Measurement of the \nu_\mu charged current \pi^+ to quasi-elastic cross section ratio on mineral oil in a 0.8 GeV neutrino beam

Using high statistics samples of charged current $\nu_\mu$ interactions, MiniBooNE reports a measurement of the single charged pion production to quasi-elastic cross section ratio on mineral oil (CH$_2$), both with and without corrections for hadron re-interactions in the target nucleus. The result is provided as a function of neutrino energy in the range 0.4 GeV $< E_\nu <$ 2.4 GeV with 11% precision in the region of highest statistics. The results are consistent with previous measurements and the prediction from historical neutrino calculations.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Measurement of Muon Neutrino Quasi-Elastic Scattering on Carbon

The observation of neutrino oscillations is clear evidence for physics beyond the standard model. To make precise measurements of this phenomenon, neutrino oscillation experiments, including MiniBooNE, require an accurate description of neutrino charged current quasi-elastic (CCQE) cross sections to predict signal samples. Using a high-statistics sample of muon neutrino CCQE events, MiniBooNE finds that a simple Fermi gas model, with appropriate adjustments, accurately characterizes the CCQE events observed in a carbon-based detector. The extracted parameters include an effective axial mass, M_A^eff = 1.23+/-0.20 GeV, that describes the four-momentum dependence of the axial-vector form factor of the nucleon; and a Pauli-suppression parameter, kappa = 1.019+/-0.011. Such a modified Fermi gas model may also be used by future accelerator-based experiments measuring neutrino oscillations on nuclear targets.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Pattern selection in the absolutely unstable regime as a nonlinear eigenvalue problem: Taylor vortices in axial flow

A unique pattern selection in the absolutely unstable regime of a driven, nonlinear, open-flow system is analyzed: The spatiotemporal structures of rotationally symmetric vortices that propagate downstream in the annulus of the rotating Taylor-Couette system due to an externally imposed axial through-flow are investigated for two different axial boundary conditions at the in- and outlet. Unlike the stationary patterns in systems without through-flow the spatiotemporal structures of propagating vortices are independent of parameter history, initial conditions, and system's length. They do, however, depend on the axial boundary conditions, the driving rate of the inner cylinder and the through-flow rate. Our analysis of the amplitude equation shows that the pattern selection can be described by a nonlinear eigenvalue problem with the frequency being the eigenvalue. Approaching the border between absolute and convective instability the eigenvalue problem becomes effectively linear and the selection mechanism approaches that one of linear front propagation. PACS:47.54.+r,47.20.Ky,47.32.-y,47.20.FtComment: 15 pages (LateX-file), 8 figures (Postscript

The design, construction and performance of the MICE scintillating fibre trackers

This is the Pre-print version of the Article. The official published version can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2011 ElsevierCharged-particle tracking in the international Muon Ionisation Cooling Experiment (MICE) will be performed using two solenoidal spectrometers, each instrumented with a tracking detector based on diameter scintillating fibres. The design and construction of the trackers is described along with the quality-assurance procedures, photon-detection system, readout electronics, reconstruction and simulation software and the data-acquisition system. Finally, the performance of the MICE tracker, determined using cosmic rays, is presented.This work was supported by the Science and Technology Facilities Council under grant numbers PP/E003214/1, PP/E000479/1, PP/E000509/1, PP/E000444/1, and through SLAs with STFC-supported laboratories. This work was also supportedby the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, which is operated by the Fermi Research Alliance, under contract No. DE-AC02-76CH03000 with the U.S. Department of Energy, and by the U.S. National Science Foundation under grants PHY-0301737,PHY-0521313, PHY-0758173 and PHY-0630052. The authors also acknowledge the support of the World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI Initiative), MEXT, Japan

Interim Design Report

The International Design Study for the Neutrino Factory (the IDS-NF) was established by the community at the ninth "International Workshop on Neutrino Factories, super-beams, and beta- beams" which was held in Okayama in August 2007. The IDS-NF mandate is to deliver the Reference Design Report (RDR) for the facility on the timescale of 2012/13. In addition, the mandate for the study [3] requires an Interim Design Report to be delivered midway through the project as a step on the way to the RDR. This document, the IDR, has two functions: it marks the point in the IDS-NF at which the emphasis turns to the engineering studies required to deliver the RDR and it documents baseline concepts for the accelerator complex, the neutrino detectors, and the instrumentation systems. The IDS-NF is, in essence, a site-independent study. Example sites, CERN, FNAL, and RAL, have been identified to allow site-specific issues to be addressed in the cost analysis that will be presented in the RDR. The choice of example sites should not be interpreted as implying a preferred choice of site for the facility

Comparison of large-angle production of charged pions with incident protons on cylindrical long and short targets

The HARP collaboration has presented measurements of the double-differential pi+/pi- production cross-section in the range of momentum 100 MeV/c <= p 800 MeV/c and angle 0.35 rad <= theta <= 2.15 rad with proton beams hitting thin nuclear targets. In many applications the extrapolation to long targets is necessary. In this paper the analysis of data taken with long (one interaction length) solid cylindrical targets made of carbon, tantalum and lead is presented. The data were taken with the large acceptance HARP detector in the T9 beam line of the CERN PS. The secondary pions were produced by beams of protons with momenta 5 GeV/c, 8 GeV/c and 12 GeV/c. The tracking and identification of the produced particles were performed using a small-radius cylindrical time projection chamber (TPC) placed inside a solenoidal magnet. Incident protons were identified by an elaborate system of beam detectors. Results are obtained for the double-differential yields per target nucleon d2 sigma / dp dtheta. The measurements are compared with predictions of the MARS and GEANT4 Monte Carlo simulations.Comment: 43 pages, 20 figure

Direct Measurement of the Top Quark Mass at D0

We determine the top quark mass m_t using t-tbar pairs produced in the D0 detector by \sqrt{s} = 1.8 TeV p-pbar collisions in a 125 pb^-1 exposure at the Fermilab Tevatron. We make a two constraint fit to m_t in t-tbar -> b W^+bbar W^- final states with one W boson decaying to q-qbar and the other to e-nu or mu-nu. Likelihood fits to the data yield m_t(l+jets) = 173.3 +- 5.6 (stat) +- 5.5 (syst) GeV/c^2. When this result is combined with an analysis of events in which both W bosons decay into leptons, we obtain m_t = 172.1 +- 5.2 (stat) +- 4.9 (syst) GeV/c^2. An alternate analysis, using three constraint fits to fixed top quark masses, gives m_t(l+jets) = 176.0 +- 7.9 (stat) +- 4.8 (syst) GeV/C^2, consistent with the above result. Studies of kinematic distributions of the top quark candidates are also presented.Comment: 43 pages, 53 figures, 33 tables. RevTeX. Submitted to Phys. Rev.

Absolute Momentum Calibration of the HARP TPC

In the HARP experiment the large-angle spectrometer is using a cylindrical TPC as main tracking and particle identification detector. The momentum scale of reconstructed tracks in the TPC is the most important systematic error for the majority of kinematic bins used for the HARP measurements of the double-differential production cross-section of charged pions in proton interactions on nuclear targets at large angle. The HARP TPC operated with a number of hardware shortfalls and operational mistakes. Thus it was important to control and characterize its momentum calibration. While it was not possible to enter a direct particle beam into the sensitive volume of the TPC to calibrate the detector, a set of physical processes and detector properties were exploited to achieve a precise calibration of the apparatus. In the following we recall the main issues concerning the momentum measurement in the HARP TPC, and describe the cross-checks made to validate the momentum scale. As a conclusion, this analysis demonstrates that the measurement of momentum is correct within the published precision of 3%.Comment: To be published by JINS

Search for Squarks and Gluinos in Events Containing Jets and a Large Imbalance in Transverse Energy

Using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 79 pb-1, D0 has searched for events containing multiple jets and large missing transverse energy in pbar-p collisions at sqrt(s)=1.8 TeV at the Fermilab Tevatron collider. Observing no significant excess beyond what is expected from the standard model, we set limits on the masses of squarks and gluinos and on the model parameters m_0 and m_1/2, in the framework of the minimal low-energy supergravity models of supersymmetry. For tan(beta) = 2 and A_0 = 0, with mu < 0, we exclude all models with m_squark < 250 GeV/c^2. For models with equal squark and gluino masses, we exclude m < 260 GeV/c^2.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, Submitted to PRL, Fixed typo on page bottom of p. 6 (QCD multijet background is 35.4 events

Search for Charged Higgs Bosons in Decays of Top Quark Pairs

We present a search for charged Higgs bosons in decays of pair-produced top quarks using 109.2 +- 5.8 pb^-1 of data recorded from ppbar collisions at sqrt{s} = 1.8 TeV by the D0 detector during 1992-96 at the Fermilab Tevatron. No evidence is found for charged Higgs production, and most parts of the [m(H+),tan(beta)] parameter space where the decay t -> bH+ has a branching fraction close to or larger than that for t -> bW+ are excluded at 95% confidence level. Assuming m(t) = 175 GeV and sigma(ppbar -> ttbar) = 5.5 pb, for m(H+) = 60 GeV, we exclude tan(beta) 40.9.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, submitted to PR