Probing Earth’s missing potassium using the antimatter signature of geoneutrinos
| Title: | Probing Earth’s missing potassium using the antimatter signature of geoneutrinos |
|---|---|
| Authors: | A Cabrera; M Chen; F Mantovani; A Serafini; V Strati; J Apilluelo; Lily Asquith; JL Beney; Thiago Sogo Bezerra; M Bongrand; C Bourgeois; D Breton; M Briere; J Busto; A Cadiou; E Calvo; V Chaumat; E Chauveau; BJ Cattermole; P Chimenti; C Delafosse; H de Kerret; S Dusini; A Earle; C Frigerio-Martins; J Galán; JA García; R Gazzini; A Gibson-Foster; A Gallas; C Girard-Carillo; Clark Griffith; F Haddad; Jeff Hartnell; A Hourlier; G Hull; IG Irastorza; L Koch; P Laniéce; JF Le Du; C Lefebvre; F Lefevre; F Legrand; P Loaiza; JA Lock; G Luzón; J Maalmi; C Marquet; M Martínez; B Mathon; L Ménard; D Navas-Nicolás; H Nunokawa; JP Ochoa-Ricoux; M Obolensky; C Palomares; P Pillot; JCC Porter; MS Pravikoff; H Ramarijaona; M Roche; P Rosier; B Roskovec; ML Sarsa; W Shorrock; L Simard; H Th J Steiger; D Stocco; JS Stutzmann; F Suekane; A Tunc; M-A Verdier; A Verdugo; B Viaud; SM Wakely; F Yermia |
| Publication Year: | 2026 |
| Collection: | University of Sussex (US): Figshare |
| Subject Terms: | Engineering; Mathematical sciences; Physical sciences; 51 Physical Sciences; 40 Engineering; 49 Mathematical sciences |
| Description: | Puzzles exist in our theories of Earth’s formation and bulk chemical composition. Related to these questions is our incomplete knowledge of the planet’s overall heat budget and thermal history. The successful observation of geoneutrinos originating from uranium and thorium decay chains, manifestations of the planet’s natural radioactivity, serves as the only direct probe of Earth’s internal, radiogenic heat engine so far. Intriguingly, potassium (40K) geoneutrinos have never been observed and have so far been considered impractical to measure despite their importance in Earth’s radioactive inventory. We propose here an approach for potassium geoneutrino detection that exploits their antiparticle nature. The detection framework relies on the LiquidO technique to identify positrons, thereby reducing otherwise overwhelming backgrounds. Antineutrino interactions with candidate isotope targets have been thoroughly examined and copper is found to be the ideal isotope able to meet all experimental feasibility conditions. We discuss the challenging experimental requirements to yield a potassium geoneutrino discovery. |
| Document Type: | article in journal/newspaper |
| Language: | unknown |
| Relation: | 10779/uos.31851595.v1; https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Probing_Earth_s_missing_potassium_using_the_antimatter_signature_of_geoneutrinos/31851595 |
| Availability: | https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Probing_Earth_s_missing_potassium_using_the_antimatter_signature_of_geoneutrinos/31851595 |
| Rights: | CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 |
| Accession Number: | edsbas.2DCB6E3 |
| Database: | BASE |