Exploring the hidden interior of the Earth with directional neutrino measurements

Abstract

Roughly 40% of the Earth's total heat flow is powered by radioactive decays in the crust and mantle. Geo-neutrinos produced by these decays provide important clues about the origin, formation and thermal evolution of our planet, as well as the composition of its interior. Previous measurements of geo-neutrinos have all relied on the detection of inverse beta decay reactions, which are insensitive to the contribution from potassium and do not provide model-independent information about the spatial distribution of geo-neutrino sources within the Earth. Here we present a method for measuring previously unresolved components of Earth's radiogenic heating using neutrino-electron elastic scattering and low-background, direction-sensitive tracking detectors. We calculate the exposures needed to probe various contributions to the total geo-neutrino flux, specifically those associated to potassium, the mantle and the core. The measurements proposed here chart a course for pioneering exploration of the veiled inner workings of the Earth.

18 pages, 11 figures, 8 tables

References in corpus (7)

• Geophysical and geochemical constraints on geoneutrino fluxes from Earth's mantle
• First Dark Matter Search Results from a Surface Run of the 10-L DMTPC Directional Dark Matter Detector
• Reference worldwide model for antineutrinos from reactors
• Charge amplification concepts for direction-sensitive dark matter detectors
• Improved limit on electron neutrino charge radius through a new evaluation of the weak mixing angle
• PandaX-III: Searching for Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay with High Pressure ${}^{136}$Xe Gas Time Projection Chambers
• Low energy tracking and particles identification in the MUNU Time Projection Chamber at 1 bar. Possible application in low energy solar neutrino spectroscopy

Cited by in corpus (11)

• Fog on the horizon: a new definition of the neutrino floor for direct dark matter searches
• Stereo neutrino spectrum of 235U fission rejects sterile neutrino hypothesis
• Directional recoil detection
• Radioactive heat production of six geologically important nuclides
• Geoneutrinos and geoscience: an intriguing joint-venture
• Particle detection and tracking with DNA
• Experimental Aspects of Geoneutrino Detection: Status and Perspectives
• Space-Time Discriminant to Separate Double-Beta Decay from ${}^8$B Solar Neutrinos in Liquid Scintillator
• CYG$\nu$S: Detecting solar neutrinos with directional gas time projection chambers
• Status and Perspectives of Neutrino Physics
• Searching for beyond-Standard-Model solar neutrino interactions using directional detectors