Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2009 APS April Meeting
Volume 54, Number 4
Saturday–Tuesday, May 2–5, 2009; Denver, Colorado
Session G9: Running and Near Term Neutrino Experiments |
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Sponsoring Units: DPF Chair: Patricia Vahle, College of William and Mary Room: Governor's Square 11 |
Sunday, May 3, 2009 8:30AM - 8:42AM |
G9.00001: A Nearest Neighbors Approach for Electron Neutrino Event Selection in MINOS Juan Pedro Ochoa The reach of the search for electron-neutrino appearance in the MINOS far detector, a process which would manifest a non-zero value of the $\theta_{13}$ mixing angle, depends primarily on the ability to separate the signal from the backgrounds. MINOS is using two different approaches for event classification. In this talk I will review a new highly effective method for selecting electron neutrino events where each event in the data is compared to very large libraries of simulated signal and background events, and a discriminant is constructed from the properties of the N best matches. The method effectively reduces the problem of event identification to that of pattern recognition. By making a more complete use of all the available information in each event the new method increases MINOS' reach in $\theta_{13}$. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, May 3, 2009 8:42AM - 8:54AM |
G9.00002: Neutrino Oscillations in MINOS Jasmine Ma The MINOS experiment is a two detector experiment to study the phenomenon of neutrino oscillations, with the Near detector located at Fermilab, near Chicago and the Far detector located 734 km away, at the Soudan Underground Laboratory in Minnesota. A precision measurement of the neutrino oscillation parameters $\sin^{2} \theta_{23}$ and $\Delta m_{32}^{2}$ can be accomplished using charged current neutrino events, which record both the neutrino flavor and energy. A deficit of events in the Far detector relative to that expected from the Near detector is seen, especially at low energy. In this talk we will discuss the neutrino oscillation measurement, the techniques utilized to select charged current events, as well as the expected backgrounds from neutral current neutrino scattering. Most recent results from a data set corresponding to $3.3\times 10^{20}$ protons on target will be given. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, May 3, 2009 8:54AM - 9:06AM |
G9.00003: Antineutrino Physics at MINOS Alexander Himmel We present two new measurements of antineutrino properties based on a data sample corresponding to $3.2 \times 10^{20}$ protons-on-target, exploiting MINOS' unique ability to distinguish positive and negative muons and thus separate charged current neutrino and antineutrino interactions event-by-event. The first measurement takes advantage of the $6\%$ antineutrino component of the NuMI neutrino beam to measure antineutrino oscillations between the near and far detectors, which leads to improved constraints on the oscillation parameters of antineutrinos relative to the results from previous world data. We also present a search for neutrino-antineutrino transitions $\nu_\mu \rightarrow \bar{\nu}_\mu$, which would result in an excess of antineutrino events in the Far Detector relative to the rate expected from the intrinsic antineutrino component in the neutrino beam. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, May 3, 2009 9:06AM - 9:18AM |
G9.00004: Monitoring the Double Chooz experiment Glenn Horton-Smith The Double Chooz experiment will be sensitive to electron antineutrino disappearance due to $\sin^{2}(2\theta_{13})$ in the $0.02 - 0.03$ range, improving on the CHOOZ bound by about an order of magnitude. Reliable and efficient monitoring of temperatures, fields, the conditions of electronics, and other factors plays a critical role in achieving stability in target volume and efficiency to achieve the experiment's sensitivity goals. An description of the Double Chooz physical environment monitoring system will be presented. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, May 3, 2009 9:18AM - 9:30AM |
G9.00005: The Double Chooz Outer Veto Matthew Toups Measuring a non-zero value for the neutrino mixing angle $\theta_{13}$ sets the scale for future precision measurements in the lepton sector such as CP violation. The Double Chooz experiment will begin taking data later this year with a sensitivity to $\sin^{2}(2\theta_{13})$ in the $0.02 - 0.03$ range, improving on the CHOOZ bound by about an order of magnitude. Efficient rejection of backgrounds induced by cosmic muons is essential to achieving this sensitivity. The Double Chooz Outer Veto plays a crucial role in vetoing and tagging these muons. An update on the status of the Double Chooz Outer Veto will be presented. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, May 3, 2009 9:30AM - 9:42AM |
G9.00006: Muon Neutrino Charged Current Inclusive Cross Section on Iron at SciBooNE Morgan Wascko The SciBooNE experiment at Fermilab is measuring neutrino and antineutrino cross sections near 1 GeV with fine grained resolution and unprecedented precision. A measurement of the charged current inclusive cross section on iron will be presented. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, May 3, 2009 9:42AM - 9:54AM |
G9.00007: Neutrino and antineutrino disappearance in the Booster Neutrino Beamline Kendall Mahn To search for neutrino oscillations in the few eV$^{2} \quad \Delta $m$^{2}$ region, the MiniBooNE experiment can either look for electron neutrino appearance or muon neutrino disappearance. Disappearance measurements are an uniquely sensitive probe of oscillations to sterile neutrinos or other exotic processes such as neutrino decay. The 74{\%} pure, high statistics CCQE muon neutrino sample in MiniBooNE can be used to make sensitive searches for disappearance of muon neutrinos and for the first time antineutrino disappearance in the few eV$^{2} \quad \Delta $m$^{2}$ range. By combining MiniBooNE with SciBooNE, a near detector recently added to the beamline, even better sensitivity to disappearance can be achieved. Results for the MiniBooNE neutrino and antineutrino disappearance measuremens will be presented along with the prospects for a combined MiniBooNE/SciBooNE measurements. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, May 3, 2009 9:54AM - 10:06AM |
G9.00008: Electron Neutrino Appearance in the MINOS Experiment Joshua Boehm The MINOS experiment has the potential to observe the appearance of electron neutrinos in a muon neutrino beam, thereby measuring or further limiting the value of thetha13 of the PMNS mixing matrix. This angle is the remaining unknown element of the matrix and is inextricably linked to the ability to measure charge-parity violation in the neutrino sector, a symmetry violation that could explain the dominance of matter over antimatter in our universe. The techniques developed to perform this two detector oscillation analysis, including background prediction, derivation of signal efficiency, and systematic uncertainties will be presented as will the prospects for future analyses. [Preview Abstract] |
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