Method of and apparatus for detecting neutrinos and antineutrinos with elastic scatterers

摘要

A beam of neutrino or antineutrino particles is detected with a crystal containing coherent elastic scatterers for the particles. The elastic scatterers respond to the particles of the beam incident thereon by transferring momentum from the particles to mechanical momentum in the crystal. The mechanical momentum transferred to the crystal by the momentum of the particles is detected by a torsion balance carrying the crystal or a transducer on a tuning fork carrying the crystal. The beam incident on the crystal carried by the tuning fork is amplitude modulated by a chopper including several scatterers for the particles in the path of the beam.