DUSEL R&D Proposal: R&D Program to Develop Novel Cryogenic Tracking Detectors for Underground Experiments

根据标准太阳模型，太阳的大部分能量是由pp聚变反应产生的中微子携带的。精确测量这些中微子的光谱和速率是2004年APS中微子矩阵报告中定义的三个高优先级目标之一。这些测量将为我们目前的中微子振荡模型提供一个基本的测试，这是对太阳等恒星中非标准过程的一个重要约束，并为极低能量中微子相互作用打开了一个新的窗口，这可能会导致意想不到的发现。该提案要求资金用于开发一种新型探测器，该探测器将允许实时测量非常低能量的太阳中微子，低至几keV，具有出色的空间和能量分辨率，在大体积（超过一吨），使用时间投影技术。探测器采用低温流体氖和氦作为探测介质，其中？电子泡沫呢?沿着探测器中中微子相互作用产生的反冲电子的轨迹形成。这些电子气泡在电场中漂移到一系列气体电子倍增器，在那里它们被放大，并用商用CCD相机进行光学检测。从一开始，教育和推广就一直是这个研发项目的主要重点。这个探测器?s的读出概念也可能适用于许多其他需要跟踪大量低能粒子的DUSEL实验，例如暗物质跟踪探测器，以及为大型双β衰变实验提出的一些方法。他们积极参与针对高中教师和学生的QuarkNet项目，将他们的活动扩展到与探测器研发项目直接相关的其他粒子物理主题，以及宇宙射线探测器的实验工作。

According to the Standard Solar Model, most of the energy of the Sun is carried by neutrinos from the pp fusion reaction. A precision measurement of the spectrum and rate of these neutrinos is one of the three high priority goals defined by the 2004 APS Neutrino Matrix report, among others. These measurements will provide a fundamental test of our current model of neutrino oscillations, an important constraint on non-standard processes in stars such as our Sun, and open a new window on very low energy neutrino interactions which may lead to unexpected discoveries.This proposal requests funds to develop a novel detector that will allow a real-time measurement of very low energy solar neutrinos, down to a few keV, with excellent spatial and energy resolution in large volumes (more than a ton), using a time projection technique. The detector uses the cryogenic fluids neon and helium as the detection medium, in which ?electron bubbles? form along the track of a recoil electron produced by a neutrino interaction in the detector. These electron bubbles are drifted in an electric field to an array of Gas Electron Multipliers, where they are amplified and optically detected with commercial CCD cameras. Education and Outreach have been a major emphasis of this R&D program since its inception. This detector?s readout concept may also be suited to a number of other DUSEL experiments requiring tracking of low energy particles in large volumes, for example dark matter tracking detectors, and some of the approaches proposed for a large double beta decay experiment. They are active in the QuarkNet program for high school teachers and students, extending their outreach activities beyond those directly related to this detector R&D program to include other particle physics topics, and experimental work on cosmic ray detectors.