Measurements of atmospheric neutrinos and antineutrinos in the MINOS far detector
Year: 2012
Type: article
Abstract: This paper reports measurements of atmospheric neutrino and antineutrino interactions in the MINOS Far Detector, based on 2553 live-days (37.9 kton-years) of data. A total of 2072 candidate events are observed. These are separated into 905 contained-vertex muons and 466 neutrino-induced rock-muons, both produced by charged-current ${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{\ensuremath{\mu}}$ and ${\overline{\ensuremath{\nu}}}_{\ensuremath{\mu}}$ interactions, and 701 contained-vertex showers, composed mainly of charged-current ${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{e}$ and ${\overline{\ensuremath{\nu}}}_{e}$ interactions and neutral-current interactions. The curvature of muon tracks in the magnetic field of the MINOS Far Detector is used to select separate samples of ${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{\ensuremath{\mu}}$ and ${\overline{\ensuremath{\nu}}}_{\ensuremath{\mu}}$ events. The observed ratio of ${\overline{\ensuremath{\nu}}}_{\ensuremath{\mu}}$ to ${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{\ensuremath{\mu}}$ events is compared with the Monte Carlo (MC) simulation, giving a double ratio of ${R}_{\overline{\ensuremath{\nu}}/\ensuremath{\nu}}^{\mathrm{data}}/{R}_{\overline{\ensuremath{\nu}}/\ensuremath{\nu}}^{\mathrm{MC}}=1.03\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.08(\mathrm{stat})\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.08(\mathrm{syst})$. The ${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{\ensuremath{\mu}}$ and ${\overline{\ensuremath{\nu}}}_{\ensuremath{\mu}}$ data are separated into bins of $L/E$ resolution, based on the reconstructed energy and direction of each event, and a maximum likelihood fit to the observed $L/E$ distributions is used to determine the atmospheric neutrino oscillation parameters. This fit returns 90% confidence limits of $|\ensuremath{\Delta}{m}^{2}|=(1.9\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.4)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}3}\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{eV}}^{2}$ and ${sin}^{2}2\ensuremath{\theta}>0.86$. The fit is extended to incorporate separate ${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{\ensuremath{\mu}}$ and ${\overline{\ensuremath{\nu}}}_{\ensuremath{\mu}}$ oscillation parameters, returning 90% confidence limits of $|\ensuremath{\Delta}{m}^{2}|\ensuremath{-}|\ensuremath{\Delta}{\overline{m}}^{2}|={0.6}_{\ensuremath{-}0.8}^{+2.4}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}3}\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{eV}}^{2}$ on the difference between the squared-mass splittings for neutrinos and antineutrinos.
Authors: P. Adamson, C. Backhouse, G. Barr, M. Bishai, A. S. T. Blake, G. J. Bock, D. J. Boehnlein, D. Bogert, S. V. Cao, J. D. Chapman, S. Childress, J. A. B. Coelho, L. Corwin, D. Cronin-Hennessy, I. Z. Danko, J. K. de Jong, N. E. Devenish, M. V. Diwan, C. O. Escobar, J. J. Evans, E. Falk, G. J. Feldman, M. V. Frohne, H. R. Gallagher, R. A. Gomes, M. C. Goodman, P. Gouffon, N. Graf, R. Gran, K. Grzelak, A. Habig, J. Hartnell, R. Hatcher, A. Himmel, A. Holin, J. Hylen, G. M. Irwin, Z. Isvan, D. E. Jaffe, C. James, D. Jensen, T. Kafka, S. M. S. Kasahara, G. Koizumi, S. Kopp, M. Kordosky, A. Kreymer, K. Lang, J. Ling, P. J. Litchfield, L. Loiacono, P. Lucas, W. A. Mann, M. L. Marshak, M. Mathis, N. Mayer, M. M. Medeiros, R. Mehdiyev, J. R. Meier, M. D. Messier, W. H. Miller, S. R. Mishra, J. Mitchell, C. D. Moore, L. Mualem, S. Mufson, J. Musser, D. Naples, J. K. Nelson, H. B. Newman, R. J. Nichol, J. A. Nowak, W. P. Oliver, M. Orchanian, R. B. Pahlka, J. Paley, R. B. Patterson, G. Pawloski, S. Phan-Budd, R. K. Plunkett, X. Qiu, A. Radovic, J. Ratchford, B. Rebel, C. Rosenfeld, H. A. Rubin, M. C. Sanchez, J. Schneps, A. Schreckenberger, P. Schreiner, R. Sharma, A. Sousa, B. Speakman, M. Strait, N. Tagg, R. L. Talaga, J. Thomas, M. A. Thomson, R. Toner, D. Torretta, G. Tzanakos, J. Urheim, P. Vahle, B. Viren, J. J. Walding, A. Weber, R. C. Webb, C. White, L. Whitehead, S. G. Wojcicki, K. Zhang, R. Zwaska
Institutions: Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, University of Oxford, Brookhaven National Laboratory, University of Cambridge, The University of Texas at Austin, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana University, University of Minnesota, University of Pittsburgh, University of Sussex, University College London, Harvard University, Holy Cross College, Tufts University, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Argonne National Laboratory, Universidade de São Paulo, Illinois Institute of Technology, University of Minnesota, Duluth, University of Warsaw, California Institute of Technology, Stanford University, William & Mary, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Science and Technology Facilities Council, University of South Carolina, Iowa State University, Otterbein University, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Texas A&M University, University of Houston
Language: English
Topic: Neutrino Physics Research
Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, University of Minnesota, Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Science and Technology Facilities Council, Fermilab
Awards: MINOS, Spokesperson travel, G263442057, G2772663732, Additional Equipment for Consolidated Grant supporting Cambridge HEP group, The Experimental Study of Elementary Particle Interactions at High Energy, 2012 STFC Consolidated Grant Supplement, The Experimental Study of Elementary Particle Interactions at High Energy, G5084773133, Supplementary funding to support ST/H001093/2, G5704738596, PPGP (Experiment), Particle Physics Rolling Grant 2009, MINOS/MINOS+ PROJECT COORDINATION, G8767126342
OpenAlex ID: W2129754646