Analyses of data for the investigation of solar neutrinos and double beta decay within the scintillator phase (including the Tellurium phase) of the SNO+ experiment by using for the first time a newly developed reconstruction-code in this research area.

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Kai Zuber
• Subject Area: Nuclear and Elementary Particle Physics, Quantum Mechanics, Relativity, Fields
• Term: from 2009 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 150672562

Within the envisaged time period of this grant application the SNO+ detector, a 1000 tons liquid scintillator detector, will take data in a first phase for solar neutrinos and a second phase with additional added Tellurium of more than 2 tons for neutrino-less double beta decay searches. This is the largest amount of ever used for double beta decay searches. Furthermore, besides KamLAND, this is the only 1000 ton Scintillation detector operating, but much deeper than KamLAND. SNO+ is also part of the Supernova early warning system (SNEWS). Besides the privileged situation to perform an experiment in the depth of 2 km a new track reconstruction code, invented at the University of Hamburg, can be for the first time explored in a real running experiment, verified and improved. This can be a breakthrough for future scintillator experiments like JUNO, Jingping and Theia.Within this grant period SNO+ will take solar data, which allows to study the so called "upturn" at 3 MeV energy and als for the first time some neutrino sources can be compared with the those of the very successful Borexino experiment. The inclusion of more than 2.3 tons of Tellurium in the scintillator will allow within a short time to reach half-life sensitivities of more than 10^26 years and thus be one of the world leading experiments. These measurements will also be crucial for the decision whether to add more Tellurium in the future.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants