A xenon solar neutrino detector

Abstract

The neutrino capture by 131 Xe with a threshold at 352 keV as reaction to detect solar neutrinos is examined. The most important feature of this process is its high sensitivity to beryllium neutrinos, which contribute approximately 40% to the total capture rate (45 SNU) assuming the fluxes predicted by the Standard Solar Model of [3]. The procedure of extraction of the daughter cesium atoms from liquid xenon as well as other technical problems concerning preparation of the cesium sample, low background measurements and side reactions for a possible realisation as a solar neutrino detector are discussed. The expected counting rate according to the SSM of [3] for a 131 Xe detector is ≈ 1500 events/y·kton. The results of such a detector will be important for solving the puzzle of the possible existence of vacuum oscillations or the MSW effect and/or input parameters of the Standard Solar Models.