A study of the possibilities of a near-solar neutrino detector and ground tests of a CubeSat demonstrator for the $\nu$SOL project

The $\nu$SOL project is working towards developing and eventually launching a near-solar orbiter to detect neutrinos. In this dissertation, I report on three major topics. This detector uses a double-pulse signature from gallium neutrino interactions. I have studied the methods that a neutrino detector near the sun might be able to constrain solar parameters unique to neutrino measurements, such as the shape of the fusion core. I have studied the background rate reduction that such a solar orbiter may be able to achieve, using both timing and energy cuts on the signals. I present the work involved in integrating and characterizing the detector for a CubeSat demonstrator to measure the background rate outside the Van-Allen belts. I find that direct imaging of the solar core is technically infeasible at present. Applying a neutrino measurement constraint to a Standard Solar Model, I find that there are subtle changes to the solar interior, which favor a hotter sun. I find that the singles noise rate for cosmic ray shower backgrounds can be reduced by better than a factor of 11.5 x 10³ using timing cuts, and on the order of 3.8% using energy cuts. The singles noise rate due to GCR primaries in simulation is at most 6:90 mHz, which corresponds to a false double pulse rate of less than 1.11 x10^-11Hz. The detector has been well-characterized in its final configuration, and I have shown that the detector’s characterization has not been changed significantly from before to after environmental tests in preparation for launch. The detector and simulation are both very linear in the energy region of interest, and I have created the tools necessary to translate from simulated photoelectron counts to detector ADC counts.

Author

• Folkerts, Jonathan

Identifier

hdl:10057/55543

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:soar.wichita.edu:10057/55543