Measurement of the ⁸B Solar Neutrino Flux with the KamLAND Liquid Scintillator Detector

Abstract

We report a measurement of the neutrino-electron elastic scattering rate from ⁸B solar neutrinos based on a 123 kton-day exposure of KamLAND. The background-subtracted electron recoil rate, above a 5.5-MeV analysis threshold is 1.49 ± 0.14(stat) ± 0.17(syst) events per kton-day. Interpreted as due to a pure electron flavor flux with a ⁸B neutrino spectrum, this corresponds to a spectrum integrated flux of 2.77 ± 0.26(stat) ± 0.32(syst) × 10⁶ cm⁻²s⁻¹. The analysis threshold is driven by ²⁰⁸Tl present in the liquid scintillator, and the main source of systematic uncertainty is due to background from cosmogenic ¹¹Be. The measured rate is consistent with existing measurements and with standard solar model predictions which include matter-enhanced neutrino oscillation.

Description
Keywords
Solar neutrinos, Neutrino mass and mixing, Neutrino interactions
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