Neutrino Detectors

Abstract

The neutrino was postulated by Wolfgang Pauli in the early 1930s but could only be detected for the first time in the 1950s. Ever since, scientists all around the world have worked on the detection and understanding of this particle which so scarcely interacts with matter. Depending on the origin and nature of the neutrino, various types of experiments have been developed and operated. In this chapter we will review neutrino detectors in terms of the observed neutrino sources and the associated energy range, aiming to introduce the readers to the variety of techniques employed depending on the specific experimental context.

Many of the challenges encountered in neutrino detection are shared by all variants of neutrino experiments. For instance, the low event rates provided by weak interaction make huge active detection volumes a basic necessity. However, there is no one-size-fits-all solution: detector requirements have to be adjusted to the specific neutrino (anti-)flavor, energy, and property that is to be investigated. Therefore, this chapter reviews different classes of detectors ordered by the neutrino sources they observe, highlighting a selection of past, present, and future key experiments for each branch of solar, reactor, accelerator, and cosmic neutrino observation.