\section{Neutrinos from reactors} \label{sec:Reactor} %\REDBLA{Version 0 by JEC 2/3/06} %\REDBLA{updated by A. Bueno 23/3/06} %\REDBLA{updated by JEC 16/10/06: this is a section now} %\REDBLA{updated by JEC 20/10/06} %\REDBLA{updated by JEC 24/10/06} % %T. Marrodan Undagoitia 10/12/06 START Small corrections %\REDBLA{ The KamLAND 1~kT liquid scintillator detector located at Kamioka in Japan had measured the flux of 53 power reactors corresponding to 701~Joule/cm${}^{2}$ \cite{Araki:2004mb}. An event rate of $365.2\pm23.7$ above 2.6~MeV for an exposure of 766~ton.y from this nuclear power reactors was expected. The observed rate was 258 events with a total of background of $17.8\pm7.3$. The clear deficit interpreted in terms of neutrino oscillation enables a measurement of $\theta_{12}$, the neutrino 1-2 family mixing angle ($\sin^2\theta_{12} = 0.31^{+0.02}_{-0.03}$) as well as the mass squared difference $\Delta m^2_{12} = 7.9\pm0.3~10^{-5}$eV${}^2$ (error quoted at $1~\sigma$). Future precision measurements are currently been investigated. Running KamLAND for 2-3 more years would gain 30\% (4\%) reduction in the spread of $\Delta m^2_{12}$ ($\theta_{12}$). %JEC 20/10/06 START include text from Schwetz & Petcov {Petcov:2006gy} Although it has been shown in sections \ref{sec:SN} and \ref{sec:Geo} that $\bar{\nu}_e$ originated from nuclear reactors can be a serious background for diffuse supernova neutrino and geoneutrino detections, the Fréjus site can take benefit of the nuclear reactors located in the Rh\^one valley to measure $\Delta m_{21}^2$ and $\sin^2\theta_{12}$. %} %T. Marrodan Undagoitia 10/12/06 END Small corrections In fact approximately 67\% of the total reactor $\bar{\nu}_e$ flux at Fréjus originates from four nuclear power plants in the Rhone valley, located at distances between 115~km and 160~km. The indicated baselines are particularly suitable for the study of the $\bar{\nu}_e$ oscillations driven by $\Delta m_{21}^2$---they are similar to those exploited in the KamLAND experiment. % The authors of \cite{Petcov:2006gy} have investigated the possibility to use one module of MEMPHYS (147~kt fiducial mass) doped with Gadolinium (MEMPHYS-Gd) or the LENA detector, updating the previous work of \cite{Choubey:2004bf}. %T. Marrodan Undagoitia 10/12/06 START Small corrections %\REDBLA{ Above 3~MeV (2.6~MeV) the event rate is 59,980 (16,670) events/yr for MEMPHYS-Gd (LENA), which is 2 orders of magnitude larger than the KamLAND event rate. %} %T. Marrodan Undagoitia 10/12/06 END Small corrections \begin{figure} \includegraphics[width=\columnwidth]{./figures/LENAMEMPHYS-reac-histogram.eps} % \caption{The ratio of the event spectra in positron energy in the case of oscillations with $\Delta m_{21}^2 = 7.9\times 10^{-5}$~eV$^2$ and $\sin^2\theta_{12} = 0.30$ and in the absence of oscillations, determined using one year data of MEMPHYS-Gd and LENA located at Frejus. The error bars correspond to $1\sigma$ statistical error.} % \label{fig:LENAMEMPHYS-reac-histo} \end{figure} To test the sensitivity of the experiments the prompt energy spectrum is divided into 20 bins between 3~MeV and 12~MeV for MEMPHYS-Gd and SK-Gd, and into 25 bins between 2.6~MeV and 10~MeV for LENA (\refFig{fig:LENAMEMPHYS-reac-histo}). A $\chi^2$ analysis taking into account the statistical and systematical errors shows that each of the two detectors, MEMPHYS-Gd and LENA, if placed at Fréjus, would allow a very precise determination of the solar neutrino oscillation parameters $\Delta m_{21}^2$ and $\sin^2\theta_{12}$: with one year, the 3$\sigma$ uncertainties on $\Delta m_{21}^2$ and $\sin^2\theta_{12}$ can be reduced respectively to less than 3\% and to approximately 20\% (see also \refFig{fig:reactor-sensitivities}). In comparison, the Gadolinium doped Super-Kamiokande detector (SK-Gd) that might be envisaged in a near future can reach a similar precision if the SK/MEMPHYS fiducial mass ratio of 1 to 7 is compensated by a longer SK-Gd data taking time. % \begin{figure} \includegraphics[width=\columnwidth]{./figures/memphys-sk-sol-lena.eps} % \caption{The accuracy of the determination of $\Delta m_{21}^2$ and $\sin^2\theta_{12}$, which can be obtained using one year of data from MEMPHYS-Gd and LENA at Frejus, and from SK-Gd at Kamioka, compared to the current precision from solar neutrino and KamLAND data. We show the allowed regions at $3\sigma$ (2 d.o.f.) in the $\Delta m_{21}^2-\sin^2\theta_{12}$ plane, as well as the projections of the $\chi^2$ for each parameter.} % \label{fig:reactor-sensitivities} \end{figure} % Several years of reactor $\bar{\nu}_e$ data collected by MEMPHYS-Gd or LENA would allow a determination of $\Delta m_{21}^2$ and $\sin^2\theta_{12}$ with uncertainties of approximately 1\% and 10\% at 3$\sigma$, respectively. However, some caveat are worth to be mentioned. The prompt energy trigger of 3~MeV requires a very low PMT dark current rate in case of MEMPHYS detector. If the energy threshold is higher then the parameter precision decreases as can be seen on \refFig{fig:reactor-MEMPHYS-threshold} \cite{Schwetz:2006private}. The systematic uncertainties are also an important factor in the experiments under consideration, especially the determination of the mixing angle (eg. the energy scale and the overall normalization). % \begin{figure} \includegraphics[width=\columnwidth]{./figures/MEMPHYSGdreactorthreshold.eps} % \caption{The accuracy of the determination of $\Delta m_{21}^2$ and $\sin^2\theta_{12}$, which can be obtained using one year of data from MEMPHYS-Gd as a function of the prompt energy threshold.} % \label{fig:reactor-MEMPHYS-threshold} \end{figure} % Anyhow the accuracies on the solar oscillation parameters, which can be obtained in the high statistics experiments considered here are comparable to those that can be reached for the atmospheric neutrino oscillation parameters $\Delta m_{31}^2$ and $\sin^2\theta_{23}$ in future long-baseline superbeam experiments like T2HK in Japan or SPL from CERN to MEMPHYS. Hence, such reactor measurements would complete the program of the high precision determination of the leading neutrino oscillation parameters. %JEC 20/10/06 AND %It has been shown that using \WC\ loaded with Gadolinium to increase by a factor 10 the neutron capture one can expect 80\% (34\%) reduction of the spread of $\Delta m^2_{12}$ ($\theta_{12}$) in 110~kT.y exposure at Kamioka using SuperKamiokande. %