Commissioning of the NUCLEUS Experiment at the Technical University of Munich
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The NUCLEUS experiment aims to detect coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering of reactor antineutrinos on CaWO 4 targets in the fully coherent regime, using gram-scale cryogenic calorimeters. The experimental apparatus will be installed at the Chooz nuclear power plant in France, in the vicinity of two 4.25 GW th reactor cores. This work presents results from the commissioning of an essential version of the experiment at the shallow Underground Laboratory of the Technical University of Munich. For the first time, two cryogenic target detectors were tested alongside active and passive shielding systems. Over a period of two months, all detector subsystems were operated with stable performance. Background measurements were conducted, providing important benchmarks for the modeling of background sources at the reactor site. Finally, we present ongoing efforts to upgrade the detector systems in preparation for a technical run at Chooz in 2026, and highlight the remaining challenges to achieving neutrino detection.
DOI: 10.1103/c95p-8kh2
Authors: H. Abele, G. Angloher, B. Arnold, M. Atzori Corona, A. Bento, E. Bossio, F. Buchsteiner, J. Burkhart, F. Cappella, M. Cappelli, N. Casali, R. Cerulli, A. Cruciani, G. Del Castello, M. del Gallo Roccagiovine, S. Dorer, A. Erhart, M. Friedl, S. Fichtinger, V. M. Ghete, M. Giammei, C. Goupy, D. Hauff, F. Jeanneau, E. Jericha, M. Kaznacheeva, H. Kluck, A. Langenkämper, T. Lasserre, D. Lhuillier, M. Mancuso, R. Martin, B. Mauri, A. Mazzolari, L. McCallin, H. Neyrial, C. Nones, L. Oberauer, T. Ortmann, L. Peters, F. Petricca, W. Potzel, F. Pröbst, F. Pucci, F. Reindl, M. Romagnoni, J. Rothe, N. Schermer, J. Schieck, S. Schönert, C. Schwertner, L. Scola, G. Soum-Sidikov, L. Stodolsky, R. Strauss, R. Thalmeier, C. Tomei, M. Vignati, M. Vivier, A. Wex
Institutions: TU Wien, Max Planck Institute for Physics, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Institute of High Energy Physics, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Roma Tor Vergata, Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives, Université Paris-Saclay, CEA Paris-Saclay - Etablissement de Saclay, CEA Paris-Saclay, Institut de Recherche sur les Lois Fondamentales de l'Univers, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Roma I, Sapienza University of Rome, Technical University of Munich, University of Rome Tor Vergata, University of Ferrara, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Ferrara
Language: English
Topic: Neutrino Physics Research
Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Funders: European Commission, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Austrian Science Fund, Technische Universität München, Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives, Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, Instituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare
OpenAlex ID: W4415308441