• Energy Research

We summarize and critically evaluate the available data on nuclear fusion cross sections important to energy generation in the Sun and other hydrogen-burning stars and to solar neutrino production. Recommended values and uncertainties are provided for key cross sections, and a recommended spectrum is given for 8B solar neutrinos. We also discuss opportunities for further increasing the precision of key rates, including new facilities, new experimental techniques, and improvements in theory. This review, which summarizes the conclusions of a workshop held at the Institute for Nuclear Theory, Seattle, in January 2009, is intended as a 10-year update and supplement to Reviews of Modern Physics 70 (1998) 1265. 54 pages, 20 figures, version to be published in Reviews of Modern Physics; various typos corrected and several updates made

The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) used an array of 3He proportional counters to measure the rate of neutral-current interactions in heavy water and precisely determined the total active (nu_x) 8B solar neutrino flux. This technique is independent of previous methods employed by SNO. The total flux is found to be 5.54(+0.33/-0.31 stat, +0.36/-0.34 syst) x 10^6 cm^-2 s^-1, in agreement with previous measurements and standard solar models. A global analysis of solar and reactor neutrino results yields Delta m^2 = 7.59(+0.19/-0.21) x 10^-5 eV^2 and theta = 34.4(+1.3/-1.2) degrees. The uncertainty on the mixing angle has been reduced from SNO's previous results. 5 pages, 2 figures, version accepted by Phys Rev Lett, added latest KamLAND 2881 ton-year data and 192 day Borexino data

We report on the measurement of the two-neutrino double beta decay half-life of $^{130}$Te with the CUORE-0 detector. From an exposure of 33.4 kg$\cdot$y of TeO$_2$, the half-life is determined to be $T_{1/2}^{2��}$ = [8.2 $\pm$ 0.2 (stat.) $\pm$ 0.6 (syst.)] $\times$ 10$^{20}$y. This result is obtained after a detailed reconstruction of the sources responsible for the CUORE-0 counting rate, with a specific study of those contributing to the $^{130}$Te neutrinoless double beta decay region of interest. Corrected typo in section 9: 3.43E5 Bq/kg should have read 3.43E-5 Bq/kg

Abstract The prediction of reactor antineutrino spectra will play a crucial role as reactor experiments enter the precision era. The positron energy spectrum of 3.5 million antineutrino inverse beta decay reactions observed by the Daya Bay experiment, in combination with the fission rates of fissile isotopes in the reactor, is used to extract the positron energy spectra resulting from the fission of specific isotopes. This information can be used to produce a precise, data-based prediction of the antineutrino energy spectrum in other reactor antineutrino experiments with different fission fractions than Daya Bay. The positron energy spectra are unfolded to obtain the antineutrino energy spectra by removing the contribution from detector response with the Wiener-SVD unfolding method. Consistent results are obtained with other unfolding methods. A technique to construct a data-based prediction of the reactor antineutrino energy spectrum is proposed and investigated. Given the reactor fission fractions, the technique can predict the energy spectrum to a 2% precision. In addition, we illustrate how to perform a rigorous comparison between the unfolded antineutrino spectrum and a theoretical model prediction that avoids the input model bias of the unfolding method.