Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-particle-physics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2017/3/e/solution
Past exam of the particle physics course of the University of Oxford 2017 3 e Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
Place a far detector near the first atmospheric disappearance maximum, approximately for the source's monochromatic energy and splitting, and a nearly identical near detector a few hundred metres from the reactor complex. Their flux-corrected comparison largely cancels reactor power, emitted-spectrum and absolute-efficiency uncertainties. For a broad reactor spectrum one fits energy-dependent disappearance instead of treating that single baseline as a universal exact optimum.
Detect in a hydrogen-rich target, for example liquid scintillator with neutron-capture enhancement. The prompt Positron signal estimates neutrino energy; the delayed neutron-capture signal supplies a time-and-position coincidence that strongly reduces random backgrounds. Use sufficient target mass and exposure, low radioactivity, overburden and a muon veto to reduce cosmogenic backgrounds, calibrated relative energy response and efficiency, and monitored reactor powers and baselines. Account for multiple reactor cores, spent-fuel backgrounds and accidental coincidences. At kilometre baselines the slow solar phase is small, so the disappearance depth directly probes with little sensitivity to the CP phase or mass ordering.
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