A Search for Sterile Neutrinos with PROSPECT

Abstract

The Precision Reactor Oscillation and Spectrum Experiment (PROSPECT) performs a precision measurement of reactor antineutrinos through inverse beta decay at a baseline range of 7-9 m from the core of the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR). The single, movable detector has a segmented design of 154 optically separated individual segments that serves multiple purposes. Segments, filled with 6Li-loaded liquid scintillator, cover a range of baselines from the reactor core and allow precise event localization. A reactor-model independent search of eV2-scale sterile neutrino oscillations is achieved by performing a relative measurement of the antineutrino event rates and energy distributions between segments within the detector. This talk will discuss the PROSPECT oscillation analysis and present recent results.