in the core of nuclear reactors results in unstable, neutron rich fission products that subsequently beta decay and emit electron anti-neutrinos. These reactor neutrinos have served neutrino physics…
Organic scintillators are widely used for fast neutron detection and spectroscopy. Several effects complicate the interpretation of results from detectors based upon these materials. First, fast neutrons will often leave a detector before…
An efficient neutron detection system with good energy resolution is required to correctly characterize decays of neutron-rich nuclei where $\beta-$delayed neutron emission is a dominant decay mode. The Neutron dEtector with Xn Tracking…
We present a detailed report of a measurement of the neutron $\beta$-asymmetry parameter $A_0$, the parity-violating angular correlation between the neutron spin and the decay electron momentum, performed with polarized ultracold neutrons…
Precision measurements in neutron beta decay serve to determine the coupling constants of beta decay and allow for several stringent tests of the standard model. This paper discusses the design and the expected performance of the Nab…
We report on a precise measurement of the electron-antineutrino angular correlation ($a$ coefficient) in free neutron beta-decay from the $a$SPECT experiment. The $a$ coefficient is inferred from the recoil energy spectrum of the protons…
We report on the first detailed measurements of electron backscattering from low Z targets at energies up to 124 keV. Both energy and angular distributions of the backscattered electrons are measured and compared with electron transport…
Knowledge of the energy spectrum of $^8$B neutrinos is an important ingredient for interpreting experiments that detect energetic neutrinos from the Sun. The neutrino spectrum deviates from the allowed approximation because of the broad…
In recent years, interest in experimental studies of $\beta$-decay electron spectra -- often referred to as $\beta$ spectra -- has been growing. This is particularly true for $\beta$ transitions where the electron spectra are sensitive to…
The evolution of the reactor antineutrino spectrum toward equilibrium above the inverse beta-decay threshold during the reactor operating period and the decay of residual antineutrino radiation after reactor shutdown are considered. It is…
Within the Standard Model, the weak interaction of quarks and leptons is characterized by certain symmetry properties, such as maximal breaking of parity and favored helicity. These are related to the $V-A$ structure of the weak…
There is a proposal to search for a sterile neutrino in a few keV mass range by the "Troitsk nu-mass" facility. In order to estimate sterile neutrino mixing one needs to make precision spectrum measurements well below the endpoint using the…
The KATRIN experiment is designed to measure the absolute neutrino mass scale with a sensitivity of 200 meV at 90% C.L. by high resolution tritium beta-spectroscopy. A low background level of 10 mHz at the beta-decay endpoint is required in…
We report the first measurement of angular correlation parameters in neutron $\beta$-decay using polarized ultracold neutrons (UCN). We utilize UCN with energies below about 200 neV, which we guide and store for $\sim 30$ s in a Cu decay…
A new high-precision detector for studying neutrons from beta-delayed neutron emission and direct reaction studies is proposed. The Neutron dEtector with Xn Tracking (NEXT) array is designed to maintain high intrinsic neutron detection…
In calorimetric neutrino mass experiments, where the shape of a beta decay spectrum has to be precisely measured, the understanding of the detector response function is a fundamental issue. In the MIBETA neutrino mass experiment, the X-ray…
We report a novel correlated background in the antineutrino detection using the inverse beta decay reaction. Spontaneous fissions and $(\alpha,n)$ reactions in peripheral materials of the antineutrino detector, such as borosilicate glass of…
Despite the dramatic progress made in neutrino oscillation studies recently, several fundamental neutrino parameters remain either unknown or poorly measured. We discuss in detail a method for their measurement by precision studies of…
Inelastic neutron scattering instruments require very low background; therefore the proper shielding for suppressing the scattered neutron background, both from elastic and inelastic scattering is essential. The detailed understanding of…
Sensitive searches for antineutrino oscillations in atmospheric mass parameter region much discussed in recent years are based on accurate comparison of the inverse beta decay positron spectra measured in two (or more) detectors, far and…