Reactor Neutrino Experiments: Present and Future

Abstract

Reactor neutrinos have been an important tool for both discovery and precision measurement in the history of neutrino studies. Since the first generation of reactor neutrino experiments in the 1950s, the detector technology has been greatly advanced. New ideas, new knowledge, and modern software also enhanced the power of the experiments. The current reactor neutrino experiments, Daya Bay, Double Chooz, and RENO have led neutrino physics into the precision era. In this article, we will review these developments and accumulations, address the key issues in designing a state-of-art reactor neutrino experiment, and explain how the challenging requirements of determining the neutrino mass hierarchy with the next generation experiment JUNO could be realized in the near future.

37 pages, 7 figures. This is the original version, and the final version was published in Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Science, Vol.67:183-211. According to the copyright agreement, the e-print URL of the final article is posted: http://www.annualreviews.org/eprint/NAcP3pbUGgA3Utpmuhuz/full/10.1146/annurev-nucl-101916-123318