The Development of the SNO+ Experiment: Scintillator Timing, Pulse Shape Discrimination, and Sterile Neutrinos

The SNO+ experiment is a multi-purpose neutrino detector which is under construction in the SNOLAB facility in Sudbury, Ontario. SNO+ will search for neutrinoless double beta decay, and will measure low energy solar neutrinos. This thesis will describe three main development activities for the SNO+ experiment: the measurement of the timing parameters for the liquid scintillator cocktail, using those timing parameters to estimate the ability of SNO+ to discriminate alpha and beta events in the detector, and a sensitivity study that examines how solar neutrino data can constrain a light sterile neutrino model. Characterizing the timing parameters of the emission light due to charged-particle excitation in the scintillator is necessary for proper reconstruction of events in the detector. Using data obtained from a bench-top setup, the timing profile was modelled as three exponential components with distinct timing coefficients. Also investigated was the feasibility of using the timing profiles as a means to separate alpha and beta excitation events in the scintillator. The bench-top study suggested that using the peak-to-total method of analyzing the timing profiles could remove >$99.9% of alpha events while retaining >$99.9% of beta events. The timing parameters measured in the test set-up were then implemented in a Monte Carlo code which simulated the SNO+ detector conditions. The simulation results suggested that detector effects reduce the effectiveness of discriminating between alpha and beta events using the peak-to-total method. Using a more optimal method of analyzing the timing profile differences, specifically using a Gatti filter, improved the discrimination capability back to the levels determined in the bench-top setup. One of the physics goals of SNO+ is the first precision measurement of the pep solar neutrino flux at the level of about 5% uncertainty. A study was performed to investigate how current solar neutrino data constrains the allowed parameters of a light 3+1 sterile neutrino model. The impact of adding a SNO+ pep solar neutrino measurement on the allowed parameters of the sterile model was then examined.

Department dc:contributor.department

Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy

Year dc:date.issued

2014

Author dc:creator

• O'Sullivan, Erin

Advisor dc:contributor.supervisor

• Chen, Mark C.

• sterile neutrinos
• scintillator physics

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1974/12133

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:queensu.scholaris.ca:1974/12133