Related papers: Quest for a Nuclear Georeactor
The background, basis, feasibility, structure, evidence, and geophysical implications of a naturally occurring Terracentric nuclear fission georeactor are reviewed. For a nuclear fission reactor to exist at the center of the Earth, all of…
There are still several unanswered fundamental questions concerning our planet and in particular, about the deep Earth, from where we lack direct samples. Today, due to the progress in neutrino-detection techniques, a new and unique tool to…
Order of magnitude estimates of radiogenic heat and antineutrino production are given, using the San Marco cathedral as an example. Prospects of determining the radiogenic contribution to terrestrial heat by detection of antineutrinos from…
The physical interpretation of extensive measurements of electron neutrinos (in laboratories located on or somewhat below the Earth's surface) often require geophysical notions concerning the possible neutrino sources. Here, we discuss the…
Energy spectra of antineutrinos coming from $^{232}$Th and $^{233}$U neutron-induced fission are calculated, relevant inverse beta decay $\bar{{\nu}_e}+p \to n + e^{+}$ positron spectra and total cross sections are found. This study is…
Geoneutrinos are electron antineutrinos ($\bar\nu_e$) generated by the beta-decays of radionuclides naturally occurring inside the Earth, in particular $^{238}$U, $^{232}$Th, and $^{40}$K. Measurement of these neutrinos provides powerful…
Uranium and thorium are the main heat producing elements in the earth. Their quantities and distributions, which specify the flux of detectable antineutrinos generated by the beta decay of their daughter isotopes, remain unmeasured.…
As a unique probe for geophysical research, geoneutrinos can reveal the distribution of internal heat sources in the Earth by detecting electron antineutrinos produced by the radioactive decay of $^{238}$U, $^{232}$Th, and $^{40}$K.…
Knowledge of the amount and distribution of radiogenic heating in the mantle is crucial for understanding the dynamics of the Earth, including its thermal evolution, the style and planform of mantle convection, and the energetics of the…
It has been estimated that the entire Earth generates heat corresponding to about 40 TW (equivalent to 10,000 nuclear power plants) which is considered to originate mainly from the radioactive decay of elements like U, Th and K, deposited…
We present an updated estimate of reactor antineutrino signal all over the world, with particular attention to the sites proposed for existing and future geo-neutrino experiment. In our calculation we take into account the most updated data…
In preparation to the experimental results which will be available in the future, we study geo-neutrino production for different models of mantle convection and composition. By using global mass balance for the Bulk Silicate Earth, the…
We review a new interdisciplinary field between Geology and Physics: the study of the Earth's geo-neutrino flux. We describe competing models for the composition of the Earth, present geological insights into the make up of the continental…
The programme Earth AntineutRino TomograpHy (EARTH) proposes to build ten underground facilities each hosting a telescope. Each telescope consists of many detector modules, to map the radiogenic heat sources deep in the interior of the…
Neutrinos produced by nuclear reactors have played a major role in advancing our knowledge of the properties of neutrinos. The first direct detection of the neutrino, confirming its existence, was performed using reactor neutrinos. More…
Nuclear reactors have served as the antineutrino source for many fundamental physics experiments. The techniques developed by these experiments make it possible to use these very weakly interacting particles for a practical purpose. The…
Neutrinos at energies ranging from sub-TeV to EeV from astrophysical sources can yield interesting physical information about fundamental interactions, about cosmic rays and about the nature of the sources and their environment. Gamma-ray…
I present from a historical perspective a logical progression of understanding, related to the composition of the deep interior of the Earth, that comes from fundamental discoveries and from discoveries of fundamental quantitative…
We present the current status of geo-neutrino measurements and their implications for radiogenic heating in the mantle. Earth models predict different levels of radiogenic heating and, therefore, different geo-neutrino fluxes from the…
Antineutrinos produced at nuclear reactors constitute a severe source of background for the detection of geoneutrinos, which bring to the Earth's surface information about natural radioactivity in the whole planet. In this framework we…