Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
8170269 | Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment | 2016 | 9 Pages |
Abstract
Here we present the first results of WATCHBOY, a water Cherenkov detector designed to measure the yield of β-neutron emitting radionuclides produced by cosmic ray muons in water. In addition to the β-neutron measurement, we also provide a first look at isolating single-β producing radionuclides following muon-induced hadronic showers as a check of the detection capabilities of WATCHBOY. The data taken over 207 live days indicates a 9Li production yield upper limit of 1.9Ã10â7μâ1gâ1cm2 at ~400 m water equivalent (m.w.e.) overburden at the 90% confidence level. In this work the 9Li signal in WATCHBOY was used as a proxy for the combined search for 9Li and 8He production. This result will provide a constraint on estimates of antineutrino-like backgrounds in future water-based antineutrino detectors.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Physics and Astronomy
Instrumentation
Authors
S. Dazeley, M. Askins, M. Bergevin, A. Bernstein, N.S. Bowden, T.M. Shokair, P. Jaffke, S.D. Rountree, M. Sweany,