Abstract
The extent to which atmospheric neutrino interactions can mimic nucleon decay into modes with a strange particle in the final state is evaluated using nu/sub ..mu../-deuterium interactions recorded by the 12-Foot Bubble Chamber at the ANL Zero Gradient Synchrotron. Event distributions representative of atmospheric neutrinos with 1 < E/sub nu/ < 5 GeV are studied. Such neutrino interactions in massive underground detectors will yield K/sup 0/ and K/sup +/ mesons with respective rates of 1.5 +- 0.8 and 4.2 +- 2.3 per kiloton year. However, the neutrino-induced events have final-state invariant mass and net momentum which are distinctly different from the values that characterize nucleon decay. Consequently, at lifetime levels corresponding to ten kilton years of detector exposure, experimental searches capable of reconstructing these variables will not encounter substantial neutrino background for nucleon decay modes leading to K mesons in the final state. 24 refs, 4 figs.
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