Q-Array Deployment and Science Analysis for the Ricochet Experiment

The goal of this proposal is to search for new physics and improve our understanding of neutrinos by performing a percent-level measurement of the Coherent Elastic Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering (CE NS) spectrum. In pursuit of this goal, this proposal has four objectives: (1) design, build, install, commission, and operate the 9-detector Ricochet Phase 1 Q-array at the ILL nuclear reactor, (2) perform the analysis of the Ricochet data from both Ge and Zn crystals to produce the highest precision CE NS spectrum measurement to date and search for new physics, (3) continue our synergistic R&D program to use our TES sensors for future CE NS and 0 experiments, and (4) train a new generation of neutrino experimental physicists. Q-array: MIT, Lincoln Labs, Argonne National Laboraoty, UMASS-Amherst, and Northwestern are collaborating to build the Q-array, a 9-detector instrument that will demonstrate superconducting targets for reactor CE NS measurements, provide target complimentarity to the Ge-based CryoCube, and lay the ground work for implementing SQUID multiplexing for future neutrino cryogenic experiments with thousands of TES channels. Ricochet Analysis: Our group will participate in the full analysis of the Ricochet experiment, combining the 27 Ge detectors from the CryoCube and the 9 Zn detectors from the Q-array to obtain world-leading sensitivity to the CE NS process, making a percent-level measurement of the spectrum, and searching for new physics through NSI modi cations to the spectrum. R&D: We will continue our work done in the present two-year grant (PHY-2013203) to optimize the TES modular architecture for future CE NS and 0    experiments which will require excellent resolution, fast response, and thousands of channels. We will demonstrate our technology on Li100 2 MoO4 crystals in a prototype CUPID 1-TON TES-based detector, and also demonstrate a TES-based Ge Ricochet Phase 2 detector with ionization readout. Training and Outreach: The activities in this proposal provide fertile ground for training of postdoctoral researchers and graduate students, and opportunities to share the excitement of science with the broader public.