Mass-squared Splitting Research Articles

First Constraints on Light Sterile Neutrino Oscillations from Combined Appearance and Disappearance Searches with the MicroBooNE Detector.

We present a search for eV-scale sterile neutrino oscillations in the MicroBooNE liquid argon detector, simultaneously considering all possible appearance and disappearance effects within the 3+1 active-to-sterile neutrino oscillation framework. We analyze the neutrino candidate events for the recent measurements of charged-current ν_{e} and ν_{μ} interactions in the MicroBooNE detector, using data corresponding to an exposure of 6.37×10^{20} protons on target from the Fermilab booster neutrino beam. We observe no evidence of light sterile neutrino oscillations and derive exclusion contours at the 95% confidence level in the plane of the mass-squared splitting Δm_{41}^{2} and the sterile neutrino mixing angles θ_{μe} and θ_{ee}, excluding part of the parameter space allowed by experimental anomalies. Cancellation of ν_{e} appearance and ν_{e} disappearance effects due to the full 3+1 treatment of the analysis leads to a degeneracy when determining the oscillation parameters, which is discussed in this Letter and will be addressed by future analyses.

Cascade appearance signatures of sterile neutrinos at 1–100 TeV

Neutrino telescopes provide strong sensitivity to sterile neutrino oscillations through matter-enhanced oscillation, occurring in the few TeV energy range for eV$^{2}$-scale neutrino mass-squared splittings. Prior searches have focused on $\nu_\mu$ disappearance, which has a particularly strong sensitivity to the mixing angle $\theta_{24}$ via $\nu_\mu\rightarrow\nu_s$ transitions. Nowadays, the $\nu_\mu\rightarrow\nu_e$ and $\nu_\mu\rightarrow\nu_\tau$ appearance channels have been considered less promising at neutrino telescopes, due in part to the much smaller target volume for cascades relative to tracks. This work explores the detectability of these signatures at neutrino telescopes given present constraints on sterile neutrino mixing, and as an example, forecasts the sensitivity of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory to the mixing angles $\theta_{14}$, $\theta_{24}$, and $\theta_{34}$ in the 3+1 sterile neutrino model using the cascade channel with ten years of data. We find that $\nu_\tau$ appearance signatures consistent with the existing IceCube $\nu_\mu$ disappearance best-fit point are discoverable for values of $\theta_{34}$ consistent with world constraints, and that the sterile neutrino parameters favored by the BEST and gallium anomalies are expected to be testable at the 95\% confidence level.

Improved Constraints on Sterile Neutrino Mixing from Disappearance Searches in the MINOS, MINOS+, Daya Bay, and Bugey-3 Experiments.

Searches for electron antineutrino, muon neutrino, and muon antineutrino disappearance driven by sterile neutrino mixing have been carried out by the Daya Bay and MINOS+ collaborations. This Letter presents the combined results of these searches, along with exclusion results from the Bugey-3 reactor experiment, framed in a minimally extended four-neutrino scenario. Significantly improved constraints on the θ_{μe} mixing angle are derived that constitute the most constraining limits to date over five orders of magnitude in the mass-squared splitting Δm_{41}^{2}, excluding the 90%C.L. sterile-neutrino parameter space allowed by the LSND and MiniBooNE observations at 90%CL_{s} for Δm_{41}^{2}<13 eV^{2}. Furthermore, the LSND and MiniBooNE 99%C.L. allowed regions are excluded at 99% CL_{s} for Δm_{41}^{2}<1.6 eV^{2}.

Rephasing Invariant for Three-Neutrino Oscillations Governed by a Non-Hermitian Hamiltonian

Time-reversal symmetry is broken for mixed and possibly unstable Dirac neutrino propagation through absorbing media. This implies that interplay between the neutrino mixing, refraction, absorption and/or decay can be described by non-Hermitian quantum dynamics. We derive an identity which sets up direct connection between the fundamental neutrino parameters (mixing angles, CP-violating phase, mass-squared splittings) in vacuum and their effective counterparts in matter.

Independent measurement of muon neutrino and antineutrino oscillations at the INO–ICAL experiment

The magnetized iron calorimeter detector at the India-based neutrino observatory (INO) has a unique feature to identify the neutrinos and antineutrinos on an event by event basis. This feature can be harnessed to detect the differences between the oscillation parameters of neutrinos and antineutrinos independently. In this paper, we analyzed charged current νμ and events under the influence of earth matter effect using three neutrino flavor oscillation framework. If the atmospheric mass-squared differences and mixing parameters for neutrinos are different from antineutrinos, we present the prospects for the experimental observation of these differences in atmospheric ν and oscillations at INO. We estimate the detector sensitivity to confirm a non-zero difference in the mass-squared splittings () for neutrinos and antineutrinos.

Results from the NOvA Experiment

The NOvA experiment is a long-baseline accelerator-based neutrino oscillation experiment. It uses the upgraded NuMI beam from Fermilab to measure electron-neutrino appearance and muon-neutrino disappearance between the Near Detector, located at Fermilab, and the Far Detector, located at Ash River, Minnesota. The NuMI beam has recently reached and surpassed the 700 kW power benchmark. NOvA’s primary physics goals include precision measurements of oscillation parameters, such as [Formula: see text] and the atmospheric mass-squared splitting, along with probes of the mass hierarchy and of the CP violating phase. This talk will present the latest NOvA results, based on a neutrino beam exposure equivalent to [Formula: see text] protons-on-target.

A search for muon neutrino to electron neutrino oscillation mediated by sterile neutrinos in MINOS+

The MINOS experiment made precision measurements of the neutrino oscillation parameters that are governed by the atmospheric mass-squared splitting. These measurements were made with data that were collected while the NuMI muon neutrino beam operated in a low energy mode that peaks around 3 GeV. Today the NuMI beam is running with a higher energy mode that produces a neutrino energy spectrum that peaks around 7 GeV, allowing the MINOS+ experiment to probe neutrino oscillation phenomena that could potentially be governed by a fourth mass-squared splitting. If observed, the presence of a fourth mass-squared splitting would be compelling evidence for a sterile neutrino state. In this analysis, we will present the results of a search for νµ → νe oscillation mediated by sterile neutrinos in MINOS+. The results will be contrasted against the measurements made by the LSND experiment.

New results from MINOS and MINOS+

The MINOS and MINOS+ experiment consists of two magnetised steel-scintillator tracking calorimeters, observing flavour change in the NuMI beam over 735 km. With eleven years of data from both νμ and beam modes, in configurations with peak energies at 3 GeV and 7 GeV, the experiment has made precision measurements of neutrino oscillation parameters and performed a number searches for new physics in the neutrino sector. These proceedings present a set of new results covering a range of topics. The largest neutrino mass-squared splitting is measured to be (2.42 ± 0.09) × 10−3 eV2 assuming the normal mass hierarchy and assuming the inverted mass hierarchy. Searches for sterile neutrinos and antineutrinos are presented, setting limits on the mixing angle θ24 over six orders of magnitude in the mass-squared splitting . The neutrino limits constrain sin2 θ24 < 0.022 and sin2 θ34 < 0.28 at , both at 95% CL. Limits are set on the possible size of a large extra dimension, R < 0.17 μm (90% CL), assuming the lightest neutrino state has zero mass. Limits are set on the parameter εeτ of a model of non-standard neutrino interactions. A search for non-standard appearance of electron neutrinos above 6 GeV observes 78 events, compared to an expectation of 56.7, and is interpreted as a limit on the PMNS matrix element combination 4|Uμ4|2|Ue4|2 in a sterile neutrino model. Finally, a combination of the MINOS νμ disappearance search with disappearance searches from Daya Bay and Bugey-3 excludes the parameter space allowed by LSND and MiniBooNE for at 90% CL.

Prospects for neutrino spin coherence in supernovae

We present neutrino bulb model simulations of Majorana neutrino coherent spin transformation (i.e., neutrino-antineutrino transformation), coupled to neutrino flavor evolution, for conditions corresponding to the neutronization burst epoch of an Oxygen-Neon-Magnesium (O-Ne-Mg) core collapse supernova. Significant neutrino spin transformation in, for example, the neutronization burst, could alter the fluences of neutrinos and antineutrinos in a way which is potentially detectable for a Galactic core collapse supernova. Our calculations for the first time incorporate geometric dilution in the spin evolution of the neutrinos and combine two-flavor and three-flavor evolution with spin mixing physics. We find that significant spin transformations can occur, but only with a large neutrino luminosity and an electron fraction ($Y_e$) profile which facilitates adiabatic conditions for the spin-channel resonance. Using our adopted parameters of neutrino energy spectra, luminosity, density and $Y_e$ profiles, our calculations require an unrealistically large neutrino rest mass to sustain the spin transformation. It is an open question whether examining different density profiles or incorporating other sources of nonlinear feedback, such as $Y_e$ feedback, could mitigate this need. We find that spin transformations are not sensitive to the flavor structure of neutrinos, i.e., the spin transformations occur regardless of whether we simulate two- or three-flavor transformations. In the two-flavor case, spin transformations were insensitive to the choice of solar or atmospheric mass-squared splitting as well as the choice of the Majorana phase. Importantly, our three-flavor simulations, as well as our two-flavor simulations done with the atmospheric mass-squared splitting, show that the inclusion of spin degrees of freedom can significantly and qualitatively alter neutrino flavor evolution.

Limits on Active to Sterile Neutrino Oscillations from Disappearance Searches in the MINOS, Daya Bay, and Bugey-3 Experiments.

Searches for a light sterile neutrino have been performed independently by the MINOS and the Daya Bay experiments using the muon (anti)neutrino and electron antineutrino disappearance channels, respectively. In this Letter, results from both experiments are combined with those from the Bugey-3 reactor neutrino experiment to constrain oscillations into light sterile neutrinos. The three experiments are sensitive to complementary regions of parameter space, enabling the combined analysis to probe regions allowed by the Liquid Scintillator Neutrino Detector (LSND) and MiniBooNE experiments in a minimally extended four-neutrino flavor framework. Stringent limits on sin^{2}2θ_{μe} are set over 6 orders of magnitude in the sterile mass-squared splitting Δm_{41}^{2}. The sterile-neutrino mixing phase space allowed by the LSND and MiniBooNE experiments is excluded for Δm_{41}^{2}<0.8 eV^{2} at 95% CL_{s}.

Solar neutrino measurements in Super-Kamiokande-IV

Upgraded electronics, improved water system dynamics, better calibration and analysis techniques allowed Super-Kamiokande-IV to clearly observe very low-energy 8B solar neutrino interactions, with recoil electron kinetic energies as low as 3.49 MeV. Super-Kamiokande-IV data-taking began in September of 2008; this paper includes data until February 2014, a total livetime of 1664 days. The measured solar neutrino flux is (2.308+-0.020(stat.) + 0.039-0.040(syst.)) x 106/(cm2sec) assuming no oscillations. The observed recoil electron energy spectrum is consistent with no distortions due to neutrino oscillations. An extended maximum likelihood fit to the amplitude of the expected solar zenith angle variation of the neutrino-electron elastic scattering rate in SK-IV results in a day/night asymmetry of (-3.6+-1.6(stat.)+-0.6(syst.))%. The SK-IV solar neutrino data determine the solar mixing angle as sin2 theta_12 = 0.327+0.026-0.031, all SK solar data (SK-I, SK-II, SK III and SKIV) measures this angle to be sin2 theta_12 = 0.334+0.027-0.023, the determined mass-squared splitting is Delta m2_21 = 4.8+1.5-0.8 x10-5 eV2.

Reactor neutrino experiments: θ13 and beyond

We review the current-generation short-baseline reactor neutrino experiments that have firmly established the third neutrino mixing angle θ13 to be nonzero. The relative large value of θ13 (around 9°) has opened many new and exciting opportunities for future neutrino experiments. Daya Bay experiment with the first measurement of [Formula: see text] is aiming for a precision measurement of this atmospheric mass-squared splitting with a comparable precision as [Formula: see text] from accelerator muon neutrino experiments. JUNO, a next-generation reactor neutrino experiment, is targeting to determine the neutrino mass hierarchy (MH) with medium baselines (~ 50 km). Beside these opportunities enabled by the large θ13, the current-generation (Daya Bay, Double Chooz, and RENO) and the next-generation (JUNO, RENO-50, and PROSPECT) reactor experiments, with their unprecedented statistics, are also leading the precision era of the three-flavor neutrino oscillation physics as well as constraining new physics beyond the neutrino Standard Model.

Precise measurement of the neutrino mixing parameter θ23 from muon neutrino disappearance in an off-axis beam.

New data from the T2K neutrino oscillation experiment produce the most precise measurement of the neutrino mixing parameter θ23. Using an off-axis neutrino beam with a peak energy of 0.6 GeV and a data set corresponding to 6.57×10(20) protons on target, T2K has fit the energy-dependent νμ oscillation probability to determine oscillation parameters. The 68% confidence limit on sin(2)(θ23) is 0.514(-0.056)(+0.055) (0.511±0.055), assuming normal (inverted) mass hierarchy. The best-fit mass-squared splitting for normal hierarchy is Δm32(2)=(2.51±0.10)×10(-3) eV(2)/c(4) (inverted hierarchy: Δm13(2)=(2.48±0.10)×10(-3) eV(2)/c(4)). Adding a model of multinucleon interactions that affect neutrino energy reconstruction is found to produce only small biases in neutrino oscillation parameter extraction at current levels of statistical uncertainty.

Constraints on very light sterile neutrinos from θ 13-sensitive reactor experiments

Three dedicated reactor experiments, Double Chooz, RENO and Daya Bay, have recently performed a precision measurement of the third standard mixing angle $\theta_{13}$ exploiting a multiple baseline comparison of $\nu_e \to \nu_e$ disappearance driven by the atmospheric mass-squared splitting. In this paper we show how the same technique can be used to put stringent limits on the oscillations of the electron neutrino into a fourth very light sterile species (VLS$\nu$) characterized by a mass-squared difference lying in the range [$10^{-3} - 10^{-1}$] eV$^2$. We present accurate constraints on the admixture $|U_{e4}|^2$ obtained by a 4-flavor analysis of the publicly available reactor data. In addition, we show that the estimate of $\theta_{13}$ obtained by the combination of the three reactor experiments is rather robust and substantially independent of the 4-flavor-induced perturbations provided that the new mass-squared splitting is not too low ($\gtrsim 6 \times 10^{-3}$ eV$^2$). We briefly comment on the possible impact of VLS$\nu$'s on the rest of the neutrino oscillation phenomenology and emphasize their potential role in the cosmological "dark radiation" anomaly.

Double Chooz: Results and Perspectives

The Double Chooz experiment has been observing ν¯e from two reactor cores at the Chooz nuclear power station in Ardennes, France, with a single 10.3 m3 fiducial volume Gd-doped liquid scintillator detector at a flux-weighted average baseline of ∼1050 m. This article reviews results achieved with a detector live time of 227.93 days and exposure of 33.71 GW-ton-years. A total of 8,249 candidate ν¯e events have been observed, compared to an expected 8,937 events in the null-oscillation case: this deficit is interpreted as evidence for ν¯e disappearance. A fit to the observed neutrino rate and spectral shape gives a best-fit value of sin2(2θ13)=0.109±0.030(stat.)±0.025(syst.) at a mass-squared splitting of Δm312=2.32×10−3 eV2. The null-oscillation hypothesis is excluded by the data at 99.8% CL (2.9σ). The Double Chooz Near Detector is under construction, and analysis efforts to measure neutrino directionality, test Lorentz violation, and measure backgrounds in situ are underway.

Physics goals and sensitivity of NOvA

NOvA is an accelerator neutrino oscillation experiment designed to make precise measurements of the neutrino mixing parameters associated with the atmospheric mass-squared splitting. By studying oscillations along a 810 km baseline, NOvA has the potential to produce measurements that are sensitive θ 13 , δ CP , and the neutrino mass hierarchy. In addition, NOvA can perform precision measurements of the value of θ 23 and the magnitude of Δ m 32 2 .

MINOS andCPT-violating neutrinos

We review the status of CPT violation in the neutrino sector. Apart from LSND, current data favors three flavors of light stable neutrinos and antineutrinos, with both halves of the spectrum having one smaller mass splitting and one larger mass splitting. Oscillation data for the smaller splitting is consistent with CPT. For the larger splitting, current data favor an antineutrino mass-squared splitting that is an order of magnitude larger than the corresponding neutrino splitting, with the corresponding mixing angle less-than-maximal. This CPT-violating spectrum is driven by recent results from MINOS, but is consistent with other experiments if we ignore LSND. We describe an analysis technique which, together with MINOS running optimized for muon antineutrinos, should be able to conclusively confirm the CPT-violating spectrum proposed here, with as little as three times the current data set. If confirmed, the CPT-violating neutrino mass-squared difference would be an order of magnitude less than the current most-stringent upper bound on CPT violation for quarks and charged leptons.

Search for Active Neutrino Disappearance Using Neutral-Current Interactions in the MINOS Long-Baseline Experiment

We report the first detailed comparisons of the rates and spectra of neutral-current neutrino interactions at two widely separated locations. A depletion in the rate at the far site would indicate mixing between nu(mu) and a sterile particle. No anomalous depletion in the reconstructed energy spectrum is observed. Assuming oscillations occur at a single mass-squared splitting, a fit to the neutral- and charged-current energy spectra limits the fraction of nu(mu) oscillating to a sterile neutrino to be below 0.68 at 90% confidence level. A less stringent limit due to a possible contribution to the measured neutral-current event rate at the far site from nu(e) appearance at the current experimental limit is also presented.

Atmospheric neutrinos as probes of neutrino-matter interactions

Neutrino oscillation experiments provide a unique tool for probing neutrino-matter interactions, especially those involving the tau neutrino. We describe the sensitivity of the present atmospheric neutrino data to these interactions in the framework of a three-flavor analysis. Compared to the two-flavor ${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{\ensuremath{\mu}}\ensuremath{-}{\ensuremath{\nu}}_{\ensuremath{\tau}}$ analyses, we find qualitatively new features, in particular, that large nonstandard interactions, comparable in strength to those in the Standard Model, can be consistent with the data. The existence of such interactions could imply a smaller value of the neutrino mixing angle and larger value of the mass-squared splitting than in the case of standard interactions only. This and other effects of nonstandard interactions may be tested in the next several years by MINOS, KamLAND, and solar neutrino experiments.

Neutrino mass induced radiatively by supersymmetric leptoquarks

We show how nonzero Majorana neutrino masses can be radiatively generated by extending the MSSM with leptoquark chiral multiplets without violating R-parity. It is found that, with these particles, the R-parity conservation does not imply lepton number conservation. Neutrino masses generated at a one-loop level are closely related to the down quark mass matrix. The ratio of neutrino mass-squared splittings Δm 2 ν 2– ν 1 / Δm 2 ν 3– ν 2 obtained is naturally close to Δm 2 s− d / Δm 2 b− s ∼10 −3 which is in the right region required to explain both the atmospheric neutrino data and the MSW solutions for the solar neutrino data.