Thesis (M.S. in Applied Physics)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2010. / Thesis Advisor(s): Smith, Craig F. ; Second Reader: Bowden, Nathaniel S. "June 2010." Description based on title screen as viewed on July 16, 2010. Author(s) subject terms: Antineutrino detection, Inverse Betad Decay, neutron capture, lithium gadolinium borate. Includes bibliographical references (p. 71-73). Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1981. / Typescript. Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 319-324).

Thesis--University of Wisconsin--Madison. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 181-189).

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2008. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 52-54). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2004. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 152-167).

Experimental anomalies hint at the possible existence of a sterile neutrino. Several experiments have been searching for the sterile neutrino, but none can claim either its discovery or fully rule it out. To test the sterile neutrino hypothesis, we search for short baseline oscillations using antineutrinos from nuclear reactors. We have developed a reactor antineutrino detection technology based on solid plastic scintillator, called CHANDLER, which could be used to search for short baseline reactor antineutrino oscillations. An 80 kg prototype was deployed at a commercial nuclear reactor for four and a half months with minimal shielding and no overburden. We detected an antineutrino signal of 2880 inverse beta decay events, with 5.5σ significance. This measurement represents the first observation of reactor antineutrinos in a surface-deployed, mobile neutrino detector. We envisioned several improvements to the detector from this deployment, which will be tested in an upgrade of this prototype. The full-scale detector will be able to search for sterile neutrinos and could also be used for nuclear non-proliferation applications. / Doctor of Philosophy / Along with light, the Sun emits a huge number of particles, called neutrinos. These neutrinos can pass through the matter without interacting as light passes through glass. Only a tiny fraction of neutrinos will interact in the materials through which they pass; therefore, they are extremely difficult to observe. There are three known types of neutrinos, but some theory and experiments require a new type of neutrinos, called a sterile neutrino. Nuclear power plants also emit neutrinos. We have developed a technology to observe these neutrinos from the nuclear power plants. We deployed a small prototype detector at a power plant and observed the neutrinos. From the deployment, we envisioned some improvements that will be tested in an upgraded detector. A full-scale detector will be able to search for sterile neutrinos. The detector might also have some real-life applications. It could be used to detect an elicit extraction of weapons-grade material from the nuclear power plant.

No description available.

Since the 1990s, researchers around the world have been creating antineutrino detectors for monitoring power reactors. These detectors have been deployed at light water reactors and are able to determine power levels and burn up throughout a fuel cycle. This technology could allow the IAEA to monitor LWRs remotely and unobtrusively to determine if they are operating using normal parameters. Very soon, the next generation of detector will be deployed at a CANDU reactor for a trial operation. While physical observation of these detectors is necessaryl in determining their usefulness, reactor physics simulations have proven to be very accurate in their prediction of detector performance. Since there are many designs still in development, reactor physics simulations are the only way to determine the efficacy of the detector technology. In addition to this, reactor simulations are the best way to evaluate the detector technology to ascertain its usefulness during diversion scenarios. In this research, antineutrino source terms were calculated for a High Temperature Gas Cooled Reactor core. These source terms were a function of power level and initial enrichment. SCALE6.1, developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, was used to calculate the isotopic inventory in the core as a function of depletion. These fertile and fissile isotopics, along with the fission cross-section and number of antineutrinos emitted per fission, were used to predict the antineutrino source rate for the core. It was found that changing the power yields a linear response from the antineutrino source term. By increasing the power by five percent, the source term also increased by five percent. Substantial changes in the initial enrichment also lead to a detectable change in the antineutrino source term. / Graduation date: 2012

The document describes a search for the rare decay B¯ → K¯vv̄ in a data set of about 230 millions of BB̄ pairs recorded by the BABAR detector at the PEP-II B Factory, via the process e⁺e⁻ → ϒ(4S) → BB̄. The method used selects events in which the B+ meson is fully reconstructed, and looks for a K¯ in the rest of the event. This is accomplished by applying kinematical and topological restrictions that select B¯ → K¯vv̄ events with the largest possible efficiency, while rejecting a maximum amount of background events. The number of background events is estimated from data and from simulated events, while the value of the selection efficiency relies solely on the simulation of B¯ → K¯vv̄ decays in the BABAR detector. These two numbers are required in order to set an upper limit on the branching ratio. We analyze a subset of the data sample and provide an interpretation of the result.