Search for Astrophysical Electron Antineutrinos in Super-Kamiokande with 0.01% Gadolinium-loaded Water

Abstract

We report the first search result for the flux of astrophysical electron antineutrinos for energies ${ \mathcal O }(10)\,\mathrm{MeV}$ in the gadolinium-loaded Super-Kamiokande (SK) detector. In 2020 June, gadolinium was introduced to the ultrapure water of the SK detector in order to detect neutrons more efficiently. In this new experimental phase, SK-Gd, we can search for electron antineutrinos via inverse beta decay with efficient background rejection thanks to the high efficiency of the neutron tagging technique. In this paper, we report the result for the initial stage of SK-Gd, during 2020 August 26, and 2022 June 1 with a 22.5 × 552 kton · day exposure at 0.01% Gd mass concentration. No significant excess over the expected background in the observed events is found for the neutrino energies below 31.3 MeV. Thus, the flux upper limits are placed at the 90% confidence level. The limits and sensitivities are already comparable with the previous SK result with pure water (22.5 × 2970 kton · day) owing to the enhanced neutron tagging. Operation with Gd increased to 0.03% started in 2022 June.

Metadata

Item Type:	Article
Authors/Creators:	Harada, M. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3273-946X Abe, K. Bronner, C. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9555-6033 Hayato, Y. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8683-5038 Hiraide, K. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1229-9452 Hosokawa, K. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8766-3629 Ieki, K. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7791-5044 Ikeda, M. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4177-5828 Kameda, J. Kanemura, Y. Kaneshima, R. Kashiwagi, Y. Kataoka, Y. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9090-4801 Miki, S. Mine, S. Miura, M. Moriyama, S. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7630-2839 Nakano, Y. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1572-3888 Nakahata, M. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7783-9080 Nakayama, S. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9145-714X Noguchi, Y. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3113-3127 Okamoto, K. Sato, K. Sekiya, H. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9034-0436 Shiba, H. Shimizu, K. Shiozawa, M. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0520-3520 Sonoda, Y. Suzuki, Y. Takeda, A. Takemoto, Y. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2232-7277 Takenaka, A. Tanaka, H. Watanabe, S. Yano, T. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5320-1709 Han, S. Kajita, T. Okumura, K. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5523-2808 Tashiro, T. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1440-3049 Tomiya, T. Wang, X. Yoshida, S. Megias, G.D. Fernandez, P. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9034-1930 Labarga, L. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6395-9142 Ospina, N. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8404-1808 Zaldivar, B. Pointon, B.W. Kearns, E. Raaf, J.L. Wan, L. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5524-6137 Wester, T. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6668-7595 Bian, J. Griskevich, N.J. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4409-3184 Locke, S. Smy, M.B. Sobel, H.W. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5073-4043 Takhistov, V. Yankelevich, A. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5963-3123 Hill, J. Lee, S.H. Moon, D.H. Park, R.G. Bodur, B. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8454-271X Scholberg, K. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7007-2021 Walter, C.W. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2035-2380 Beauchêne, A. Drapier, O. Giampaolo, A. Mueller, T.A. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2743-4741 Santos, A.D. Paganini, P. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9580-683X Quilain, B. Ishizuka, T. Nakamura, T. Jang, J.S. Learned, J.G. Choi, K. Iovine, N. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7965-2252 Cao, S. Anthony, L.H.V. Martin, D. Scott, M. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1759-4453 Sztuc, A.A. Uchida, Y. Berardi, V. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8387-4568 Catanesi, M.G. Radicioni, E. Calabria, N.F. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3590-2808 Langella, A. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6273-3558 Machado, L.N. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7578-4183 De Rosa, G. Collazuol, G. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7876-6124 Iacob, F. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3582-3819 Lamoureux, M. Mattiazzi, M. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3900-6816 Ludovici, L. Gonin, M. Pronost, G. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6429-5387 Fujisawa, C. Maekawa, Y. Nishimura, Y. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7666-3789 Okazaki, R. Akutsu, R. Friend, M. Hasegawa, T. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2967-1954 Ishida, T. Kobayashi, T. Jakkapu, M. Matsubara, T. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3187-6710 Nakadaira, T. Nakamura, K. Oyama, Y. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1689-0285 Sakashita, K. Sekiguchi, T. Tsukamoto, T. Bhuiyan, N. Burton, G.T. Di Lodovico, F. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3952-2175 Gao, J. Goldsack, A. Katori, T. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9429-9482 Migenda, J. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5350-8049 Xie, Z. Zsoldos, S. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0142-4844 Kotsar, Y. Ozaki, H. Suzuki, A.T. Takagi, Y. Takeuchi, Y. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4665-2210 Feng, J. Feng, L. Hu, J.R. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2149-9691 Hu, Z. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0353-8792 Kikawa, T. Mori, M. Nakaya, T. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3040-4674 Wendell, R.A. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0969-4681 Yasutome, K. Jenkins, S.J. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0982-8141 McCauley, N. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5982-5125 Mehta, P. Tarrant, A. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8750-4759 Fukuda, Y. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2660-1958 Itow, Y. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8198-1968 Menjo, H. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8466-1938 Ninomiya, K. Lagoda, J. Lakshmi, S.M. Mandal, M. Mijakowski, P. Prabhu, Y.S. Zalipska, J. Jia, M. Jiang, J. Jung, C.K. Wilking, M.J. Yanagisawa, C. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6490-1743 Hino, Y. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7480-463X Ishino, H. Kitagawa, H. Koshio, Y. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0437-8505 Nakanishi, F. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4408-6929 Sakai, S. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2190-0062 Tada, T. Tano, T. Barr, G. Barrow, D. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5844-709X Cook, L. Samani, S. Wark, D. Holin, A. Nova, F. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0769-9921 Yang, B.S. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5877-6096 Yang, J.Y. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3624-3659 Yoo, J. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3313-8239 Fannon, J.E.P. Kneale, L. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4087-1244 Malek, M. McElwee, J.M. Thiesse, M.D. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0775-250X Thompson, L.F. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6911-4776 Wilson, S.T. Okazawa, H. Kim, S.B. Kwon, E. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5653-2880 Seo, J.W. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2719-2079 Yu, I. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1567-5548 Ichikawa, A.K. Nakamura, K.D. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3302-7325 Tairafune, S. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2140-7171 Nishijima, K. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1830-4251 Nakagiri, K. Nakajima, Y. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2744-5216 Shima, S. Taniuchi, N. Watanabe, E. Yokoyama, M. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2742-0251 de Perio, P. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0741-4471 Martens, K. Tsui, K.M. Vagins, M.R. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0569-0480 Xia, J. Kuze, M. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8858-8440 Izumiyama, S. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0808-8022 Matsumoto, R. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4995-9242 Ishitsuka, M. Ito, H. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1029-5730 Kinoshita, T. Matsumoto, R. Ommura, Y. Shigeta, N. Shinoki, M. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9486-6256 Suganuma, T. Yamauchi, K. Martin, J.F. Tanaka, H.A. Towstego, T. Gaur, R. Gousy-Leblanc, V. Hartz, M. Konaka, A. Li, X. Prouse, N.W. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1037-3081 Chen, S. Xu, B.D. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5135-1319 Zhang, B. Posiadala-Zezula, M. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5154-5348 Boyd, S.B. Edwards, R. Hadley, D. Nicholson, M. O’Flaherty, M. Richards, B. Ali, A. Jamieson, B. Marti, L. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5172-9796 Minamino, A. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6510-7106 Pintaudi, G. Sano, S. Suzuki, S. Wada, K.
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information:	© 2023. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Dates:	Published: 7 July 2023 Published (online): 7 July 2023 Accepted: 8 June 2023
Institution:	The University of Sheffield
Academic Units:	The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > Department of Physics and Astronomy (Sheffield)
Depositing User:	Symplectic Sheffield
Date Deposited:	11 Jul 2023 15:42
Last Modified:	11 Jul 2023 15:42
Published Version:	http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/acdc9e
Status:	Published
Publisher:	American Astronomical Society
Refereed:	Yes
Identification Number:	10.3847/2041-8213/acdc9e
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID):	oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:201413

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Search for Astrophysical Electron Antineutrinos in Super-Kamiokande with 0.01% Gadolinium-loaded Water

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