Detection of antineutrino by the reaction of the inverse β -decay can be used for an independent monitoring of a nuclear reactor power. DANSS detector is located directly under a commercial WWER-1000 reactor and counts up to 5000 antineutrino per day, providing the accuracy of 1.5% in 2 days of the flux measurement. A powerful system of the passive and active shielding in combination with the fine spatial segmentation of the detector allows to diminish the contribution of the background processes to a level, negligible in comparison to the statistical error. The influence of the nuclear fuel composition on the neutrino flux can be accounted for based on the input from the NPP staff.

Apart from monitoring nuclear reactor parameters, the DANSS neutrino experiment is aimed at searching for sterile neutrinos through a detailed analysis of the ratio of reactor antineutrino spectra measured at different distances from the reactor core. The light collection system of the detector is dual, comprising both the vacuum photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) and silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs). In this paper, the techniques developed to calibrate the responses of these photodetectors are discussed in detail. The long-term stability of the key parameters of the detector and their dependences on the ambient temperature are investigated. The results of detector light yield measurements, performed independently with PMTs and SiPMs are reported.

The detection equipment of the DANSS setup includes 2500 silicon photomultipliers and approximately 100 photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). The system of data acquisition from these photosensors is based on waveform digitization, with which it is possible to simultaneously obtain both amplitude and timing information. The modules of waveform digitizers (WFDs) are made to the VME standard and allow parallel digitization of 64 differential signals at a frequency of 125 MHz with a 12-bit amplitude resolution. The programmable logic of the WFDs provides production of the system trigger based on the analysis of the PMT signals and its propagation without any additional hardware. Owing to the extremely low analog noise, it is possible to use the full dynamic range of the digitization. These WFD modules are superior to other similar modules in the throughput and may find wide application to perform similar tasks of waveform digitization.

The transverse nonuniformity of the light yield in scintillator strips of the DANSS detector was investigated on a test setup that was specially designed for this purpose using proportional chambers with a wire pitch of 1 mm. It is shown that using the approaches that were used in the DANSS experiment, the variation in the light yield due to the geometric features of the strip design is approximately 8% for a minimum ionizing particle. This study can be useful for making estimates and designing similar detectors.

Using the new limit on the neutrino anomalous magnetic moment recently obtained by GEMMA experiment we get an order-of-magnitude estimation for possible new direct upper bound on the neutrino electric millicharge |qν|∼1.5×10−12e0 (e0 is the absolute value of the electron charge) by comparing the neutrino magnetic moment and millicharge contributions to the total cross section at the electron recoil energy threshold of the experiment. This estimation is confirmed by the performed analysis of the GEMMA data using established statistical procedures and a new direct bound on the neutrino millicharge absolute value |qν|<2.7×10−12e0 (90%CL) is derived. This limit is more stringent than the previous one obtained from the TEXONO reactor experiment data that is included to the Review of Particle Properties 2012.

The result of the neutrino magnetic moment (NMM) measurement at the Kalinin Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) with GEMMA spectrometer is presented. The antineutrino-electron scattering is investigated. A high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector with a mass of 1.5 kg placed at a distance of 13.9 m from the 3 GW th reactor core is exposed to the antineutrino flux of 2.7 × 10 13 cm −2 s −1 . The recoil electron spectra taken in 18134 and 4487 h for the reactor ON and OFF periods are compared. The upper limit for the NMM μ ν < 2.9 × 10 −11 μ B at 90% C.L. is derived from the data processing.

The development results are presented for high-purity germanium (HPGe) detectors with low-level instrument background used in the Germanium Experiment on the measurement of Magnetic Moment of Antineutrino-GEMMA. Special design considerations for the cryostats have focused on mass reduction of materials surrounding the detector and the use of materials with very low radiation impurities.

The result of the 3-year neutrino magnetic moment measurement at the Kalinin Nuclear Power Plant with the GEMMA spectrometer is presented. Antineutrino-electron scattering is investigated. A HPGe detector of 1.5 kg placed at a distance of 13.9 m from the centre of the 3 GW_th reactor core is used in the spectrometer. The antineutrino flux is 2.7x10^13 1/cm^2/s. The differential method is used to extract nu-e electromagnetic scattering events. The scattered electron spectra taken in 5184+6798 and 1853+1021 hours during the reactor ON and OFF periods respectively are compared. The upper limits for the neutrino magnetic moment with and without atomic ionization mechanism were found to be 5.0x10^-12 and 3.2x10^-11 Bohr magnetons at 90% CL, respectively.

An experiment on studying the 28 Si( p, p′ γ 0 X ) 24 Mg semicoherent reaction is carried out at the MAG setup on the 1-GeV proton beam of the U-10 ITEP accelerator. Two particles, proton and γ -ray photon, which accompanies the transition of the 24 Mg* nucleus from the first excited state to the ground state, are detected. When the events with the proton emission angle from 3° to 6.5° are selected, the following four processes are observed: the direct knockout of a nuclear α cluster by a proton, the formation of a Δ Si isobaric nucleus, the formation of a Δ 1232 isobar, and the production of a π 0 meson at rest in the nuclear coordinate system. The cross sections for the indicated processes are obtained.

The results of investigation of n ++ p + pp + silicon detector structures manufactured from p silicon are presented. These detectors demonstrate the effect of internal amplification of a signal (with a gain of 20) with retained properties of the detector as a spectrometric device. An efficient lowering of the energy level for the detected ionizing radiation is demonstrated.

The first result obtained in the measurements of the neutrino magnetic moment at the Kalinin nuclear power plant with the GEMMA spectrometer is presented. A high-purity germanium detector of mass 1.5 kg placed at a distance of 13.9 m from the reactor core is used in the spectrometer. The antineutrino flux at the detector position is 2.73 × 1013 \(\bar \nu \)/(cm2 s). The differential method is used to select events of electromagnetic antineutrino-electron scattering. The spectra taken in the reactor-on and reactor-off modes over 6200 and 2064 h, respectively, are compared. On the basis of a data analysis, an upper limit of 5.8 × 10−11 μB was set on the neutrino magnetic moment μ ν at a 90% C.L.

The cosmic muon background has been calculated for facilities placed at shallow depths. A relatively simple formula has been proposed for the muon spectrum at sea level that ensures the calculation of the depth dependences of the vertical muon intensity and integral muon flux. Calculations show that the zenith-angle distribution of the muon flux density is almost unchanged for depths from 10 to 100 m of solid rock. The muon angular distributions are presented for all three possible cases of the arrangement of the instruments in measurements carried out on the ground and at shallow depths. It has been shown that, to eliminate the cosmic muon background, it is necessary to install an active cosmic ray shielding “umbrella” covering a zenith angle ϑ of no less than 80°.

The 28Si(p, p′γ0 X)24Mg reaction has been studied at the ITEP accelerator by the hadron-gamma coincidence method for a proton energy of 1 GeV. Two reaction products are detected: a 1368.6-keV γ-ray photon accompanying the transition of the 24Mg* nucleus from the first excited state to the ground state and a proton p′ whose momentum is measured in a magnetic spectrometer. The measured distribution in the energy lost by the proton in interaction is attributed to five processes: the direct knockout of a nuclear α cluster, the knockout of four nucleons with a total charge number of 2, the formation of the ΔSi isobaric nucleus, the formation of the Δ isobar in the interaction of the incident proton with a nuclear nucleon, and the production of a π meson, which is at rest in the nuclear reference frame. The last process likely corresponds to the reaction of the formation of a deeply bound pion state in the 28P nucleus. Such states were previously observed only on heavy nuclei. The cross sections for the listed processes have been estimated.

The Si-28(p, p'gamma(0) X)Mg-24 reaction has been studied at the ITEP accelerator by the hadron-gamma coincidence method for a proton energy of 1 GeV. Two reaction products are detected: a 1368.6-keV gamma-ray photon accompanying the transition of the Mg-24* nucleus from the first excited state to the ground state and a proton p' whose momentum is measured in a magnetic spectrometer. The measured distribution in the energy lost by the proton in interaction is attributed to five processes: the direct knockout of a nuclear alpha cluster, the knockout of four nucleons with a total charge number of 2, the formation of the Si-Delta isobaric nucleus, the formation of the Delta isobar in the interaction of the incident proton with a nuclear nucleon, and the production of a pi meson, which is at rest in the nuclear reference frame. The last process likely corresponds to the reaction of the formation of a deeply bound pion state in the P-28 nucleus. Such states were previously observed only on heavy nuclei. The cross sections for the listed processes have been estimated.

The cross sections for the production of excited nuclei were measured in the reaction 28Si(p, xpyn)A* followed by a gamma transition to a state of lower excitation energy or to the ground state. The experiment was performed in an extracted proton beam from the accelerator of the Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics (ITEP, Moscow). The reaction in question was identified by a Ge(Li)-NaI(Tl) anticoincidence spectrometer that recorded prompt gamma radiation emitted by the excited final nucleus. The sensitivity of the experiment was 1.5 mb. The cross-section values were obtained for 24 gamma transitions in 17 nuclear products. The cross sections for spallation reactions were estimated. A comparison was performed with known experimental data and with the results of calculations by a semiempirical formula, as well as with the results obtained by simulating hadron interactions on the basis of the GEANT and INUCL codes.