R. Fernholz

Science and technology of Borexino: a real-time detector for low energy solar neutrinos

Abstract Borexino, a real-time device for low energy neutrino spectroscopy is nearing completion of construction in the underground laboratories at Gran Sasso, Italy (LNGS). The experiments goal is the direct measurement of the flux of 7 Be solar neutrinos of all flavors via neutrino–electron scattering in an ultra-pure scintillation liquid. Seeded by a series of innovations which were brought to fruition by large-scale operation of a 4-ton test detector at LNGS, a new technology has been developed for Borexino. It enables sub-MeV solar neutrino spectroscopy for the first time. This paper describes the design of Borexino, the various facilities essential to its operation, its spectroscopic and background suppression capabilities and a prognosis of the impact of its results towards resolving the solar neutrino problem. Borexino will also address several other frontier questions in particle physics, astrophysics and geophysics.

A scintillator purification system for the Borexino solar neutrino detector

Purification of the 278 tons of liquid scintillator and 889 tons of buffer shielding for the Borexino solar neutrino detector is performed with a system that combines distillation, water extraction, gas stripping, and filtration. This paper describes the principles of operation, design, and construction of that purification system, and reviews the requirements and methods to achieve system cleanliness and leak-tightness.

New limits on nucleon decays into invisible channels with the BOREXINO Counting Test Facility

The results of background measurements with the second version of the BOREXINO Counting Test Facility (CTF-II), installed in the Gran Sasso Underground Laboratory, were used to obtain limits on the instability of nucleons, bounded in nuclei, for decays into invisible channels (

New experimental limits on violations of the Pauli exclusion principle obtained with the Borexino Counting Test Facility

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CNO and pep neutrino spectroscopy in Borexino: Measurement of the deep-underground production of cosmogenic C-11 in an organic liquid scintillator

): disappearance, decays to neutrinos, etc. The approach consisted of a search for decays of unstable nuclides resulting from

New experimental limits on heavy neutrino mixing in ⁸B decay obtained with the Borexino Counting Test Facility

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The Nylon Scintillator Containment Vessels for the Borexino Solar Neutrino Experiment

and

Study of neutrino electromagnetic properties with the prototype of the Borexino detector

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The fluid-filling system for the Borexino solar neutrino detector

decays of parents