The Double Chooz Experiment presents an indication of reactor electron antineutrino disappearance consistent with neutrino oscillations. An observed-to-predicted ratio of events of 0.944 ± 0.016 (stat) ± 0.040 (syst) was obtained in 101 days of running at the Chooz Nuclear Power Plant in France, with two 4.25 GW th reactors. The results were obtained from a single 10 m 3 fiducial volume detector located 1050 m from the two reactor cores. The reactor antineutrino flux prediction used the Bugey4 flux measurement after correction for differences in core composition. The deficit can be interpreted as an indication of a non-zero value of the still unmeasured neutrino mixing parameter sin 2 2θ13. Analyzing both the rate of the prompt positrons and their energy spectrum we find sin 2 2θ13= 0.086 ± 0.041 (stat) ±0.030 (syst), or, at 90% CL, 0.017 < sin 2 2θ13 < 0.16. We report first results of a search for a non-zero neutrino oscillation [1] mixing angle, θ 13 , based on reactor antineutrino disappearance. This is the last of the three neutrino oscillation mixing angles [2,3] for which only upper limits [4,5] are available. The size of θ 13 sets the required sensitivity of long-baseline oscillation experiments attempting to measure CP violation in the neutrino sector or the mass hierarchy.In reactor experiments [6,7] addressing the disappearance ofν e , θ 13 determines the survival probability of electron antineutrinos at the "atmospheric" squaredmass difference, ∆m 2 atm . This probability is given by:where L is the distance from reactor to detector in meters and E the energy of the antineutrino in MeV. The full formula can be found in Ref.[1]. Eq. 1 provides a direct way to measure θ 13 since the only additional input is the well measured value of |∆m 2 atm | = (2.32Other running reactor experiments [9,10] are using the same technique.Electron antineutrinos of < 9 MeV are produced by reactors and detected through inverse beta decay (IBD): ν e + p → e + + n. Detectors based on hydrocarbon liquid scintillators provide the free proton targets. The IBD signature is a coincidence of a prompt positron signal followed by a delayed neutron capture. We present here our first results with a detector located ∼ 1050 m from the two 4.25 GW th thermal power reactors of the Chooz Nuclear Power Plant and under a 300 MWE rock overburden. The analysis is based on 101 days of data including 16 days with one reactor off and one day with both reactors off.The antineutrino flux of each reactor depends on its thermal power and, for the four main fissioning isotopes, 235 U, 239 Pu, 238 U, 241 Pu, their fraction of the total fuel content, their energy released per fission, and their fission and capture cross-sections. The fission rates and associated errors were evaluated using two predictive and complementary reactor simulation codes: MURE [17,18] and DRAGON [19]. This allowed a study of the sensitivity to the important reactor parameters (e.g.. thermal power, boron concentration, temperatures and densities). The quality of these simulations...

The Double Chooz experiment has observed 8,249 candidate electron antineutrino events in 227.93 live days with 33.71 GW-ton-years (reactor power × detector mass × livetime) exposure using a 10.3 m 3 fiducial volume detector located at 1050 m from the reactor cores of the Chooz nuclear power plant in France. The expectation in case of θ13= 0 is 8,937 events. The deficit is interpreted as evidence of electron antineutrino disappearance. From a rate plus spectral shape analysis we find sin 2 2θ13 = 0.109 ± 0.030(stat) ± 0.025(syst). The data exclude the no-oscillation hypothesis at 99.8% CL (2.9σ).

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The observation of neutrons turning into antineutrons would constitute a discovery of fundamental importance for particle physics and cosmology. Observing the n−n transition would show that baryon number (B) is violated by two units and that matter containing neutrons is unstable. It would provide a clue to how the matter in our universe might have evolved from the B = 0 early universe. If seen at rates observable in foreseeable next-generation experiments, it might well help us understand the observed baryon asymmetry of the universe. A demonstration of the violation of B − L by 2 units would have a profound impact on our understanding of phenomena beyond the Standard Model of particle physics.Slow neutrons have kinetic energies of a few meV. By exploiting new slow neutron sources and optics technology developed for materials research, an optimized search for oscillations using free neutrons from a slow neutron moderator could improve existing limits on the free oscillation probability by at least three orders of magnitude. Such an experiment would deliver a slow neutron beam through a magnetically-shielded vacuum chamber to a thin annihilation target surrounded by a low-background antineutron annihilation detector. Antineutron annihilation in a target downstream of a free neutron beam is such a spectacular experimental signature that an essentially background-free search is possible. An authentic positive signal can be extinguished by a very small change in the ambient magnetic field in such an experiment. It is also possible to improve the sensitivity of neutron oscillation searches in nuclei using large underground detectors built mainly to search for proton decay and detect neutrinos. This paper summarizes the relevant theoretical developments, outlines some ideas to improve experimental searches for free neutron oscillations, and suggests avenues both for theoretical investigation and for future improvement in the experimental sensitivity.

This paper introduces an experimental probe of the sterile neutrino with a novel, high-intensity source of electron antineutrinos from the production and subsequent decay of 8 Li. When paired with an existing ∼1 kton scintillator-based detector, this Eν =6.4 MeV source opens a wide range of possible searches for beyond standard model physics via studies of the inverse beta decay interaction νe + p → e + + n. In particular, the experimental design described here has unprecedented sensitivity toνe disappearance at ∆m 2 ∼ 1 eV 2 and features the ability to distinguish between the existence of zero, one, and two sterile neutrinos.PACS numbers: 14.60.Pq, 14.60.StThe beta decay-at-rest of 8 Li produces an isotropic electron antineutrino flux with an average energy of 6.4 MeV. An underground liquid scintillator based detector can be used to detect these antineutrinos via the inverse beta decay (IBD) processν e + p → e + + n. The antineutrino rate and energy, peaking at 9 MeV, can be fully reconstructed by the detector. Precise energy and vertex reconstruction opens the possibility of searching for antineutrino disappearance due to oscillations, which, in the simplest two-neutrino form, has the probabilitywhere θ is the disappearance mixing angle; ∆m 2 (eV 2 ) is the squared mass splitting; L is the distance (in meters) from the antineutrino source to the detector; and E (MeV) is the antineutrino energy. This probability is maximized in the range of ∆m 2 ∼ E/L. An existing large scintillator-based antineutrino detector with a diameter of O(10 m), when combined with an 8 Li isotope decay-at-rest source, is sensitive to oscillations at ∆m 2 ∼ 1 eV 2 . This is an oscillation region of high interest due to anomalies that have been observed in the data from LSND [1], MiniBooNE [2], short-baseline reactor studies [3], and gallium source calibration runs [4]. These anomalies are often interpreted as being due to sterile neutrinos [5][6][7][8] and have motivated the development of the IsoDAR (Isotope Decay-At-Rest) concept.IsoDAR-style sources have been considered before [9][10][11]. The design presented here, consisting of an ion source, cyclotron, and target, is the first with a sufficiently high antineutrino flux to address the existence of one or more sterile neutrinos. 5 IBD interactions in a five year run. Such events allow a definitive search for antineutrino oscillations with the added ability to distinguish between models with one and two sterile neutrinos. A sample of more than 7200ν e -electron scatters is also accumulated during this time and can be used as a sensitive electroweak probe.The charged particle beam, used for electron antineutrino production, originates with a 60 MeV/amu cyclotron accelerating 5 mA of H + 2 ions. The design of this compact cyclotron [15] is ongoing and is envisaged as the injector for the accelerator system of the DAEδALUS physics program [16,17]. The IsoDAR design calls for about a factor of six increase in intensity compared to compact cyclotrons used in the medical isotope industry. ...