Cosmic Backgrounds at the Daya Bay Reactor Antineutrino Experiment

Mitchell, Ian Alexander 1989-

Cosmic Backgrounds at the Daya Bay Reactor Antineutrino Experiment

dc.contributor.advisor	Koerner, Lisa W.
dc.contributor.committeeMember	Renshaw, Andrew
dc.contributor.committeeMember	Timmins, Anthony
dc.contributor.committeeMember	Bittner, Eric R.
dc.creator	Mitchell, Ian Alexander 1989-
dc.date.accessioned	2018-11-30T16:15:10Z
dc.date.available	2018-11-30T16:15:10Z
dc.date.created	May 2018
dc.date.issued	2018-05
dc.date.submitted	May 2018
dc.date.updated	2018-11-30T16:15:10Z
dc.description.abstract	The measurement of physical quantities connected to rare events, such as neutrino interactions, is complicated by the presence of processes that can mimic them, called backgrounds. One type of background for underground experiments is the production of neutrons in material around the detector, called rock neutrons. Seven months of data from one experimental hall of the Daya Bay Reactor Antineutrino Experiment were analyzed to identify rock neutron events with the goal of computing the rate of rock neutron events at the experiment. Rock neutron candidates were identified through the coincidence of a fast neutron moderation signal and neutron capture within the detector following a muon signal that did not trigger the water and scintillator portions of the detector. Over this period, this analysis identified n = 38 candidate events and a background of b = 56 events. The application of the Rolke-Lopez statistical method to this data produced an upper rate limit estimate of 0.0005 events/detector/day at the 90\% confidence level in this experimental hall, showing that this background has a negligible impact on the neutrino signal from the same detectors of over 650 events/detector/day.
dc.description.department	Physics, Department of
dc.format.digitalOrigin	born digital
dc.format.mimetype	application/pdf
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10657/3452
dc.language.iso	eng
dc.rights	The author of this work is the copyright owner. UH Libraries and the Texas Digital Library have their permission to store and provide access to this work. Further transmission, reproduction, or presentation of this work is prohibited except with permission of the author(s).
dc.subject	Particle physics
dc.subject	Neutrinos
dc.subject	Muons
dc.subject	Neutrons
dc.subject	Cosmic Rays
dc.subject	Underground Detectors
dc.title	Cosmic Backgrounds at the Daya Bay Reactor Antineutrino Experiment
dc.type.dcmi	Text
dc.type.genre	Thesis
local.embargo.lift	2020-05-01
local.embargo.terms	2020-05-01
thesis.degree.college	College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
thesis.degree.department	Physics, Department of
thesis.degree.discipline	Physics
thesis.degree.grantor	University of Houston
thesis.degree.level	Doctoral
thesis.degree.name	Doctor of Philosophy