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Search for sterile neutrino mixing in the MINOS long-baseline experiment
A search for depletion of the combined flux of active neutrino species over a 735 km baseline is reported using neutral-current interaction data recorded by the MINOS detectors in the NuMI neutrino beam. Such a depletion is not expected according to conventional interpretations of neutrino oscillation data involving the three known neutrino flavors. A depletion would be a signature of oscillations or decay to postulated noninteracting sterile neutrinos, scenarios not ruled out by existing data. From an exposure of 3.18×10^(20) protons on target in which neutrinos of energies between ∼500 MeV and 120 GeV are produced predominantly as ν_μ, the visible energy spectrum of candidate neutral-current reactions in the MINOS far detector is reconstructed. Comparison of this spectrum to that inferred from a similarly selected near-detector sample shows that of the portion of the ν_μ flux observed to disappear in charged-current interaction data, the fraction that could be converting to a sterile state is less than 52% at 90% confidence level (C.L.). The hypothesis that active neutrinos mix with a single sterile neutrino via oscillations is tested by fitting the data to various models. In the particular four-neutrino models considered, the mixing angles θ_(24) and θ_(34) are constrained to be less than 11° and 56° at 90% C.L., respectively. The possibility that active neutrinos may decay to sterile neutrinos is also investigated. Pure neutrino decay without oscillations is ruled out at 5.4 standard deviations. For the scenario in which active neutrinos decay into sterile states concurrently with neutrino oscillations, a lower limit is established for the neutrino decay lifetime τ_3/m_3>2.1×10^(-12) s/eV at 90% C.L
Neutrino and Antineutrino Inclusive Charged-current Cross Section Measurements with the MINOS Near Detector
The energy dependence of the neutrino-iron and antineutrino-iron inclusive
charged-current cross sections and their ratio have been measured using a
high-statistics sample with the MINOS Near Detector exposed to the NuMI beam
from the Main Injector at Fermilab. Neutrino and antineutrino fluxes were
determined using a low hadronic energy subsample of charged-current events. We
report measurements of neutrino-Fe (antineutrinoFe) cross section in the energy
range 3-50 GeV (5-50 GeV) with precision of 2-8% (3-9%) and their ratio which
is measured with precision 2-8%. The data set spans the region from low energy,
where accurate measurements are sparse, up to the high-energy scaling region
where the cross section is well understood.Comment: accepted by PR
A Study of Muon Neutrino Disappearance Using the Fermilab Main Injector Neutrino Beam
We report the results of a search for muon-neutrino disappearance by the Main
Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search. The experiment uses two detectors
separated by 734 km to observe a beam of neutrinos created by the Neutrinos at
the Main Injector facility at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. The data
were collected in the first 282 days of beam operations and correspond to an
exposure of 1.27e20 protons on target. Based on measurements in the Near
Detector, in the absence of neutrino oscillations we expected 336 +/- 14
muon-neutrino charged-current interactions at the Far Detector but observed
215. This deficit of events corresponds to a significance of 5.2 standard
deviations. The deficit is energy dependent and is consistent with two-flavor
neutrino oscillations according to delta m-squared = 2.74e-3 +0.44/-0.26e-3
eV^2 and sin^2(2 theta) > 0.87 at 68% confidence level.Comment: In submission to Phys. Rev.
First Observation and Measurement of the Decay K+- -> pi+- e+ e- gamma
Using the full data set of the NA48/2 experiment, the decay K+- -> pi+- e+ e-
gamma is observed for the first time, selecting 120 candidates with 7.3 +- 1.7
estimated background events. With K+- -> pi+- pi0D as normalisation channel,
the branching ratio is determined in a model-independent way to be Br(K+- ->
pi+- e+ e- gamma, m_eegamma > 260 MeV/c^2) = (1.19 +- 0.12_stat +- 0.04_syst) x
10^-8. This measured value and the spectrum of the e+ e- gamma invariant mass
allow a comparison with predictions of Chiral Perturbation Theory.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in Phys.Lett.
Measurement of the Atmospheric Muon Charge Ratio at TeV Energies with MINOS
The 5.4 kton MINOS far detector has been taking charge-separated cosmic ray
muon data since the beginning of August, 2003 at a depth of 2070
meters-water-equivalent in the Soudan Underground Laboratory, Minnesota, USA.
The data with both forward and reversed magnetic field running configurations
were combined to minimize systematic errors in the determination of the
underground muon charge ratio. When averaged, two independent analyses find the
charge ratio underground to be 1.374 +/- 0.004 (stat.) +0.012 -0.010(sys.).
Using the map of the Soudan rock overburden, the muon momenta as measured
underground were projected to the corresponding values at the surface in the
energy range 1-7 TeV. Within this range of energies at the surface, the MINOS
data are consistent with the charge ratio being energy independent at the two
standard deviation level. When the MINOS results are compared with measurements
at lower energies, a clear rise in the charge ratio in the energy range 0.3 --
1.0 TeV is apparent. A qualitative model shows that the rise is consistent with
an increasing contribution of kaon decays to the muon charge ratio.Comment: 16 pages, 17 figure
Testing Lorentz Invariance and CPT Conservation with NuMI Neutrinos in the MINOS Near Detector
A search for a sidereal modulation in the MINOS near detector neutrino data
was performed. If present, this signature could be a consequence of Lorentz and
CPT violation as predicted by a class of extensions to the Standard Model. No
evidence for a sidereal signal in the data set was found, implying that there
is no significant change in neutrino propagation that depends on the direction
of the neutrino beam in a sun-centered inertial frame. Upper limits on the
magnitudes of the Lorentz and CPT violating terms in these extensions to the
Standard Model lie between 0.01-1% of the maximum expected, assuming a
suppression of these signatures by factor of .
Measurement of neutrino velocity with the MINOS detectors and NuMI neutrino beam
The velocity of a ~3 GeV neutrino beam is measured by comparing detection times at the near and far detectors of the MINOS experiment, separated by 734 km. A total of 473 far detector neutrino events was used to measure (v-c)/c=5.12.910-5 (at 68% C.L.). By correlating the measured energies of 258 charged-current neutrino events to their arrival times at the far detector, a limit is imposed on the neutrino mass of mnu<50 MeV/c2 (99% C.L.)
Empirical parameterization of the K+- -> pi+- pi0 pi0 decay Dalitz plot
As first observed by the NA48/2 experiment at the CERN SPS, the \p0p0
invariant mass (M00) distribution from \kcnn decay shows a cusp-like anomaly
at M00=2m+, where m+ is the charged pion mass. An analysis to extract the pi pi
scattering lengths in the isospin I=0 and I=2 states, a0 and a2, respectively,
has been recently reported. In the present work the Dalitz plot of this decay
is fitted to a new empirical parameterization suitable for practical purposes,
such as Monte Carlo simulations of K+- -> pi+- pi0 pi0 decays.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures
Search for sterile neutrino mixing in the MINOS long-baseline experiment
A search for depletion of the combined flux of active neutrino species over a 735 km baseline is reported using neutral-current interaction data recorded by the MINOS detectors in the NuMI neutrino beam. Such a depletion is not expected according to conventional interpretations of neutrino oscillation data involving the three known neutrino flavors. A depletion would be a signature of oscillations or decay to postulated noninteracting sterile neutrinos, scenarios not ruled out by existing data. From an exposure of 3.18×1020 protons on target in which neutrinos of energies between ~500¿¿MeV and 120 GeV are produced predominantly as ¿µ, the visible energy spectrum of candidate neutral-current reactions in the MINOS far detector is reconstructed. Comparison of this spectrum to that inferred from a similarly selected near-detector sample shows that of the portion of the ¿µ flux observed to disappear in charged-current interaction data, the fraction that could be converting to a sterile state is less than 52% at 90% confidence level (C.L.). The hypothesis that active neutrinos mix with a single sterile neutrino via oscillations is tested by fitting the data to various models. In the particular four-neutrino models considered, the mixing angles ¿24 and ¿34 are constrained to be less than 11° and 56° at 90% C.L., respectively. The possibility that active neutrinos may decay to sterile neutrinos is also investigated. Pure neutrino decay without oscillations is ruled out at 5.4 standard deviations. For the scenario in which active neutrinos decay into sterile states concurrently with neutrino oscillations, a lower limit is established for the neutrino decay lifetime t3/m3>2.1×10-12¿¿s/eV at 90% C.L
Search for direct CP-violation in K+- --> pi+-pi0pi0 decays
A search for direct CP-violation in K+- --> pi+-pi0pi0 decays based on 47.14
million events has been performed by the NA48/2 experiment at the CERN SPS. The
asymmetry in the Dalitz plot linear slopes A_g=(g^+ - g^-)/(g^+ + g^-) is
measured to be A_g=(1.8 +- 2.6).10^{-4}. The design of the experiment and the
method of analysis provide good control of instrumental charge asymmetries in
this measurement. The precision of the result is limited by statistics and is
almost one order of magnitude better than that of previous measurements by
other experiments.Comment: 14 page
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