Antineutrino Mode Research Articles

Indirect search of heavy neutral leptons using the DUNE near detector

We evaluate the potential of the DUNE near detector (DUNEND) for establishing bounds for heavy neutral leptons (HNLs). This is achieved by studying how the presence of HNLs affects the production rates of active neutrinos, therefore creating a deficit in the neutrino charged current (CC) events at the LArTPC of the DUNEND. The estimated bounds on HNLs are calculated for masses between 1 eV and 500 MeV. We consider 10 years of operation (five in neutrino and antineutrino modes) and obtain limits of |Uμ4|2 < 9 × 10−3 (4 × 10−2) and |Ue4|2 < 7 × 10−3 (3 × 10−2) for masses below 10 MeV and a 5% (20%) overall normalization uncertainty in the neutrino charged current event rate prediction. These limits, within the region of masses below 2 (10) MeV, are better than those that can be achieved by DUNE direct searches for the case of a 5% (20%) uncertainty. When a conservative 20% uncertainty is present, our limits can only improve current constraints on |Ue4|2 by up to a factor of 3 in a small region of approximately 5 eV and set limits on |Uμ4|2 in a mass region free of constraints (40 eV–1 MeV).

Impact of CP violation searches at MOMENT experiment with sterile neutrino

We examine the scope of the MOMENT experiment in the context of CP violation searches with the presence of extra eV scale sterile neutrino. MOMENT is a proposed medium baseline neutrino oscillation experiment using muon beams for neutrinos production, making it advantageous over π0 background and other technical difficulties. We work over the first oscillation maxima which matches the peak value of flux with a run time of 5 years for both neutrino and anti-neutrino modes. We perform the bi-probability studies for both 3 and 3+1 flavor mixing schemes. The CP violation sensitivities arising from the fundamental CP phase δ13 and unknown CP phase δ14 are explored at the firm footing. Slight deteriorations are observed in CP violations induced by δ13 as the presence of sterile neutrino is considered. We also look at the reconstruction of CP violations phases δ13 and δ14 and the MOMENT experiment shows significant capabilities in the precise measurement of δ13 phase.

Enhancing sensitivity to leptonic CP violation using complementarity among DUNE, T2HK, and T2HKK

After the landmark discovery of non-zero theta _{13} by the modern reactor experiments, unprecedented precision on neutrino mass-mixing parameters has been achieved over the past decade. This has set the stage for the discovery of leptonic CP violation (LCPV) at high confidence level in the next-generation long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments. In this work, we explore in detail the possible complementarity among the on-axis DUNE and off-axis T2HK experiments to enhance the sensitivity to LCPV suppressing the theta _{23}-delta _{textrm{CP}} degeneracy. We find that none of these experiments individually can achieve the milestone of 3sigma LCPV for at least 75% choices of delta _{textrm{CP}} in its entire range of [-180^{circ }, 180^{circ }], with their nominal exposures and systematic uncertainties. However, their combination can attain the same for all values of theta _{23} with only half of their nominal exposures. We observe that the proposed T2HKK setup in combination with DUNE can further increase the CP coverage to more than 80% with only half of their nominal exposures. We study in detail how the coverage in delta _{textrm{CP}} for ge 3sigma LCPV depends on the choice of theta _{23}, exposure, optimal runtime in neutrino and antineutrino modes, and systematic uncertainties in these experiments in isolation and combination. We find that with an improved systematic uncertainty of 2.7% in appearance mode, the standalone T2HK setup can provide a CP coverage of around 75% for all values of theta _{23}. We also discuss the pivotal role of intrinsic, extrinsic, and total CP asymmetries in the appearance channel and extrinsic CP asymmetries in the disappearance channel while analyzing our results.

First Measurement of Quasielastic Λ Baryon Production in Muon Antineutrino Interactions in the MicroBooNE Detector.

We present the first measurement of the cross section of Cabibbo-suppressed Λ 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 2.2×10^{20} protons on target running in neutrino mode, and 4.9×10^{20} protons on target running in anti-neutrino mode. An automated selection is combined with hand scanning, with the former identifying five candidate Λ production events when the signal was unblinded, consistent with the GENIE prediction of 5.3±1.1 events. Several scanners were employed, selecting between three and five events, compared with a prediction from a blinded MonteCarlo simulation study of 3.7±1.0 events. Restricting the phase space to only include Λ baryons that decay above MicroBooNE's detection thresholds, we obtain a flux averaged cross section of 2.0_{-1.7}^{+2.2}×10^{-40} cm^{2}/Ar, where statistical and systematic uncertainties are combined.

Search for Active-Sterile Antineutrino Mixing Using Neutral-Current Interactions with the NOvA Experiment.

This Letter reports results from the first long-baseline search for sterile antineutrinos mixing in an accelerator-based antineutrino-dominated beam. The rate of neutral-current interactions in the two NOvA detectors, at distances of 1 and 810km from the beam source, is analyzed using an exposure of 12.51×10^{20} protons-on-target from the NuMI beam at Fermilab running in antineutrino mode. A total of 121 of neutral-current candidates are observed at the far detector, compared to a prediction of 122±11(stat.)±15(syst.) assuming mixing only between three active flavors. No evidence for ν[over ¯]_{μ}→ν[over ¯]_{s} oscillation is observed. Interpreting this result within a 3+1 model, constraints are placed on the mixing angles θ_{24}<25° and θ_{34}<32° at the 90%C.L. for 0.05 eV^{2}≤Δm_{41}^{2}≤0.5 eV^{2}, the range of mass splittings that produces no significant oscillations at the near detector. These are the first 3+1 confidence limits set using long-baseline accelerator antineutrinos.

New interference effects from light gauge bosons in neutrino-electron scattering

We point out that light gauge boson mediators could induce new interference effects in neutrino-electron scattering that can be used to enhance the sensitivity of neutrino-flavor-selective high-intensity neutrino experiments, such as DUNE. We particularly emphasize a destructive interference effect, leading to a deficit between the Standard Model expectation and the experimental measurement of the differential cross-sections, which is prominent only in either the neutrino or the antineutrino mode, depending on the mediator couplings. Therefore, the individual neutrino (or antineutrino) mode could allow for sensitivity reaches superior to the combined analysis, and moreover, could distinguish between different types of gauge boson mediators.

Improved constraints on neutrino mixing from the T2K experiment with3.13×1021protons on target

The T2K experiment reports updated measurements of neutrino and antineutrino oscillations using both appearance and disappearance channels. This result comes from an exposure of $14.9~(16.4) \times 10^{20}$ protons on target in neutrino (antineutrino) mode. Significant improvements have been made to the neutrino interaction model and far detector reconstruction. An extensive set of simulated data studies have also been performed to quantify the effect interaction model uncertainties have on the T2K oscillation parameter sensitivity. T2K performs multiple oscillation analyses that present both frequentist and Bayesian intervals for the PMNS parameters. For fits including a constraint on \ssqthonethree from reactor data and assuming normal mass ordering T2K measures $\sin^2\theta_{23} = 0.53^{+0.03}_{-0.04}$ and $\Delta{}m^2_{32} = (2.45 \pm 0.07) \times 10^{-3}$ eV$^{2}$c$^{-4}$. The Bayesian analyses show a weak preference for normal mass ordering (89% posterior probability) and the upper $\sin^2\theta_{23}$ octant (80% posterior probability), with a uniform prior probability assumed in both cases. The T2K data exclude CP conservation in neutrino oscillations at the $2\sigma$ level.

Matter versus vacuum oscillations at long-baseline accelerator neutrino experiments

The neutrino oscillation probabilities at the long-baseline accelerator neutrino experiments are expected to be modified by matter effects. We search for evidence of such modification in the data of T2K and NO[Formula: see text]A, by fitting the data to the hypothesis of (a) matter modified oscillations and (b) vacuum oscillations. We find that vacuum oscillations provide as good a fit to the data as matter modified oscillations. Even extended runs of T2K and NO[Formula: see text]A, with five years in neutrino mode [Formula: see text] and five years in anti-neutrino mode [Formula: see text], cannot make a [Formula: see text] distinction between vacuum and matter modified oscillations. The future experiment DUNE, with neutrino and anti-neutrino runs of five years each [Formula: see text], can rule out vacuum oscillations by itself at [Formula: see text] if the hierarchy is normal. If the hierarchy is inverted, a [Formula: see text] discrimination against vacuum oscillations requires the combination of [Formula: see text] runs of T2K, NO[Formula: see text]A and DUNE.

Updated MiniBooNE neutrino oscillation results with increased data and new background studies

The MiniBooNE experiment at Fermilab reports a total excess of $638.0 \pm 132.8$ electron-like events ($4.8 \sigma$) from a data sample corresponding to $18.75 \times 10^{20}$ protons-on-target in neutrino mode, which is a 46\% increase in the data sample with respect to previously published results, and $11.27 \times 10^{20}$ protons-on-target in antineutrino mode. The additional statistics allow several studies to address questions on the source of the excess. First, we provide two-dimensional plots in visible energy and cosine of the angle of the outgoing lepton, which can provide valuable input to models for the event excess. Second, we test whether the excess may arise from photons that enter the detector from external events or photons exiting the detector from $\pi^0$ decays in two model independent ways. Beam timing information shows that almost all of the excess is in time with neutrinos that interact in the detector. The radius distribution shows that the excess is distributed throughout the volume, while tighter cuts on the fiducal volume increase the significance of the excess. We conclude that models of the event excess based on entering and exiting photons are disfavored.

T2K measurements of muon neutrino and antineutrino disappearance using 3.13×1021 protons on target

We report measurements by the T2K experiment of the parameters $\theta_{23}$ and $\Delta m^2_{32}$ which govern the disappearance of muon neutrinos and antineutrinos in the three-flavor PMNS neutrino oscillation model at T2K's neutrino energy and propagation distance. Utilizing the ability of the experiment to run with either a mainly neutrino or a mainly antineutrino beam, muon-like events from each beam mode are used to measure these parameters separately for neutrino and antineutrino oscillations. Data taken from $1.49 \times 10^{21}$ protons on target (POT) in neutrino mode and $1.64 \times 10^{21}$ POT in antineutrino mode are used. The best-fit values obtained by T2K were $\sin^2\left(\theta_{23}\right)=0.51^{+0.06}_{-0.07} \left(0.43^{+0.21}_{-0.05}\right)$ and $\Delta m^2_{32}=2.47^{+0.08}_{-0.09} \left(2.50^{+0.18}_{-0.13}\right)$\evmass for neutrinos (antineutrinos). No significant differences between the values of the parameters describing the disappearance of muon neutrinos and antineutrinos were observed. An analysis using an effective two-flavor neutrino oscillation model where the sine of the mixing angle is allowed to take non-physical values larger than 1 is also performed to check the consistency of our data with the three-flavor model. Our data were found to be consistent with a physical value for the mixing angle.

T2K Experiment: Latest Results and Prospects

The international accelerator neutrino experiment T2K (Tokai-to-Kamioka) began accumulating data in 2010 and has since then accomplished 10 runs in the neutrino and antineutrino modes. The present article reports on the latest results following from the analysis of these data and including the first ever 3 $$\sigma$$ constraints on the CP-violating phase $$\delta_{CP}$$ . Also, the plans for an upgrade of the near detector ND280 are surveyed.

Impact of high energy beam tunes on the sensitivities to the standard unknowns at DUNE

Even though neutrino oscillations have been conclusively established, there are a few unanswered questions pertaining to leptonic Charge Parity violation (CPV), mass hierarchy (MH) and $\theta_{23}$ octant degeneracy. Addressing these questions is of paramount importance at the current and future neutrino experiments including the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) which has a baseline of 1300 km. In the standard mode, DUNE is expected to run with a {\textit{low energy}} (LE) tuned beam which peaks around the first oscillation maximum ($2-3$ GeV) (and then sharply falls off as we go to higher energies). However, the wide band nature of the beam available at long baseline neutrino facility (LBNF) allows for the flexibility in utilizing beam tunes that are well-suited at higher energies as well. In this work, we utilize a beam that provides high statistics at higher energies which is referred to as the {\textit{medium energy}} (ME) beam. This opens up the possibility of exploring not only the usual oscillation channels but also the $\nu_{\mu} \to \nu_{\tau}$ oscillation channel which was otherwise not accessible. Our goal is to find an optimal combination of beam tune and runtime (with the total runtime held fixed) distributed in neutrino and antineutrino mode that leads to an improvement in the sensitivities of these parameters at DUNE. In our analysis, we incorporate all the three channels ($\nu_{\mu} \to \nu_{e}, \nu_{\mu} \to \nu_{\mu}, \nu_{\mu} \to \nu_{\tau}$) and develop an understanding of their relative contributions in sensitivities at the level of $\Delta \chi^2$. Finally, we obtain the preferred combination of runtime using both the beam tunes as well as neutrino and antineutrino mode that lead to enhanced sensitivity to the current unknowns in neutrino oscillation physics i.e., CPV, MH and $\theta_{23}$ octant.

Measurement of the charged-current electron (anti-)neutrino inclusive cross-sections at the T2K off-axis near detector ND280

The electron (anti-)neutrino component of the T2K neutrino beam constitutes the largest background in the measurement of electron (anti-)neutrino appearance at the far detector. The electron neutrino scattering is measured directly with the T2K off-axis near detector, ND280. The selection of the electron (anti-)neutrino events in the plastic scintillator target from both neutrino and anti-neutrino mode beams is discussed in this paper. The flux integrated single differential charged-current inclusive electron (anti-)neutrino cross-sections, dσ/dp and dσ/d cos(θ), and the total cross-sections in a limited phase-space in momentum and scattering angle (p > 300 MeV/c and θ ≤ 45°) are measured using a binned maximum likelihood fit and compared to the neutrino Monte Carlo generator predictions, resulting in good agreement.

First combined measurement of the muon neutrino and antineutrino charged-current cross section without pions in the final state at T2K

This paper presents the first combined measurement of the double-differential muon neutrino and antineutrino charged-current cross sections with no pions in the final state on hydrocarbon at the off-axis near detector of the T2K experiment. The data analyzed in this work comprise 5.8×1020 and 6.3×1020 protons on target in neutrino and antineutrino mode respectively, at a beam energy peak of 0.6 GeV. Using the two measured cross sections, the sum, difference, and asymmetry were calculated with the aim of better understanding the nuclear effects involved in such interactions. The extracted measurements have been compared with the prediction from different Monte Carlo generators and theoretical models showing that the difference between the two cross sections have interesting sensitivity to nuclear effects.27 MoreReceived 26 February 2020Accepted 5 May 2020DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.101.112001Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by SCOAP3.Published by the American Physical SocietyPhysics Subject Headings (PhySH)Research AreasNeutrino interactionsParticles & Fields

Recent T2K Neutrino Oscillation Results

T2K is a long baseline neutrino experiment producing a beam of muon neutrinos at the Japan Particle Accelerator Research Centre on the East coast of Japan and measuring their oscillated state 295 km away at the Super Kamiokande detector. Since, 2017 T2K has doubled its data in both neutrino and anti-neutrino beam modes. Coupled with improvements in analysis techniques, this has enabled the experiment to make world-leading measurements of the PMNS oscillation parameters , sin2(θ 23) and the CP violating phase δCP . In particular, the CP conserving values of δCP now appear to be disfavoured at the 95% CL and there are regions of parameter space excluded at the 99.7% CL. This talk will describe these results and the analysis improvements that have enabled them.

Latest oscillation results from T2K

T2K is a long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment built to measure νμ disappearance and νe appearance using the J-PARC neutrino beam and the Super-Kamiokande detector. Presented here are the first results in the search for CP violation in neutrino oscillations with a combined analysis of appearance and disappearance channels using data from both neutrino- and antineutrino-mode beams. The data included in this analysis comprises 7.48×1020 protons on target in neutrino mode, giving 37 electron-like and 135 muon-like events at the far detector, and 7.47 × 1020 protons on target in antineutrino mode, giving 4 electron-like and 66 muon-like events. Including a constraint on sin2(2θ13) from reactor measurements, the 90% confidence interval for δCP spans the range [-2.95, -0.44] for the normal mass hierarchy.

Neutrino tridents at DUNE

The DUNE near detector will collect an unprecedented large number of neutrino interactions, allowing the precise measurement of rare processes such as neutrino trident production, i.e. the generation of a lepton-antilepton pair through the scattering of a neutrino off a heavy nucleus. The event rate of this process is a powerful probe to a well-motivated parameter space of new physics beyond the Standard Model. In this paper, we perform a detailed sensitivity study of the DUNE near detector to neutrino tridents. We provide state-of-the-art predictions for the Standard Model cross sections and corresponding event rates at the near detector for the nu_mu -> nu_mu mu^+ mu^-, nu_mu -> nu_mu e^+e^- and nu_mu -> nu_e e^+ mu^- trident interactions (and the corresponding anti-neutrino modes), discussing their uncertainties. We analyze all relevant backgrounds, utilize a Geant4-based simulation of the DUNE-near detector liquid argon TPC (the official DUNE simulation at the time of writing this paper), and identify a set of selection cuts that would allow the DUNE near detector to measure the nu_mu -> nu_mu mu^+ mu^- cross section with a ~25% accuracy after running in neutrino and anti-neutrino modes for ~3 years each. This would lead to the most precise measurement of the trident process, surpassing the previous measurement by the CCFR collaboration. We show that this measurement would be highly sensitive to new physics, and, in particular, we find that the parameter space of models with gauged L_mu - L_tau that can explain the (g-2)_mu anomaly could be covered almost entirely. As a byproduct, a new Monte Carlo tool to generate neutrino trident events is made publicly available.

A comparative study between ESSnuSB and T2HK in determining the leptonic CP phase

In this paper, we perform a comparative analysis between the future proposed long-baseline experiments ESSnuSB and T2HK in measuring the leptonic CP phase [Formula: see text]. In particular, we study the effect of the neutrino mass ordering degeneracy and the leptonic mixing angle [Formula: see text] octant degeneracy in the measurement of leptonic CP violation and precision for both experiments. Since the ESSnuSB (T2HK) experiment probes the second (first) oscillation maximum to study neutrino oscillations, the effect of these degeneracies are significantly different in both experiments. Our main conclusion is that for the ESSnuSB experiment, the information on the neutrino mass ordering does not play a major role in the determination of [Formula: see text], which is not the case for the T2HK experiment. However, the information on the true octant compromises the CP sensitivity of the ESSnuSB experiment as compared to T2HK if [Formula: see text] lies in the lower octant. These conclusions are true for both the 540 km and 360 km baseline options for the ESSnuSB experiment. In addition, we investigate the effect of different running times in neutrino and antineutrino modes and the effect of [Formula: see text] precision in measuring [Formula: see text].

Testing quantum decoherence at DUNE

We address some theoretical issues of the quantum decoherence phenomenon within the neutrino oscillation framework and carry out various tests under DUNE simulated experimental environment. On the theoretical side, we provide a general expression for an invariant decoherence matrix under a quantum basis rotation. On the simulated experimental side, considering a rotation invariant and a non-invariant decoherence matrix, we study the impact on the fitting of the standard oscillation parameters, the sensitivity in the mass hierarchy and CP violation, combining the neutrino and antineutrino mode and all available neutrino oscillation probabilities channels. Furthermore, a sensitivity for the decoherence parameter of order $10^{-24}\text{GeV}$ at 3$\sigma$, is obtained for our best case.

Nonstandard Interactions and Prospects for Studying Standard Parameter Degeneracies in DUNE and T2HKK

The future long baseline experiments such as DUNE and T2HKK have promising prospects to determine the neutrino mass hierarchy and measuring standard CP phase δ. However, presence of possible nonstandard interactions of neutrinos with matter may intricate this picture and is the subject matter of the present work. We have studied the standard parameter degeneracies in presence of nonstandard interactions (NSI) with DUNE and T2HKK experiments. We examine the mass hierarchy degeneracy assuming (i) all NSI parameters to be nonzero and (ii) one NSI parameter (ϵeμ) and its corresponding CP phase (δeμ) to be nonzero. We find that the latter case is more appropriate to resolve mass hierarchy degeneracy with DUNE and T2HKK experiments due to relatively small uncertainties emanating from the NSI sector. We have, also, investigated the octant degeneracy with neutrino (νμ→νe) and antineutrino (ν¯μ→ν¯e) mode separately. We find that to resolve this degeneracy the long baseline experiment with combination of neutrino and antineutrino mode is essential. Furthermore, we have considered DUNE in conjunction with T2HKK experiment to study CP phase degeneracy due to standard (δ) and nonstandard (δeμ) CP phases. We find that DUNE and T2HKK, in conjunction, have more sensitivity for CP violation effects (10σ for true NH and 8.2σ for true IH).