Exploring the hidden interior of the Earth with directional neutrino measurements

Michael Leyton (), Stephen Dye and Jocelyn Monroe
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Michael Leyton: Institut de Física d’Altes Energies, Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Facultat Ciencies Nord, Campus UAB
Stephen Dye: University of Hawaii
Jocelyn Monroe: Royal Holloway University of London, Egham Hill

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Roughly 40% of the Earth’s total heat flow is powered by radioactive decays in the crust and mantle. Geo-neutrinos produced by these decays provide important clues about the origin, formation and thermal evolution of our planet, as well as the composition of its interior. Previous measurements of geo-neutrinos have all relied on the detection of inverse beta decay reactions, which are insensitive to the contribution from potassium and do not provide model-independent information about the spatial distribution of geo-neutrino sources within the Earth. Here we present a method for measuring previously unresolved components of Earth’s radiogenic heating using neutrino-electron elastic scattering and low-background, direction-sensitive tracking detectors. We calculate the exposures needed to probe various contributions to the total geo-neutrino flux, specifically those associated to potassium, the mantle and the core. The measurements proposed here chart a course for pioneering exploration of the veiled inner workings of the Earth.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15989

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