COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Systems for Precise Neutrino Detection with the Double Chooz Detectors

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The Double Chooz neutrino experiment will attempt to measure the theta-13 neutrino mixing angle using a very precise comparison of data from a pair of neutrino detectors located near two nuclear reactor cores at Chooz, France. This mixing angle is significant for measurements of CP violation in the neutrino sector, which may shed light on the source of matter-dominance in the Universe. This award provides funding for a Front-End Electronics (FEE) system that is critical for the operation of the Double Chooz Near detector. The FEE has been designed at Drexel University, with engineering support from LLNL. Construction will be started at Drexel, with a significant contribution of undergraduate student participation, in the performance testing, installation and final certification. Drexel will partner with nearby Rowan University to involve their undergraduates in the FEE effort, providing them with a physics research experience to which they normally would not have access. Among the Broader Impacts, Double Chooz has the potential to be a very precise neutrino detector for determining reactor isotope composition and giving an independent measure of fuel burn-up, capabilities that could find application in non-proliferation monitoring and improving the energy yield of reactor fuel. It is the improvements in neutrino detector precision, addressed in part by this proposal, that will make such practical applications of neutrino detectors possible. Part-time undergraduates will be hired at Drexel and at Rowan, partnering a Media Arts student with a physics student, to create video content related to neutrino interactions and detection. This new content will be added to and integrated with the "Neutrinos at Double Chooz for Everyone" on a website at Drexel.