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

Columbia University, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

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.