A Study of Nu-bar: Neutral Particles Emitted from Fission

Abstract:

In the 1950’s Cowan and Reines first detected the antineutrino by using a cadmium-doped liquid scintillator detector to measure the prompt positron and delayed neutron signature. Following this discovery, nuclear physicists used the same experimental technique to expand their understanding of neutron emission from inelastic neutron interactions on actinides. This seminar will focus on the interplay between experimental techniques used for antineutrino detection and fission neutron studies by highlighting experiments conducted at LLNL. Despite the different objectives of these endeavors, the main components remain the same: neutron capture agents and hydrogen rich materials. This combination was used in the NeutronSTARS campaign to measure the prompt fission multiplicity for Plutonium 239 and 241; it is intended to be used for the AIT/WATCHMAN collaboration to measure the antineutrino emission from nuclear reactors in the far field; and will be used for the next generation of detectors for antineutrino monitoring as well as inelastic interactions on actinides.

Bio:

Tomi Akindele is a postdoctoral researcher at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. She received her Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from the University of California Berkeley in 2018; with her dissertation focusing on expanding the surrogate reaction to measure prompt fission neutron multiplicities from unstable actinides. She received her undergraduate degree from Texas A&M in nuclear engineering in 2013.  Her current research focuses on applied antineutrino detection for monitoring nuclear reactors and the investigation of water-based liquid scintillators for the next generation of kiloton-scale detectors.

Zoom Link: https://berkeley.zoom.us/j/646804199