Flux Estimates and Detection Prospects for Lunar Antineutrinos

Abstract

The distribution of heat-producing elements (U, Th, K) within the Moon is critical for understanding its thermal evolution and formation history. Based on a refined lunar interior model, we calculate the lunar antineutrino fluxes from radioactive decays of these elements at two representative detector locations that bracket the expected signal intensity. The maximum flux is found to be slightly lower than the geoneutrino flux for the KamLAND site on Earth, while the minimum flux is approximately a factor of 9 lower than this maximum value. We also compute the expected event rates for lunar antineutrinos using three detection channels.

arXiv comment9 pages, 10 figures and 1 table. Published version in CPC