Water Cherenkov Test Experiment
Master Thesis project at CERN, Geneva, Spring 2025
A Water Cherenkov Test Experiment (WCTE https://cds.cern.ch/record/002712416) is being prepared at CERN by an international WCTE Collaboration with the purpose of studying in detail the final state particles electrons, muons, pions, protons, neutrons and gammas in the interactions of neutrinos with water in Water Cherenkov Detectors in neutrino-oscillation experiments like T2K in Japan (https://t2k-experiment.org/), that planned for Hyper-K in Japan (https://www.hyperk.org/) and that planned for ESSnuSB in Lund and in Zinkgruvan near Askersund in Sweden (https://essnusb.eu/, see in particular the videos accessible at this site which give an overview of the planned ESSnuSB experiment).
The final state particles will be detected and identified in a 50 m³ water tank equipped with photo multiplier tubes on its inside walls that will measure the Cherenkov radiation generated by the different kinds of beam-particles in in the water. The Uppsala Group in the WCTE Collaboration has in particular contributed to the build-up and tests of the system that provides the ultrapure water used as radiating medium in the Cherenkov detector and the addition of Gadolinium in the water for enhanced neutron detection-efficiency.
The Master Thesis project will consist in taking part in the preparation and data taking of the experiment in the t9 secondary beam from the Proton Synchrotron in the East Hall at CERN during the spring of 2025 and the analysis during and following the data taking. A particular feature to be tested in the run in the spring will be the project to mix in Gadolinium in the Cherenkov-detector water.
Contact
A view of the inside of the Support Structure with the multi Photo Multiplier Tubes mounted on the walls
In the front the Support Structure of the multi Photo Multiplier Tubes to be inserted in the water container in the back.
The WCTE water purification system at CERN