Neutrino-electron scattering in noncommutative space

Neutral particles can couple with the $U(1)$ gauge field in the adjoint representation at the tree level if the space-time coordinates are noncommutative (NC). Considering neutrino-photon coupling in the NC QED framework, we obtain the differential cross section of neutrino-electron scattering. Similar to the magnetic moment effect, one of the NC terms is proportional to $\frac 1 T$, where $T$ is the electron recoil energy. Therefore, this scattering provides a chance to achieve a stringent bound on the NC scale in low energy by improving the sensitivity to the smaller electron recoil energy.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figure

Search for astronomical neutrinos from blazar TXS 0506+056 in super-kamiokande

We report a search for astronomical neutrinos in the energy region from several GeV to TeV in the direction of the blazar TXS 0506+056 using the Super-Kamiokande detector following the detection of a 100 TeV neutrinos from the same location by the IceCube collaboration. Using Super-Kamiokande neutrino data across several data samples observed from 1996 April to 2018 February we have searched for both a total excess above known backgrounds across the entire period as well as localized excesses on smaller timescales in that interval. No significant excess nor significant variation in the observed event rate are found in the blazar direction. Upper limits are placed on the electron- and muon-neutrino fluxes at the 90% confidence level as 6.0 × 10−7 and 4.5 × 10−7–9.3 × 10−10 [erg cm−2 s−1], respectively

A Long Baseline Neutrino Oscillation Experiment Using J-PARC Neutrino Beam and Hyper-Kamiokande

Document submitted to 18th J-PARC PAC meeting in May 2014. 50 pages, 41 figuresDocument submitted to 18th J-PARC PAC meeting in May 2014. 50 pages, 41 figuresDocument submitted to 18th J-PARC PAC meeting in May 2014. 50 pages, 41 figuresHyper-Kamiokande will be a next generation underground water Cherenkov detector with a total (fiducial) mass of 0.99 (0.56) million metric tons, approximately 20 (25) times larger than that of Super-Kamiokande. One of the main goals of Hyper-Kamiokande is the study of $CP$ asymmetry in the lepton sector using accelerator neutrino and anti-neutrino beams. In this document, the physics potential of a long baseline neutrino experiment using the Hyper-Kamiokande detector and a neutrino beam from the J-PARC proton synchrotron is presented. The analysis has been updated from the previous Letter of Intent [K. Abe et al., arXiv:1109.3262 [hep-ex]], based on the experience gained from the ongoing T2K experiment. With a total exposure of 7.5 MW $\times$ 10$^7$ sec integrated proton beam power (corresponding to $1.56\times10^{22}$ protons on target with a 30 GeV proton beam) to a $2.5$-degree off-axis neutrino beam produced by the J-PARC proton synchrotron, it is expected that the $CP$ phase $\delta_{CP}$ can be determined to better than 19 degrees for all possible values of $\delta_{CP}$, and $CP$ violation can be established with a statistical significance of more than $3\,\sigma$ ($5\,\sigma$) for $76$ ($58$) of the $\delta_{CP}$ parameter space

Evaluation of gadolinium's action on water Cherenkov detector systems with EGADS

Used for both proton decay searches and neutrino physics, large water Cherenkov (WC) detectors have been very successful tools in particle physics. They are notable for their large masses and charged particle detection capabilities. While current WC detectors reconstruct charged particle tracks over a wide energy range, they cannot efficiently detect neutrons. Gadolinium (Gd) has the largest thermal neutron capture cross section of all stable nuclei and produces an 8 MeV gamma cascade that can be detected with high efficiency. Because of the many new physics opportunities that neutron tagging with a Gd salt dissolved in water would open up, a large-scale R&D program called EGADS was established to demonstrate this technique's feasibility. EGADS features all the components of a WC detector, chiefly a 200-ton stainless steel water tank furnished with 240 photo-detectors, DAQ, and a water system that removes all impurities in water while keeping Gd in solution. In this paper we discuss the milestones towards demonstrating the feasibility of this novel technique, and the features of EGADS in detail

Sensitivity of the T2K accelerator-based neutrino experiment with an Extended run to 20×102120\times10^{21} POT

18 pages, 4 figures18 pages, 4 figures18 pages, 4 figures18 pages, 4 figures18 pages, 4 figuresRecent measurements at the T2K experiment indicate that CP violation in neutrino mixing may be observed in the future by long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments. We explore the physics program of an extension to the currently approved T2K running of $7.8\times 10^{21}$ protons-on-target to $20\times 10^{21}$ protons-on-target,aiming at initial observation of CP violation with 3$\,\sigma$ or higher significance for the case of maximum CP violation. With accelerator and beam line upgrades, as well as analysis improvements, this program would occur before the next generation of long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments that are expected to start operation in 2026.We acknowledge the support of MEXT, Japan; NSERC (Grant No. SAPPJ-2014-00031), NRC and CFI, Canada; CEA and CNRS/IN2P3, France; DFG, Germany; INFN, Italy; National Science Centre (NCN), Poland; RSF, RFBR and MES, Russia; MINECO and ERDF funds, Spain; SNSF and SERI, Switzerland; STFC, UK; and DOE, USA. We also thank CERN for the UA1/NOMAD magnet, DESY for the HERA-B magnet mover system, NII for SINET4, the WestGrid and SciNet consortia in Compute Canada, and GridPP in the United Kingdom. In addition, participation of individual researchers and institutions has been further supported by funds from ERC (FP7), H2020 Grant No. RISE-GA644294-JENNIFER, EU; JSPS, Japan; Royal Society, UK; and the DOE Early Career program, USA. CNRS/IN2P3: Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueInstitut National de Physique Nucleaire et de Physique des Particules RSF: Russian Science Foundation MES: Ministry of Education and Science, Russia ERDF: European Regional Development Fund SNSF: Swiss National Science Foundation SER (should be SERI): State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovatio

Proposal for an Extended Run of T2K to 20×102120\times10^{21} POT

68 pages, 31 figures68 pages, 31 figures68 pages, 31 figuresRecent measurements by the T2K neutrino oscillation experiment indicate that CP violation in neutrino mixing may be observed in the future by long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments. We propose an extension to the currently approved T2K running from 7.8\times 10^{21}~\mbox{POT} to 20\times 10^{21}~\mbox{POT}, aiming at initial observation of CP violation with 3$\,\sigma$ or higher significance for the case of maximum CP violation. The program also contains a measurement of mixing parameters, $\theta_{23}$ and $\Delta m^2_{32}$, with a precision of 1.7$^\circ$ or better and 1%, respectively. With accelerator and beamline upgrades, as well as analysis improvements, this program would occur before the next generation of long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments that are expected to start operation in 2026

Measurement of the single pi(0) production rate in neutral current neutrino interactions on water

The single π0 production rate in neutral current neutrino interactions on water in a neutrino beam with a peak neutrino energy of 0.6 GeV has been measured using the PØD, one of the subdetectors of the T2K near detector. The production rate was measured for data taking periods when the PØD contained water (2.64×10(20) protons-on-target) and also periods without water (3.49×10(20) protons-on-target). A measurement of the neutral current single π0 production rate on water is made using appropriate subtraction of the production rate with water in from the rate with water out of the target region. The subtraction analysis yields 106 ± 41 ± 69 signal events where the uncertainties are statistical (stat.) and systematic (sys.) respectively. This is consistent with the prediction of 157 events from the nominal simulation. The measured to expected ratio is 0.68 ± 0.26 (stat) ± 0.44 (sys) ± 0.12 (flux). The nominal simulation uses a flux integrated cross section of 7.63×10(−39)cm(2) per nucleon with an average neutrino interaction energy of 1.3 GeV

Physics Potentials with the Second Hyper-Kamiokande Detector in Korea

We have conducted sensitivity studies on an alternative configuration of the Hyper-Kamiokande experiment by locating the 2nd Hyper-Kamiokande detector in Korea at $\sim$1100$-\$1300 km baseline. Having two detectors at different baselines improves sensitivity to leptonic CP violation, neutrino mass ordering as well as nonstandard neutrino interactions. There are several candidate sites in Korea with greater than 1 km high mountains ranged at an 1$-$3 degree off-axis angle. Thanks to larger overburden of the candidate sites in Korea, low energy physics, such as solar and supernova neutrino physics as well as dark matter search, is expected to be improved. In this paper sensitivity studies on the CP violation phase and neutrino mass ordering are performed using current T2K systematic uncertainties in most cases. We plan to improve our sensitivity studies in the near future with better estimation of our systematic uncertainties

First Measurement of the Muon Neutrino Charged Current Single Pion Production Cross Section on Water with the T2K Near Detector

The T2K off-axis near detector, ND280, is used to make the first differential cross section measurements of muon neutrino charged current single positive pion production on a water target at energies ${\sim}0.8$ GeV. The differential measurements are presented as a function of muon and pion kinematics, in the restricted phase-space defined by $p_{\pi^+}>200$MeV/c, $p_{\mu^-}>200$MeV/c, $\cos \theta_{\pi^+}>0.3$ and $\cos \theta_{\mu^-}>0.3$. The total flux integrated $\nu_\mu$ charged current single positive pion production cross section on water in the restricted phase-space is measured to be $\langle\sigma\rangle_\phi=4.25\pm0.48 (\mathrm{stat})\pm1.56 (\mathrm{syst})\times10^{-40} \mathrm{cm}^{2}/\mathrm{nucleon}$. The total cross section is consistent with the NEUT prediction ($5.03\times10^{-40} \mathrm{cm}^{2}/\mathrm{nucleon}$) and 2$\sigma$ lower than the GENIE prediction ($7.68\times10^{-40} \mathrm{cm}^{2}/\mathrm{nucleon}$). The differential cross sections are in good agreement with the NEUT generator. The GENIE simulation reproduces well the shapes of the distributions, but over-estimates the overall cross section normalization

Directionally accelerated detection of an unknown second reactor with antineutrinos for mid-field nonproliferation monitoring

When monitoring a reactor site for nuclear nonproliferation purposes, the presence of an unknown or hidden nuclear reactor could be obscured by the activities of a known reactor of much greater power nearby. Thus when monitoring reactor activities by the observation of antineutrino emissions, one must discriminate known background reactor fluxes from possible unknown reactor signals under investigation. To quantify this discrimination, we find the confidence to reject the (null) hypothesis of a single proximal reactor, by exploiting directional antineutrino signals in the presence of a second, unknown reactor. In particular, we simulate the inverse beta decay (IBD) response of a detector filled with a 1 kT fiducial mass of Gadolinium-doped liquid scintillator in mineral oil. We base the detector geometry on that of WATCHMAN, an upcoming antineutrino monitoring experiment soon to be deployed at the Boulby mine in the United Kingdom whose design and deployment will be detailed in a forthcoming white paper. From this simulation, we construct an analytical model of the IBD event distribution for the case of one 4 GWt±2% reactor 25 km away from the detector site, and for an additional, unknown, 35 MWt reactor 3 to 5 km away. The effects of natural-background rejection cuts are approximated. Applying the model, we predict 3σ confidence to detect the presence of an unknown reactor within five weeks, at standoffs of 3 km or nearer. For more distant unknown reactors, the 3σ detection time increases significantly. However, the relative significance of directional sensitivity also increases, providing up to an eight week speedup to detect an unknown reactor at 5 km away. Therefore, directionally sensitive antineutrino monitoring can accelerate the mid-field detection of unknown reactors whose operation might otherwise be masked by more powerful reactors in the vicinity