Sterile Neutrino Fits to Short Baseline Neutrino Oscillation Measurements

This paper reviews short baseline oscillation experiments as interpreted within the context of one, two, and three sterile neutrino models associated with additional neutrino mass states in the ~1 eV range. Appearance and disappearance signals and limits are considered. We show that fitting short baseline data sets to a (3+3) model, defined by three active and three sterile neutrinos, results in an overall goodness of fit of 67%, and a compatibility of 90% among all data sets -- to be compared to the compatibility of 0.043% and 13% for a (3+1) and a (3+2) model, respectively. While the (3+3) fit yields the highest quality overall, it still finds inconsistencies with the MiniBooNE appearance data sets; in particular, the global fit fails to account for the observed MiniBooNE low-energy excess. Given the overall improvement, we recommend using the results of (3+2) and (3+3) fits, rather than (3+1) fits, for future neutrino oscillation phenomenology. These results motivate the pursuit of further short baseline experiments, such as those reviewed in this paper.Comment: Submitted to Advances in High Energy Physics Special Issue on Neutrino Physic

Coherent Neutrino Scattering in Dark Matter Detectors

Coherent elastic neutrino- and WIMP-nucleus interaction signatures are expected to be quite similar. This paper discusses how a next generation ton-scale dark matter detector could discover neutrino-nucleus coherent scattering, a precisely-predicted Standard Model process. A high intensity pion- and muon- decay-at-rest neutrino source recently proposed for oscillation physics at underground laboratories would provide the neutrinos for these measurements. In this paper, we calculate raw rates for various target materials commonly used in dark matter detectors and show that discovery of this interaction is possible with a 2 ton$\cdot$year GEODM exposure in an optimistic energy threshold and efficiency scenario. We also study the effects of the neutrino source on WIMP sensitivity and discuss the modulated neutrino signal as a sensitivity/consistency check between different dark matter experiments at DUSEL. Furthermore, we consider the possibility of coherent neutrino physics with a GEODM module placed within tens of meters of the neutrino source.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure

Measuring Active-to-Sterile Neutrino Oscillations with Neutral Current Coherent Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering

Light sterile neutrinos have been introduced as an explanation for a number of oscillation signals at $\Delta m^2 \sim 1$ eV$^2$. Neutrino oscillations at relatively short baselines provide a probe of these possible new states. This paper describes an accelerator-based experiment using neutral current coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering to strictly search for active-to-sterile neutrino oscillations. This experiment could, thus, definitively establish the existence of sterile neutrinos and provide constraints on their mixing parameters. A cyclotron-based proton beam can be directed to multiple targets, producing a low energy pion and muon decay-at-rest neutrino source with variable distance to a single detector. Two types of detectors are considered: a germanium-based detector inspired by the CDMS design and a liquid argon detector inspired by the proposed CLEAR experiment.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

Supersensitive PSA-Monitored neoadjuvant hormone treatment of clinically localized prostate cancer: Effects on positive margins, tumor detection and epithelial cells in bone marrow

Objective: The present study was done to investigate the effects of supersensitive PSA-controlled inductive treatment on positive margins, detection of tumor and epithelial cells in bone marrow of 101 patients with untreated and clinically localized prostatic carcinoma (cT1-3N0M0). Methods: Hormonal treatment was given until PSA (DPD Immulite(R) third-generation assay) reached 0.3 ng/ml in only 1 case. Of the 101 patients, 82 had a measurable hypoic lesion on initial transrectal ultrasound. 84% of these became smaller, 7.5% remained unchanged and 8.5% increased. Of the 101 prostatectomy specimens, 20 (20%) were margin-positive. The incidence of affected margins was relatively high (35% from 55 patients) with cT3 tumors, but almost negligible (2% from 46 patients) in cT1-2 tumor. Our pathologists, despite their great experience in evaluating hormonally treated prostates (>500 cases) and using immunohistochemical staining, were unable to detect carcinoma in 15 (15%) specimens. Whereas only 2 (4%) of the 55 cT3 specimens were without detectable tumor, this incidence rised to 28% (13 of 46 prostates) in patients with cT1-2 tumors. Of the initial 29 patients with epithelial cells in bone marrow, only 4 (14%) remained positive after controlled induction and all of them had fewer cells than before. Conclusion: Endocrine induction controlled by a supersensitive PSA assay and continued until reaching PSA nadir is highly effective in clearing surgical margins and eliminating tumor cells from bone marrow. It seems to be clearly superior to the conventional 3 months of pretreatment at least in cT1-2 tumors in respect to surgical margins and detectability of tumor in the resected prostate. A definitive statement about the value of endocrine induction can only be given by prospective randomized studies, with optimal drugs, doses and treatment time. But the conventional 3 months of pretreatment are far from exploiting the possibilities of this therapeutic option

Cyclotrons as Drivers for Precision Neutrino Measurements

As we enter the age of precision measurement in neutrino physics, improved flux sources are required. These must have a well-defined flavor content with energies in ranges where backgrounds are low and cross section knowledge is high. Very few sources of neutrinos can meet these requirements. However, pion/muon and isotope decay-at-rest sources qualify. The ideal drivers for decay-at-rest sources are cyclotron accelerators, which are compact and relatively inexpensive. This paper describes a scheme to produce decay-at-rest sources driven by such cyclotrons, developed within the DAEdALUS program. Examples of the value of the high precision beams for pursuing Beyond Standard Model interactions are reviewed. New results on a combined DAEdALUS--Hyper-K search for CP-violation that achieve errors on the mixing matrix parameter of 4 degrees to 12 degrees are presented.Comment: This paper was invited by the journal Advances in High Energy Physics for their upcoming special issue on "Neutrino Masses and Oscillations," which will be published on the 100th anniversary of Pontecorvo's birt

ArgoNeuT, a liquid argon time projection chamber in a low energy neutrino beam

ArgoNeuT (Argon Neutrino Test), a NSF/DOE project at Fermilab, is the first LArTPC to go in a low energy neutrino beam and just the second LArTPC to go in a neutrino beam ever. ArgoNeuT sits just upstream of the on-axis MINOS near detector in the NuMI beamline, about 1 km from the target station and 100 m underground. The detector features a 47X40X90 cm (169 L) active volume TPC with a fully contained recirculation and purification system. Among other physics, ArgoNeuT will measure the charged-current quasi-elastic (anti-) neutrino cross section on argon at an energy of ~3 GeV.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Topics in Astroparticle and Underground Physics (TAUP 2009), Rome, Italy, 1-5 July 200