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Author ORCID Identifier
N/A
AccessType
Open Access Dissertation
Document Type
dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Degree Program
Physics
Year Degree Awarded
2014
Month Degree Awarded
February
First Advisor
Andrea Pocar
Subject Categories
Elementary Particles and Fields and String Theory | The Sun and the Solar System
Abstract
This dissertation presents the first direct detection of pp solar neutrinos within Borexino, the underground liquid-scintilator detector located at the Gran Sasso National Labratory(LNGS) in Italy, designed to measure the interaction of neutrinos through neutrino-electron elastic scattering. The rate of scattering in Borexino from the pp solar neutrino spectrum is measured to be 155 +/- 16(stat) +/- 13(sys) counts per day per 100 tonnes. With this measurement we are able to rule out the no oscillation hypothesis at the 2-sigma C.L. and the results agree with Standard Solar Model predictions within 1.1-sigma. These neutrinos are from the keystone proton-proton fusion reaction in the Sun and collectively they vastly outnumber those from the reactions that follow. Their detection is an important step towards completing solar neutrino spectroscopy and verifies our understanding of the Sun.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7275/nh2x-z694
Recommended Citation
Otis, Keith, "Direct Measurement of the pp Solar Neutrino Interaction Rate in Borexino" (2014). Doctoral Dissertations. 123.
https://doi.org/10.7275/nh2x-z694
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_2/123
Included in
Elementary Particles and Fields and String Theory Commons, The Sun and the Solar System Commons