Reactor antineutrino experiments

Abstract

Neutrinos are elementary particles in the standard model of particle physics. There are 3 flavors of neutrinos that oscillate among themselves. Their oscillation can be described by a 3$\times$3 unitary matrix, containing three mixing angles $\theta_{12}$, $\theta_{23}$, $\theta_{13}$, and one CP phase. Both $\theta_{12}$ and $\theta_{23}$ are known from previous experiments. $\theta_{13}$ was unknown just two years ago. The Daya Bay experiment gave the first definitive non-zero value in 2012. An improved measurement of the oscillation amplitude $\sin^{2}2(\theta_{13})$ = $0.090^{+0.008}_{-0.009}$ and the first direct measurement of the $\bar\nu_{e}$ mass-squared difference $\mid$$\Delta m^2_{ee}$$\mid$ = $(2.59^{+0.19}_{-0.20})\times10^{-3} \rm eV^{2}$ were obtained recently. The large value of $\theta_{13}$ boosts the next generation of reactor antineutrino experiments designed to determine the neutrino mass hierarchy, such as JUNO and RENO-50 .