330 research outputs found
Performance of SK-Gd’s Upgraded Real-time Supernova Monitoring System
Among multimessenger observations of the next Galactic core-collapse supernova, Super-Kamiokande (SK) plays a critical role in detecting the emitted supernova neutrinos, determining the direction to the supernova (SN), and notifying the astronomical community of these observations in advance of the optical signal. In 2022, SK has increased the gadolinium dissolved in its water target (SK-Gd) and has achieved a Gd concentration of 0.033%, resulting in enhanced neutron detection capability, which in turn enables more accurate determination of the supernova direction. Accordingly, SK-Gd’s real-time supernova monitoring system has been upgraded. SK_SN Notice, a warning system that works together with this monitoring system, was released on 2021 December 13, and is available through GCN Notices. When the monitoring system detects an SN-like burst of events, SK_SN Notice will automatically distribute an alarm with the reconstructed direction to the supernova candidate within a few minutes. In this paper, we present a systematic study of SK-Gd’s response to a simulated Galactic SN. Assuming a supernova situated at 10 kpc, neutrino fluxes from six supernova models are used to characterize SK-Gd’s pointing accuracy using the same tools as the online monitoring system. The pointing accuracy is found to vary from 3° to 7° depending on the models. However, if the supernova is closer than 10 kpc, SK_SN Notice can issue an alarm with three-degree accuracy, which will benefit follow-up observations by optical telescopes with large fields of view
Study of Non-Standard Neutrino Interactions with Atmospheric Neutrino Data in Super-Kamiokande I and II
In this paper we study non-standard neutrino interactions as an example of
physics beyond the standard model using atmospheric neutrino data collected
during the Super-Kamiokande I(1996-2001) and II(2003-2005) periods. We focus on
flavor-changing-neutral-currents (FCNC), which allow neutrino flavor
transitions via neutral current interactions, and effects which violate lepton
non-universality (NU) and give rise to different neutral-current
interaction-amplitudes for different neutrino flavors. We obtain a limit on the
FCNC coupling parameter, varepsilon_{mu tau}, |varepsilon_{mu tau}|<1.1 x
10^{-2} at 90%C.L. and various constraints on other FCNC parameters as a
function of the NU coupling, varepsilon_{e e}. We find no evidence of
non-standard neutrino interactions in the Super-Kamiokande atmospheric data.Comment: 12 Pages, 14 figures. To be submitted to Phys. Rev.
Search for Nucleon Decay into Charged Anti-lepton plus Meson in Super-Kamiokande I and II
Searches for a nucleon decay into a charged anti-lepton (e^+ or {\mu}^+) plus
a light meson ({\pi}^0, {\pi}^-, {\eta}, {\rho}^0, {\rho}^-, {\omega}) were
performed using the Super-Kamiokande I and II data. Twelve nucleon decay modes
were searched for. The total exposure is 140.9 kiloton \cdot years, which
includes a 91.7 kiloton \cdot year exposure (1489.2 live days) of
Super-Kamiokande-I and a 49.2 kiloton \cdot year exposure (798.6 live days) of
Super-Kamiokande-II. The number of candidate events in the data was consistent
with the atmospheric neutrino background expectation. No significant evidence
for a nucleon decay was observed in the data. Thus, lower limits on the nucleon
partial lifetime at 90% confidence level were obtained. The limits range from
3.6 \times 10^31 to 8.2 \times 10^33 years, depending on the decay modes.Comment: 25 pages, 18 figure
Evidence for the Appearance of Atmospheric Tau Neutrinos in Super-Kamiokande
Super-Kamiokande atmospheric neutrino data were fit with an unbinned maximum
likelihood method to search for the appearance of tau leptons resulting from
the interactions of oscillation-generated tau neutrinos in the detector.
Relative to the expectation of unity, the tau normalization is found to be
1.42 \pm 0.35 \ (stat) {\}^{+0.14}_{-0.12}\ (syst) excluding the
no-tau-appearance hypothesis, for which the normalization would be zero, at the
3.8 level. We estimate that 180.1 \pm 44.3\ (stat)
{\}^{+17.8}_{-15.2}\ (syst) tau leptons were produced in the 22.5 kton
fiducial volume of the detector by tau neutrinos during the 2806 day running
period. In future analyses, this large sample of selected tau events will allow
the study of charged current tau neutrino interaction physics with oscillation
produced tau neutrinos.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures. This is the version as published in Physical
Review Letters including the supplemental figure. A typographical error in
the description of figure 3 is also correcte
An Indirect Search for WIMPs in the Sun using 3109.6 days of upward-going muons in Super-Kamiokande
We present the result of an indirect search for high energy neutrinos from
WIMP annihilation in the Sun using upward-going muon (upmu) events at
Super-Kamiokande. Datasets from SKI-SKIII (3109.6 days) were used for the
analysis. We looked for an excess of neutrino signal from the Sun as compared
with the expected atmospheric neutrino background in three upmu categories:
stopping, non-showering, and showering. No significant excess was observed. The
90% C.L. upper limits of upward-going muon flux induced by WIMPs of 100
GeV/c were 6.4 cm sec and 4.0
cm sec for the soft and hard annihilation channels, respectively.
These limits correspond to upper limits of 4.5 cm and
2.7 cm for spin-dependent WIMP-nucleon scattering cross
sections in the soft and hard annihilation channels, respectively.Comment: Add journal reference. Also fixed typo and cosmetic things in the old
draf
Search for Differences in Oscillation Parameters for Atmospheric Neutrinos and Antineutrinos at Super-Kamiokande
We present a search for differences in the oscillations of antineutrinos and
neutrinos in the Super-Kamiokande -I, -II, and -III atmospheric neutrino
sample. Under a two-flavor disappearance model with separate mixing parameters
between neutrinos and antineutrinos, we find no evidence for a difference in
oscillation parameters. Best fit antineutrino mixing is found to be at (dm2bar,
sin2 2 thetabar) = (2.0x10^-3 eV^2, 1.0) and is consistent with the overall
Super-K measurement.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures. Figure update
Search for dinucleon decay into pions at Super-Kamiokande
A search for dinucleon decay into pions with the Super-Kamiokande detector
has been performed with an exposure of 282.1 kiloton-years. Dinucleon decay is
a process that violates baryon number by two units. We present the first search
for dinucleon decay to pions in a large water Cherenkov detector. The modes
O C, O
N, and O
O are investigated. No significant excess in the
Super-Kamiokande data has been found, so a lower limit on the lifetime of the
process per oxygen nucleus is determined. These limits are:
years,
years, and
years. The lower
limits on each mode are about two orders of magnitude better than previous
limits from searches for dinucleon decay in iron.Comment: 20 pages, 17 figures. Accepted for publication in Physical Review D
on March 30, 201
Atmospheric neutrino oscillation analysis with sub-leading effects in Super-Kamiokande I, II, and III
We present a search for non-zero theta_{13} and deviations of sin^2
theta_{23} from 0.5 in the oscillations of atmospheric neutrino data from
Super-Kamiokande -I, -II, and -III. No distortions of the neutrino flux
consistent with non-zero theta_{13} are found and both neutrino mass hierarchy
hypotheses are in agreement with the data. The data are best fit at Delta m^2 =
2.1 x 10^-3 eV^2, sin^2 theta_{13} = 0.0, and sin^2 theta_{23} =0.5. In the
normal (inverted) hierarchy theta_{13} and Delta m^2 are constrained at the
one-dimensional 90% C.L. to sin^2 theta_{13} < 0.04 (0.09) and 1.9 (1.7) x
10^-3 < Delta m^2 < 2.6 (2.7) x 10^-3 eV^2. The atmospheric mixing angle is
within 0.407 <= sin^2 theta_{23} <= 0.583 at 90% C.L.Comment: 17 Pages, 14 figures. To be submitted to Phys. Rev. D Minor update to
text after referee comments. Figures modified for better grayscale printing
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