Novel approaches for fundamental low energy neutrino physics in liquid scintillators

Liquid scintillators have been a key technology in the field of neutrino physics for decades.

They are especially well suited for the detection of low energy neutrinos due to their high light yield and proportional response particle energy, cost effectiveness, high purity, and volume versatility.

However, liquid scintillator detectors have poorer position and energy vertex resolutions, and lower capabilities for particle identification, when compared with other technologies.

In order to allow for new discoveries in neutrino physics, such as searching for neutrinoless double-beta decay or the measurement of low-energy solar neutrinos, it is imperative to evolve the liquid scintillator technology and find novel ways to deal with its current drawbacks.

This proposal aims to advance the state-of-the-art of liquid scintillator detectors through the development of creative particle identification analysis methods and innovative liquid scintillator R&D.

The developed methods will be used to improve and strengthen the low-energy neutrino analyses in SNO+, a leading liquid scintillator experiment located 2 km underground at SNOLAB, Canada.

I will demonstrate an analysis framework capable of retrieving directional and particle type information from the scintillation light time profile, and use it to perform pioneering low-energy measurements of 8-B solar neutrinos.

Secondly, I will lead liquid scintillator prototype work aimed at establishing higher isotope loadings as feasible options for future neutrinoless double-beta decay experiments, including future phases of SNO+, while also exploring new and practical detector designs using simulations.

With the proposed work, I will be able to devise a strategy to significantly advance the technological development of future liquid scintillator detectors, improving the sensitivity of instruments and opening up important new areas of application, providing a valuable guide for the future efforts of the neutrino physics community.