Beta Beams for Neutrino Production

To use accelerated beta active radioactive ions to produce collimated high energy neutrino beams was proposed by P. Zuchelli in 2002. Since then, several ideas related to how to design Beta Beam facilities have been studied. Design studies of an accelerator complex, based on CERN accelerators, have been supported by research programs within the European Commisison FP6 and FP7 frameworks (EURISOL Design Study and EUROnu). In these studies 6He and 18Ne are used as beta emitters to produce antineutrinos and neutrinos respectively. Alternative isotopes for neutrino beam production, 8Li and 8B, are investigated in the now ongoing study, EUROnu. Due to the higher reaction Q-value of these ions, the resulting neutrino energies are higher. The isotopes we need for neutrino beams have to be produced in large quantities using non conventional methods. Latest research on production of isotopes that are presently considered for Beta Beams will be discussed. The work achieved gives a good ground to propose the Beta Beam, which is based on known technology, for neutrino production. In this status review we concentrate on technical issues related to a possible Beta Beam facility using the CERN infrastructure.