Speaker
Description
Geoneutrinos are the electron antineutrinos produced by beta decays of radioactive isotopes within the Earth. By detecting them, we can get information about the planet's radiogenic heat production and the distribution of heat-producing elements in the Earth. However, due to their extremely small mass and weak interactions, geoneutrinos are incredibly challenging to detect.
Nonetheless, in 2005, the KamLAND experiment (Japan) accomplished the historic first detection of geoneutrinos, providing groundbreaking insights into the Earth's interior. The Borexino experiment (Italy) later confirmed geoneutrino detection, and ongoing projects such as SNO+ (Canada) and JUNO (China) aim to further our understanding of the Earth's interior through continued geoneutrino observations.
However, the detectors mentioned above are all located on thick continental crusts, and the high concentration of radioactive isotopes in these crusts limits our ability to investigate deeper layers of the Earth. To address this challenge, a project called Ocean Bottom Detector (OBD) has been proposed in 2019 by Tohoku University. The concept involves deploying a neutrino detector on the ocean floor off the coast of Hawaii, where the oceanic crust is thin and contains fewer radioactive isotopes. This location is ideal for directly observing geoneutrinos originating from the mantle.
In this presentation, we will provide an overview of the OBD project and report on the current status of the prototype development.