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1. Expanding neutrino oscillation parameter measurements in NOvA using a Bayesian approach

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.110.012005  

   Acero, M A; Acharya, B; Adamson, P; Anfimov, N; Antoshkin, A; Arrieta-Diaz, E; Asquith, L; Aurisano, A; Back, A; Balashov, N; et al (July 2024, Physical Review D)

   NOvA is a long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment that measures oscillations in charged-current ${\nu }_{\mu }\to {\nu }_{\mu }$(disappearance) and ${\nu }_{\mu }\to {\nu }_e$(appearance) channels, and their antineutrino counterparts, using neutrinos of energies around 2 GeV over a distance of 810 km. In this work we reanalyze the dataset first examined in our previous paper [] using an alternative statistical approach based on Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo. We measure oscillation parameters consistent with the previous results. We also extend our inferences to include the first NOvA measurements of the reactor mixing angle ${\theta }_{13}$, where we find $0.071\le {\sin }^{2}2{\theta }_{13}\le 0.107$, and the Jarlskog invariant, where we observe no significant preference for the $CP$-conserving value $J=0$over values favoring $CP$violation. We use these results to examine the effects of constraints from short-baseline measurements of ${\theta }_{13}$using antineutrinos from nuclear reactors when making NOvA measurements of ${\theta }_{23}$. Our long-baseline measurement of ${\theta }_{13}$is shown to be consistent with the reactor measurements, supporting the general applicability and robustness of the Pontecorvo-Maki-Nakagawa-Sakata framework for neutrino oscillations. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

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2. Search for a heavy neutral lepton that mixes predominantly with the tau neutrino

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.109.L111102  

   Nayak, M; Dey, S; Soffer, A; Adachi, I; Aihara, H; Al_Said, S; Asner, D M; Atmacan, H; Ayad, R; Babu, V; et al (June 2024, Physical Review D)

   We report a search for a heavy neutral lepton (HNL) that mixes predominantly with ${\nu }_{\tau }$. The search utilizes data collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric energy $e^{+}{e}^{-}$collider. The data sample was collected at and just below the center-of-mass energies of the $\mathrm{\Upsilon }\left(4S\right)$and $\mathrm{\Upsilon }\left(5S\right)$resonances and has an integrated luminosity of $915{\mathrm{fb}}^{-1}$, corresponding to $(836\pm 12)\times {10}^6$ $e^{+}{e}^{-}\to {\tau }^{+}{\tau }^{-}$events. We search for production of the HNL (denoted $N$) in the decay ${\tau }^{-}\to {\pi }^{-}N$followed by its decay via $N\to {\mu }^{+}{\mu }^{-}{\nu }_{\tau }$. The search focuses on the parameter-space region in which the HNL is long-lived, so that the ${\mu }^{+}{\mu }^{-}$originate from a common vertex that is significantly displaced from the collision point of the KEKB beams. Consistent with the expected background yield, one event is observed in the data sample after application of all the event-selection criteria. We report limits on the mixing parameter of the HNL with the $\tau$neutrino as a function of the HNL mass. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

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3. Search for $CP$ -Violating Neutrino Nonstandard Interactions with the NOvA Experiment

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.133.201802  

   Acero, M A; Acharya, B; Adamson, P; Aliaga, L; Anfimov, N; Antoshkin, A; Arrieta-Diaz, E; Asquith, L; Aurisano, A; Back, A; et al (November 2024, Physical Review Letters)

   This Letter reports a search for charge-parity ( $CP$) symmetry violating nonstandard interactions (NSI) of neutrinos with matter using the NOvA Experiment, and examines their effects on the determination of the standard oscillation parameters. Data from ${\nu }_{\mu }\left({\overline{\nu }}_{\mu }\right)\to {\nu }_{\mu }\left({\overline{\nu }}_{\mu }\right)$and ${\nu }_{\mu }\left({\overline{\nu }}_{\mu }\right)\to {\nu }_e\left({\overline{\nu }}_e\right)$oscillation channels are used to measure the effect of the NSI parameters ${ϵ}_{e\mu }$and ${ϵ}_{e\tau }$. With 90% CL the magnitudes of the NSI couplings are constrained to be $\left|{ϵ}_{e\mu }\right|\lesssim 0.3$and $\left|{ϵ}_{e\tau }\right|\lesssim 0.4$. A degeneracy at $\left|{ϵ}_{e\tau }\right|\approx 1.8$is reported, and we observe that the presence of NSI limits sensitivity to the standard $CP$phase ${\delta }_{CP}$. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

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4. Search for a light sterile neutrino with 7.5 years of IceCube DeepCore data

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.110.072007  

   Abbasi, R; Ackermann, M; Adams, J; Agarwalla, S K; Aguilar, J A; Ahlers, M; Alameddine, J M; Amin, N M; Andeen, K; Argüelles, C; et al (October 2024, Physical Review D)

   We present a search for an eV-scale sterile neutrino using 7.5 years of data from the IceCube DeepCore detector. The analysis uses a sample of 21,914 events with energies between 5 and 150 GeV to search for sterile neutrinos through atmospheric muon neutrino disappearance. Improvements in event selection and treatment of systematic uncertainties provide greater statistical power compared to previous DeepCore sterile neutrino searches. Our results are compatible with the absence of mixing between active and sterile neutrino states, and we place constraints on the mixing matrix elements $|U_{\mu 4}{|}^2<0.0534$and $|U_{\tau 4}{|}^2<0.0574$at 90% CL under the assumption that $\mathrm{\Delta }{m}_{41}^2\ge 1{\mathrm{eV}}^2$. These null results add to the growing tension between anomalous appearance results and constraints from disappearance searches in the $3+1$sterile neutrino landscape. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

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5. First Measurement of $R\left(X_{\tau /\ell }\right)$ as an Inclusive Test of the $b\to c\tau \nu$ Anomaly

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.211804  

   Adachi, I; Adamczyk, K; Aggarwal, L; Ahmed, H; Aihara, H; Akopov, N; Aloisio, A; Asner, D M; Atmacan, H; Aushev, T; et al (May 2024, Physical Review Letters)

   We measure the tau-to-light-lepton ratio of inclusive $B$-meson branching fractions $R\left(X_{\tau /\ell }\right)\equiv \mathcal{B}(B\to X\tau \nu )/\mathcal{B}(B\to X\ell \nu )$, where $\ell$indicates an electron or muon, and thereby test the universality of charged-current weak interactions. We select events that have one fully reconstructed $B$meson and a charged lepton candidate from $189{\mathrm{fb}}^{-1}$of electron-positron collision data collected with the Belle II detector. We find $R\left(X_{\tau /\ell }\right)=0.228\pm 0.016\left(\mathrm{stat}\right)\pm 0.036\left(\mathrm{syst}\right)$, in agreement with standard-model expectations. This is the first direct measurement of $R\left(X_{\tau /\ell }\right)$. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

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