First measurement of quasi-elastic Λ\Lambda baryon production in muon anti-neutrino interactions in the MicroBooNE detector

We present the first measurement of the cross section of Cabibbo-suppressed $\Lambda$ baryon production, using data collected with the MicroBooNE detector when exposed to the neutrinos from the Main Injector beam at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. The data analyzed correspond to $2.2 \times 10^{20}$ protons on target of neutrino mode running and $4.9 \times 10^{20}$ protons on target of anti-neutrino mode running. An automated selection is combined with hand scanning, with the former identifying five candidate $\Lambda$ production events when the signal was unblinded, consistent with the GENIE prediction of $5.3 \pm 1.1$ events. Several scanners were employed, selecting between three and five events, compared with a prediction from a blinded Monte Carlo simulation study of $3.7 \pm 1.0$ events. Restricting the phase space to only include $\Lambda$ baryons that decay above MicroBooNE's detection thresholds, we obtain a flux averaged cross section of $2.0^{+2.2}_{-1.7} \times 10^{-40}$ cm$^2/$Ar, where statistical and systematic uncertainties are combined

First demonstration of O(1 ns)\mathcal{O}(1\,\text{ns}) timing resolution in the MicroBooNE liquid argon time projection chamber

MicroBooNE is a neutrino experiment located in the Booster Neutrino Beamline (BNB) at Fermilab, which collected data from 2015 to 2021. MicroBooNE's liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) is accompanied by a photon detection system consisting of 32 photomultiplier tubes used to measure the argon scintillation light and determine the timing of neutrino interactions. Analysis techniques combining light signals and reconstructed tracks are applied to achieve a neutrino interaction time resolution of $\mathcal{O}(1\,\text{ns})$. The result obtained allows MicroBooNE to access the ns neutrino pulse structure of the BNB for the first time. The timing resolution achieved will enable significant enhancement of cosmic background rejection for all neutrino analyses. Furthermore, the ns timing resolution opens new avenues to search for long-lived-particles such as heavy neutral leptons in MicroBooNE, as well as in future large LArTPC experiments, namely the SBN program and DUNE

First Measurement of Differential Cross Sections for Muon Neutrino Charged Current Interactions on Argon with a Two-proton Final State in the MicroBooNE Detector

We present the first measurement of differential cross sections for charged-current muon neutrino interactions on argon with one muon, two protons, and no pions in the final state. Such interactions leave the target nucleus in a two-particle two-hole state; these states are of great interest, but currently there is limited information about their production in neutrino-nucleus interactions. Detailed investigations of the production of two-particle two-hole states are vital to support upcoming experiments exploring the nature of the neutrino, and the development of the liquid-argon time-projection-chamber has made possible the isolation of such final states. The opening angle between the two protons, the angle between the total proton momentum and the muon, and the total transverse momentum of the final state system are sensitive to the underlying physics processes as embodied in a variety of models. Realistic initial-state momentum distributions are shown to be important in reproducing the data.Comment: To be submitted to PR

Measurement of triple-differential inclusive muon-neutrino charged-current cross section on argon with the MicroBooNE detector

We report the first measurement of the differential cross section $d^{2}\sigma (E_{\nu})/ d\cos(\theta_{\mu}) dP_{\mu}$ for inclusive muon-neutrino charged-current scattering on argon. This measurement utilizes data from 6.4$\times10^{20}$ protons on target of exposure collected using the MicroBooNE liquid argon time projection chamber located along the Fermilab Booster Neutrino Beam with a mean neutrino energy of approximately 0.8~GeV. The mapping from reconstructed kinematics to truth quantities, particularly from reconstructed to true neutrino energy, is validated by comparing the distribution of reconstructed hadronic energy in data to that of the model prediction in different muon scattering angle bins after conditional constraint from the muon momentum distribution in data. The success of this validation gives confidence that the missing energy in the MicroBooNE detector is well-modeled in simulation, enabling the unfolding to a triple-differential measurement over muon momentum, muon scattering angle, and neutrino energy. The unfolded measurement covers an extensive phase space, providing a wealth of information useful for future liquid argon time projection chamber experiments measuring neutrino oscillations. Comparisons against a number of commonly used model predictions are included and their performance in different parts of the available phase-space is discussed

Search for heavy neutral leptons in electron-positron and neutral-pion final states with the MicroBooNE detector

We present the first search for heavy neutral leptons (HNL) decaying into $\nu e^+e^-$ or $\nu\pi^0$ final states in a liquid-argon time projection chamber using data collected with the MicroBooNE detector. The data were recorded synchronously with the NuMI neutrino beam from Fermilab's Main Injector corresponding to a total exposure of $7.01 \times 10^{20}$ protons on target. We set upper limits at the $90\%$ confidence level on the mixing parameter $\lvert U_{\mu 4}\rvert^2$ in the mass ranges $10\le m_{\rm HNL}\le 150$ MeV for the $\nu e^+e^-$ channel and $150\le m_{\rm HNL}\le 245$ MeV for the $\nu\pi^0$ channel, assuming $\lvert U_{e 4}\rvert^2 = \lvert U_{\tau 4}\rvert^2 = 0$. These limits represent the most stringent constraints in the mass range $35<m_{\rm HNL}<175$ MeV and the first constraints from a direct search for $\nu\pi^0$ decays.Comment: Version as accepted by Physical Review Letters, some presentational changes and updated references, no changes to result

Measurement of neutral current single π0\pi^0 production on argon with the MicroBooNE detector

We report the first measurement of $\pi^0$ production in neutral current (NC) interactions on argon with average neutrino energy of $\lesssim1$~GeV. We use data from the MicroBooNE detector's 85-tonne active volume liquid argon time projection chamber situated in Fermilab's Booster Neutrino Beam and exposed to $5.89\times10^{20}$ protons on target for this measurement. Measurements of NC $\pi^0$ events are reported for two exclusive event topologies without charged pions. Those include a topology with two photons from the decay of the $\pi^0$ and one proton and a topology with two photons and zero protons. Flux-averaged cross-sections for each exclusive topology and for their semi-inclusive combination are extracted (efficiency-correcting for two-plus proton final states), and the results are compared to predictions from the \textsc{genie}, \textsc{neut}, and \textsc{NuWro} neutrino event generators. We measure cross sections of $1.243\pm0.185$ (syst) $\pm0.076$ (stat), $0.444\pm0.098\pm0.047$, and $0.624\pm0.131\pm0.075$ $[10^{-38}\textrm{cm}^2/\textrm{Ar}]$ for the semi-inclusive NC$\pi^0$, exclusive NC$\pi^0$+1p, and exclusive NC$\pi^0$+0p processes, respectively.Comment: 16 pages, 14 figures, 2 table