1,006 research outputs found
Neutrino mass hierarchy and precision physics with medium-baseline reactors: Impact of energy-scale and flux-shape uncertainties
Nuclear reactors provide intense sources of electron antineutrinos,
characterized by few-MeV energy E and unoscillated spectral shape Phi(E).
High-statistics observations of reactor neutrino oscillations over
medium-baseline distances L ~ O(50) km would provide unprecedented
opportunities to probe both the long-wavelength mass-mixing parameters (delta
m^2 and theta_12) and the short-wavelength ones (Delta m^2 and theta_13),
together with the subtle interference effects associated with the neutrino mass
hierarchy (either normal or inverted). In a given experimental setting - here
taken as in the JUNO project for definiteness - the achievable hierarchy
sensitivity and parameter accuracy depend not only on the accumulated
statistics but also on systematic uncertainties, which include (but are not
limited to) the mass-mixing priors and the normalizations of signals and
backgrounds. We examine, in addition, the effect of introducing smooth
deformations of the detector energy scale, E -> E'(E), and of the reactor flux
shape, Phi(E) -> Phi'(E), within reasonable error bands inspired by
state-of-the-art estimates. It turns out that energy-scale and flux-shape
systematics can noticeably affect the performance of a JUNO-like experiment,
both on the hierarchy discrimination and on precision oscillation physics. It
is shown that a significant reduction of the assumed energy-scale and
flux-shape uncertainties (by, say, a factor of 2) would be highly beneficial to
the physics program of medium-baseline reactor projects. Our results also shed
some light on the role of the inverse-beta decay threshold, of geoneutrino
backgrounds, and of matter effects in the analysis of future reactor
oscillation data.Comment: 13 pages, including 17 figures. Minor changes in the text, references
added. To appear in Phys. Rev.
Neutrino masses and mixings: Status of known and unknown parameters
Within the standard 3nu mass-mixing framework, we present an up-to-date
global analysis of neutrino oscillation data (as of January 2016), including
the latest available results from experiments with atmospheric neutrinos
(Super-Kamiokande and IceCube DeepCore), at accelerators (first T2K anti-nu and
NOvA nu runs in both appearance and disappearance mode), and at short-baseline
reactors (Daya Bay and RENO far/near spectral ratios), as well as a reanalysis
of older KamLAND data in the light of the "bump" feature recently observed in
reactor spectra. We discuss improved constraints on the five known oscillation
parameters (delta m^2, |Delta m^2|, sin^2theta_12, sin^2theta_13,
sin^2theta_23), and the status of the three remaining unknown parameters: the
mass hierarchy, the theta_23 octant, and the possible CP-violating phase delta.
With respect to previous global fits, we find that the reanalysis of KamLAND
data induces a slight decrease of both delta m^2 and sin^2theta_12, while the
latest accelerator and atmospheric data induce a slight increase of |Delta
m^2|. Concerning the unknown parameters, we confirm the previous intriguing
preference for negative values of sin(delta) [with best-fit values around
sin(delta) ~ -0.9], but we find no statistically significant indication about
the theta_23 octant or the mass hierarchy (normal or inverted). Assuming an
alternative (so-called LEM) analysis of NOvA data, some delta ranges can be
excluded at >3 sigma, and the normal mass hierarchy appears to be slightly
favored at 90% C.L. We also describe in detail the covariances of selected
pairs of oscillation parameters. Finally, we briefly discuss the implications
of the above results on the three non-oscillation observables sensitive to the
(unknown) absolute nu mass scale: the sum of nu masses, the effective nu_e
mass, and the effective Majorana mass.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables. Invited contribution prepared for the
Nuclear Physics B Special Issue on "Neutrino Oscillations" celebrating the
Nobel Prize in Physics 201
Status of three-neutrino oscillation parameters, circa 2013
The standard three-neutrino (3nu) oscillation framework is being increasingly
refined by results coming from different sets of experiments, using neutrinos
from solar, atmospheric, accelerator and reactor sources. At present, each of
the known oscillation parameters [the two squared mass gaps (delta m^2, Delta
m^2) and the three mixing angles (theta_12}, theta_13, theta_23)] is dominantly
determined by a single class of experiments. Conversely, the unknown parameters
[the mass hierarchy, the theta_23 octant and the CP-violating phase delta] can
be currently constrained only through a combined analysis of various
(eventually all) classes of experiments. In the light of recent new results
coming from reactor and accelerator experiments, and of their interplay with
solar and atmospheric data, we update the estimated N-sigma ranges of the known
3nu parameters, and revisit the status of the unknown ones. Concerning the
hierarchy, no significant difference emerges between normal and inverted mass
ordering. A slight overall preference is found for theta_23 in the first octant
and for nonzero CP violation with sin delta < 0; however, for both parameters,
such preference exceeds 1 sigma only for normal hierarchy. We also discuss the
correlations and stability of the oscillation parameters within different
combinations of data sets.Comment: Updated and revised version, accepted for publication in PRD. The
analysis includes the latest (March 2014) T2K disappearance data: all the
figures and the numerical results have been updated, and parts of the text
have been revised accordingl
Current unknowns in the three-neutrino framework
We present an up-to-date global analysis of data coming from neutrino oscillation and non-oscillation experiments, as available in April 2018, within the standard framework including three massive and mixed neutrinos. We discuss in detail the status of the three-neutrino (3ν) mass-mixing parameters, both known and unknown. Concerning the latter, we find that: normal ordering (NO) is favored over inverted ordering (IO) at 3σ level; the Dirac CP phase is constrained within ∼15% (∼9%) uncertainty in NO (IO) around nearly-maximal CP-violating values; the octant of the largest mixing angle and the absolute neutrino masses remain undetermined. We briefly comment on other unknowns related to theoretical and experimental uncertainties (within 3ν) or possible new states and interactions (beyond 3ν)
Lateral stress evolution in chromium sulfide cermets with varying excess chromium
The shock response of chromium sulfide-chromium, a cermet of potential interest as a matrix material for ballistic applications, has been investigated at two molar ratios. Using a combustion synthesis technique allowed for control of the molar ratio of the material, which was investigated under near-stoichiometric (cermet) and excess chromium (interpenetrating composite) conditions, representing chromium:sulfur molar ratios of 1.15:1 and 4:1, respectively. The compacts were investigated via the plate-impact technique, which allowed the material to be loaded under a onedimensional state of strain. Embedded manganin stress gauges were employed to monitor the temporal evolution of longitudinal and lateral components of stress in both materials. Comparison of these two components has allowed assessment of the variation of material shear strength both with impact pressure/strain-rate and time for the two molar ratio conditions. The two materials exhibited identical material strength despite variations in their excess chromium content
Global fits to neutrino oscillations: status and prospects
In this work we review our present knowledge of the neutrino oscillation parameters. In a threeneutrino framework, neutrino oscillations depend on six parameters, two squared mass differences (Δm2,δm2), three mixing angles (θ12, θ13, θ23) and one phase δ. Five out of these six parameters have been measured by a number of experiments and only the CP-violating phase δ remains unknown. Moreover, the octant of the mixing angle θ23 and the neutrino mass hierarchy are still undetermined. We update our previous 2014 analysis, by adding to the global fit the recent results of the antineutrino running of T2K and the first results of the NOvA experiment
Observational indications of magneto-optical effects in the scattering polarization wings of the Ca I 4227 \AA\ line
Several strong resonance lines, such as H I Ly-, Mg II k, Ca II K, Ca
I 4227 \AA\, which are characterized by deep and broad absorption profiles in
the solar intensity spectrum, show conspicuous linear scattering polarization
signals when observed in quiet regions close to the solar limb. Such signals
show a characteristic triplet-peak structure, with a sharp peak in the line
core and extended wing lobes. The line core peak is sensitive to the presence
of magnetic fields through the Hanle effect, which however is known not to
operate in the line wings. Recent theoretical studies indicate that, contrary
to what was previously believed, the wing linear polarization signals are also
sensitive to the magnetic field through magneto-optical effects (MO). We search
for observational indications of this recently discovered physical mechanism in
the scattering polarization wings of the Ca I 4227 \AA\ line. We performed a
series of spectropolarimetric observations of this line using the Zurich
IMaging POLarimeter (ZIMPOL) camera at the Gregory-Coud\'e telescope of IRSOL
(Switzerland) and at the GREGOR telescope in Tenerife (Spain). Spatial
variations of the total linear polarization degree and of the linear
polarization angle are clearly appreciable in the wings of the observed line.
We provide a detailed discussion of our observational results, showing that the
detected variations always take place in regions where longitudinal magnetic
fields are present, thus supporting the theoretical prediction that they are
produced by MO effects.Comment: Accepted by A&
Influence of wind-induced effects on laser disdrometer measurements: Analysis and compensation strategies
Nowadays, laser disdrometers constitute a very appealing tool for measuring surface precipitation properties, by virtue of their capability to estimate not only the rainfall amount and intensity, but also the number, the size and the velocity of falling drops. However, disdrometric measures are affected by various sources of error being some of them related to environmental conditions. This work presents an assessment of Thies Clima laser disdrometer performance with a focus on the relationship between wind and the accuracy of the disdrometer output products. The 10-min average rainfall rate and total rainfall accumulation obtained by the disdrometer are systematically compared with the collocated measures of a standard tipping bucket rain gauge, the FAK010AA sensor, in terms of familiar statistical scores. A total of 42 rainy events, collected in a mountainous site of Southern Italy (Montevergine observatory), are used to support our analysis. The results show that the introduction of a new adaptive filtering in the disdrometric data processing can reduce the impact of sampling errors due to strong winds and heavy rain conditions. From a quantitative perspective, the novel filtering procedure improves by 8% the precipitation estimates with respect to the standard approach widely used in the literature. A deeper examination revealed that the signature of wind speed on raw velocity-diameter spectrographs gradually emerges with the rise of wind strength, thus causing a progressive increase of the wrongly allocated hydrometeors (which reaches 70% for wind speed greater than 8 m s−1). With the aid of reference rain-gauge rainfall data, we designed a second simple methodology that makes use of a correction factor to mitigate the wind-induced bias in disdrometric rainfall estimates. The resulting correction factor could be applied as an alternative to the adaptive filtering suggested by this study and may be of practical use when dealing with disdrometric data processing
Neutrino Oscillation Physics
Comment: LaTex, 11 pages, 1 figure; Complementary to lectures given at ISAPP 2011 and ESHEP 201
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