Measuring Directionality in Double-Beta Decay and Neutrino Interactions with Kiloton-Scale Scintillation Detectors

Abstract

Large liquid-scintillator-based detectors have proven to be exceptionally effective for low energy neutrino measurements due to their good energy resolution and scalability to large volumes. The addition of directional information using Cherenkov light and fast timing would enhance the scientific reach of these detectors, especially for searches for neutrino-less double-beta decay. In this paper, we develop a technique for extracting particle direction using the difference in arrival times for Cherenkov and scintillation light, and evaluate several detector advances in timing, photodetector spectral response, and scintillator emission spectra that could be used to make direction reconstruction a reality in a kiloton-scale detector.