Initial measurement of reactor antineutrino oscillation at SNO+

Abstract

Abstract The SNO $$+$$ + collaboration reports its first spectral analysis of long-baseline reactor antineutrino oscillation using 114 tonne-years of data. Fitting the neutrino oscillation probability to the observed energy spectrum yields constraints on the neutrino mass-squared difference $$\Delta m^2_{21}$$ Δ m 21 2 . In the ranges allowed by previous measurements, the best-fit $$\Delta m^2_{21}$$ Δ m 21 2 is ( $$8.85^{+1.10}_{-1.33}$$ 8 . 85 - 1.33 + 1.10 ) $$\times $$ × $$10^{-5}$$ 10 - 5 $$\hbox {eV}^2$$ eV 2 . This measurement is continuing in the next phases of SNO+ and is expected to surpass the present global precision on $$\Delta m^2_{21}$$ Δ m 21 2 with about three years of data.