Search for: All records

Abstract The Accelerator Neutrino Neutron Interaction Experiment (ANNIE) is a 26-ton water Cherenkov neutrino detector installed on the Booster Neutrino Beam (BNB) at Fermilab. Its main physics goals are to perform a measurement of the neutron yield from neutrino-nucleus interactions, as well as a measurement of the charged-current cross section of muon neutrinos. An equally important focus is the research and development of new detector technologies and target media. Specifically, water-based liquid scintillator (WbLS) is of interest as a novel detector medium, as it allows for the simultaneous detection of Cherenkov light and scintillation. This paper presents the deployment of a 366 L WbLS vessel in ANNIE in March 2023 and the subsequent detection of both Cherenkov light and scintillation from the WbLS. This proof-of-concept allows for the future development of reconstruction and particle identification algorithms in ANNIE, as well as dedicated analyses within the WbLS volume, such as the search for neutral-current events and the hadronic scintillation component. 

A search for proton decay into $e^{+}/{\mu }^{+}$and a $\eta$meson has been performed using data from a $0.373\mathrm{Mton}·\mathrm{year}$exposure (6050.3 live days) of Super-Kamiokande. Compared to previous searches this work introduces an improved model of the intranuclear $\eta$interaction cross section, resulting in a factor of 2 reduction in uncertainties from this source and $\sim 10\%$increase in signal efficiency. No significant data excess was found above the expected number of atmospheric neutrino background events resulting in no indication of proton decay into either mode. Lower limits on the proton partial lifetime of $1.4\times {10}^{34}\mathrm{years}$for $p\to e^{+}\eta$and $7.3\times {10}^{33}\mathrm{years}$for $p\to {\mu }^{+}\eta$at the 90% CL were set. These limits are around 1.5 times longer than our previous study and are the most stringent to date. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

We present the results of the charge ratio ( $R$) and polarization ( $P_0^{\mu }$) measurements using decay electron events collected between September 2008 and June 2022 with the Super-Kamiokande detector. Because of its underground location and long operation, we are able to perform high-precision measurements by accumulating cosmic-ray muons. We measured the muon charge ratio to be $R=1.32\pm 0.02(\mathrm{stat}+\mathrm{syst})$at $E_{\mu }\cos {\theta }_{\text{Zenith}}={0.7}_{-0.2}^{+0.3}\mathrm{TeV}$, where $E_{\mu }$is the muon energy and ${\theta }_{\text{Zenith}}$is the zenith angle of incoming cosmic-ray muons. This result is consistent with the Honda flux model while indicating a tension with the $\pi K$model of $1.9\sigma$. We also measured the muon polarization at the production location to be $P_0^{\mu }=0.52\pm 0.02(\mathrm{stat}+\mathrm{syst})$at the muon momentum of ${0.9}_{-0.1}^{+0.6}\mathrm{TeV}/c$at the surface of the mountain; this also suggests a tension with the Honda flux model of $1.5\sigma$. This is the most precise measurement ever to experimentally determine the cosmic-ray muon polarization near $1\mathrm{TeV}/c$. These measurement results are useful to improve atmospheric neutrino simulations. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

The Super-Kamiokande and T2K Collaborations present a joint measurement of neutrino oscillation parameters from their atmospheric and beam neutrino data. It uses a common interaction model for events overlapping in neutrino energy and correlated detector systematic uncertainties between the two datasets, which are found to be compatible. Using 3244.4 days of atmospheric data and a beam exposure of $19.7\left(16.3\right)\times {10}^{20}$protons on target in (anti)neutrino mode, the analysis finds a $1.9\sigma$exclusion of $CP$conservation (defined as $J_{CP}=0$) and a $1.2\sigma$exclusion of the inverted mass ordering. Published by the American Physical Society2025 

Abstract Preceding a core-collapse supernova (CCSN), various processes produce an increasing amount of neutrinos of all flavors characterized by mounting energies from the interior of massive stars. Among them, the electron antineutrinos are potentially detectable by terrestrial neutrino experiments such as KamLAND and Super-Kamiokande (SK) via inverse beta decay interactions. Once these pre-supernova (pre-SN) neutrinos are observed, an early warning of the upcoming CCSN can be provided. In light of this, KamLAND and SK, both located in the Kamioka mine in Japan, have been monitoring pre-SN neutrinos since 2015 and 2021, respectively. Recently, we performed a joint study between KamLAND and SK on pre-SN neutrino detection. A pre-SN alert system combining the KamLAND detector and the SK detector was developed and put into operation, which can provide a supernova alert to the astrophysics community. Fully leveraging the complementary properties of these two detectors, the combined alert is expected to resolve a pre-SN neutrino signal from a 15M_⊙star within 510 pc of the Earth at a significance level corresponding to a false alarm rate of no more than 1 per century. For a Betelgeuse-like model with optimistic parameters, it can provide early warnings up to 12 hr in advance. 

Abstract The Pandora Software Development Kit and algorithm libraries perform reconstruction of neutrino interactions in liquid argon time projection chamber detectors. Pandora is the primary event reconstruction software used at the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, which will operate four large-scale liquid argon time projection chambers at the far detector site in South Dakota, producing high-resolution images of charged particles emerging from neutrino interactions. While these high-resolution images provide excellent opportunities for physics, the complex topologies require sophisticated pattern recognition capabilities to interpret signals from the detectors as physically meaningful objects that form the inputs to physics analyses. A critical component is the identification of the neutrino interaction vertex. Subsequent reconstruction algorithms use this location to identify the individual primary particles and ensure they each result in a separate reconstructed particle. A new vertex-finding procedure described in this article integrates a U-ResNet neural network performing hit-level classification into the multi-algorithm approach used by Pandora to identify the neutrino interaction vertex. The machine learning solution is seamlessly integrated into a chain of pattern-recognition algorithms. The technique substantially outperforms the previous BDT-based solution, with a more than 20% increase in the efficiency of sub-1 cm vertex reconstruction across all neutrino flavours. 

The determination of the direction of a stellar core collapse via its neutrino emission is crucial for the identification of the progenitor for a multimessenger follow-up. A highly effective method of reconstructing supernova directions within the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is introduced. The supernova neutrino pointing resolution is studied by simulating and reconstructing electron-neutrino charged-current absorption on ${}^{40}\mathrm{Ar}$and elastic scattering of neutrinos on electrons. Procedures to reconstruct individual interactions, including a newly developed technique called “brems flipping,” as well as the burst direction from an ensemble of interactions are described. Performance of the burst direction reconstruction is evaluated for supernovae happening at a distance of 10 kpc for a specific supernova burst flux model. The pointing resolution is found to be 3.4 degrees at 68% coverage for a perfect interaction-channel classification and a fiducial mass of 40 kton, and 6.6 degrees for a 10 kton fiducial mass respectively. Assuming a 4% rate of charged-current interactions being misidentified as elastic scattering, DUNE’s burst pointing resolution is found to be 4.3 degrees (8.7 degrees) at 68% coverage. Published by the American Physical Society2025 

ProtoDUNE Single-Phase (ProtoDUNE-SP) is a 770-ton liquid argon time projection chamber that operated in a hadron test beam at the CERN Neutrino Platform in 2018. We present a measurement of the total inelastic cross section of charged kaons on argon as a function of kaon energy using 6 and $7\mathrm{GeV}/c$beam momentum settings. The flux-weighted average of the extracted inelastic cross section at each beam momentum setting was measured to be $380\pm 26\mathrm{mbarns}$for the $6\mathrm{GeV}/c$setting and $379\pm 35\mathrm{mbarns}$for the $7\mathrm{GeV}/c$setting. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

The Module-0 Demonstrator is a single-phase 600 kg liquid argon time projection chamber operated as a prototype for the DUNE liquid argon near detector. Based on the ArgonCube design concept, Module-0 features a novel 80k-channel pixelated charge readout and advanced high-coverage photon detection system. In this paper, we present an analysis of an eight-day data set consisting of 25 million cosmic ray events collected in the spring of 2021. We use this sample to demonstrate the imaging performance of the charge and light readout systems as well as the signal correlations between the two. We also report argon purity and detector uniformity measurements and provide comparisons to detector simulations.