First-forbidden transitions in reactor antineutrino spectra

Abstract

We study the dominant forbidden transitions in the antineutrino spectra of the fission actinides from 4 MeV onward using the nuclear shell model. Through explicit calculation of the shape factor, we show the expected changes in cumulative electron and antineutrino spectra. Relative to the allowed approximation this results in a minor decrease of electron spectra above 4 MeV, whereas an increase of several percent is observed in antineutrino spectra. We show that forbidden transitions dominate the spectral flux for most of the experimentally accessible range. Based on the shell model calculations we attempt a parametrization of forbidden transitions and propose a spectral correction for all first-forbidden transitions. We enforce correspondence with the Institut Laue-Langevin data set using a summation+conversion approach. When compared against modern reactor neutrino experiments, the resultant spectral change is observed to be of comparable magnitude and shape as the reported spectral shoulder.