The PROSPECT Physics Program
2016
The Precision Reactor Oscillation and Spectrum Experiment, PROSPECT, is
designed to make a precise measurement of the antineutrino spectrum from a
highly-enriched uranium reactor and probe eV-scale sterile neutrinos by
searching for neutrino oscillations over meter-long distances. PROSPECT is
conceived as a 2-phase experiment utilizing segmented $^6$Li-doped liquid
scintillator detectors for both efficient detection of reactor antineutrinos
through the inverse beta decay reaction and excellent background
discrimination. PROSPECT Phase I consists of a movable 3-ton antineutrino
detector at distances of 7 - 12 m from the reactor core. It will probe the
best-fit point of the $\nu_e$ disappearance experiments at 4$\sigma$ in 1 year
and the favored region of the sterile neutrino parameter space at $>$3$\sigma$
in 3 years. With a second antineutrino detector at 15 - 19 m from the reactor,
Phase II of PROSPECT can probe the entire allowed parameter space below 10
eV$^{2}$ at 5$\sigma$ in 3 additional years. The measurement of the reactor
antineutrino spectrum and the search for short-baseline oscillations with
PROSPECT will test the origin of the spectral deviations observed in recent
$\theta_{13}$ experiments, search for sterile neutrinos, and conclusively
address the hypothesis of sterile neutrinos as an explanation of the reactor
anomaly.
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