Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2020 Fall Meeting of the APS Division of Nuclear Physics
Volume 65, Number 12
Thursday–Sunday, October 29–November 1 2020; Time Zone: Central Time, USA
Session RF: Neutrino Interactions II |
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Chair: Vincenzo Cirigliano, LANL |
Sunday, November 1, 2020 8:30AM - 8:42AM |
RF.00001: First Measurement of Differential Charged Current Quasielastic--like $\nu_{\mu}$--Argon Scattering Cross Sections with the MicroBooNE Detector Afroditi Papadopoulou Current and future generation neutrino oscillation experiments aim towards a high-precision measurement of the oscillation parameters and that requires an unprecedented understanding of neutrino-nucleus scattering. Charged-current quasi-elastic (CCQE) scattering is the process in which the neutrino produces a charged lepton and removes a single intact nucleon from the nucleus without producing any additional particles. For existing and forthcoming accelerator--based neutrino experiments, CCQE interactions are either the dominant process or part of the signal. MicroBooNE is the first liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) commissioned as part of the Short Baseline Neutrino (SBN) program at Fermilab and its excellent particle reconstruction capabilities allow the detection of neutrino interactions using exclusive final states, which will play a crucial role in the success of future kiloton LArTPC detectors such as DUNE. This talk will present the first measurement on argon of exclusive $\nu_{\mu}$ CCQE--like flux integrated total and differential cros sections using single proton knock--out interactions recorded by the MicroBooNE LArTPC detector with 4$\pi$ acceptance and a 300 MeV/c proton threshold. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, November 1, 2020 8:42AM - 8:54AM |
RF.00002: Search for $\nu_{e} \;$ - $ ^{16}\textrm{O}$ Interactions From Low Energy Atmospheric Neutrinos in Super-Kamiokande Baran Bodur, Kate Scholberg Charged-current scattering of $\nu_{e} \;$ below 100 MeV from $ ^{16}\textrm{O}$ nucleus is not yet measured. This interaction is an important background for diffuse supernova background searches (DSNB) with inverse beta decay process in water Cherenkov detectors, a useful $\nu_{e} \;$ detection channel in case of a supernova burst, and a possible way to probe atmospheric neutrino flux at low energies that will be a background for the future WIMP dark matter searches. A study for the first observation of this interaction from atmospheric $\nu_{e} \;$ with 20 years of Super-Kamiokande data is currently underway, with the goal of measuring atmospheric $\nu_{e} \;$ flux weighted cross section below 100 MeV. For this purpose, a custom event generator that can accurately simulate products of $\nu_{e} \;$ - $ ^{16}\textrm{O}$ and $\bar{\nu}_{e} \;$ - $ ^{16}\textrm{O}$ interactions has been built, and now methods to separate signal from the backgrounds are being studied. In this talk, both the event generator and the current status of the analysis will be discussed. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, November 1, 2020 8:54AM - 9:06AM |
RF.00003: Studying neutrino charged-current interactions in the COHERENT liquid argon detectors Erin Conley A core-collapse supernova burst (SNB) releases 99\% of a star's gravitational potential energy via neutrinos over a period of several seconds. These neutrinos have energies in the few to 10s of MeV range. Lack of knowledge of low-energy neutrino cross sections will limit the amount of physics extracted during a future SNB. In particular, the electron neutrino-argon charged-current inelastic interaction ($\nu_e$CC) cross section has never been measured at the SNB neutrino energy range. Furthermore, different cross section calculations are only theoretically motivated and contain significant variations when comparing different models. The COHERENT liquid argon (LAr) detector, known as CENNS-10, observes neutrinos with energies in the 10s of MeV at the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The proposed upgrade to CENNS-10, known as CENNS-750, will have a larger fiducial volume and the possibility to optimize both the detector design and data acquisition to detect the $\nu_e$CC interaction. The COHERENT LAr detectors provide current and future opportunities to study the $\nu_e$CC interaction at the relevant neutrino energy range for SNB neutrinos. This talk will detail simulation studies focused on COHERENT LAr detector sensitivity to the $\nu_e$CC interaction. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, November 1, 2020 9:06AM - 9:18AM |
RF.00004: Fully characterizing a rank-0 forbidden beta decay for the reactor $\bar{\nu}_e$ energy spectrum James McNeil, John Behr, Alexandre Gorelov, Melissa Anholm, Dan Melconian, Danny Ashery An anomalous bump-like excess in the $5-7$ MeV range of the reactor anti-neutrino ($\bar{\nu}_e$) spectra continues to persist. In this energy range first-forbidden $0^-$ to $0^+$ decays account for $\sim 30\%$ of the total $\bar{\nu}_e$ flux. The $^{92}Rb$ ground-state to ground-state (GS) branch alone accounts for $30-50\%$ of the total $0^-$ to $0^+$ $\bar{\nu}_e$ flux in this energy range. Using the TRINAT neutral $^{92}Rb$ atom trap, all final state momenta are kinematically constrained, and the beta-neutrino angular correlation coefficient $a_{\beta\nu}$ is examined experimentally. GS decays are kinematically isolated from excited state transitions in Q-value by the total energy release. The GS beta energy dependence of $a_{\beta\nu}$ is used to test the rank-0 forbidden formalism and measure the ratio of the two nuclear elements $\omega/\xi_o$. The ratio $\omega/\xi_o$ is extracted from the $^{92}Sr$ recoil ion energy spectra with sensitivity of $\pm 0.10$ at $90\%$ C.L. A deviation in $\omega/\xi_o$ from zero at our sensitivity limits would necessarily distort the allowed $\bar{\nu}_e$ spectrum in the $5-7$ MeV range by as much as $\pm 3\%$. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, November 1, 2020 9:18AM - 9:30AM |
RF.00005: Investigating the background neutron flux for COHERENT with MARS Rebecca Rapp The COHERENT collaboration has made the first observations of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEvNS) in multiple detectors. These observations depend on the pion decay-at-rest neutrino production at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, but must contend with substantial neutron production from the SNS. With small nuclear recoils as the only CEvNS observable, our detectors are sensitive to neutron interactions that cause a similar recoil signal. To characterize this background, we use a dedicated neutron monitoring system: the Multiplicity and Recoil Spectrometer (MARS). As a mobile, gadolinium-doped plastic scintillator, MARS is capable of mapping out the neutron flux within the space constraints of the basement hallway housing the COHERENT detectors. This talk will cover the current data, our characterization of the MARS detector as we develop a response matrix, and our plans for the future as COHERENT progresses towards precision CEvNS measurements. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, November 1, 2020 9:30AM - 9:42AM |
RF.00006: A Measurement of Neutrino-Induced Neutron Production in Lead and Iron Nuclei Samuel Hedges Neutrino-nucleus interactions at low energies can produce excited nuclear states that can de-excite by emitting particles, including neutrons. Neutrino-induced neutrons (NINs) produced in common gamma shielding material, such as lead and iron, can pose a background for coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering experiments. Additionally, NIN production in lead is the primary mechanism for the Helium and Lead Observatory (HALO) to detect supernova neutrinos, and iron-based supernova NIN detectors have been proposed. The COHERENT collaboration has deployed two detectors to study NIN production in lead and iron to the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). An overview of the detector design, signal predictions, and latest results will be presented. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, November 1, 2020 9:42AM - 9:54AM |
RF.00007: Current Analysis on CENNS-10, a Single-Phase Liquid Argon Detector for CEvNS Benjamin Suh Coherent Elastic Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering(CEvNS) is a neutral-current neutrino interaction first predicted in 1974 and first observed by the COHERENT Collaboration in 2017 using a 14.6kg CsI scintillating crystal. The COHERENT Collaboration has deployed detectors with a range of target nuclei to the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory(ORNL). As part of this effort, a single-phase liquid argon detector, CENNS-10, was deployed to the SNS in Fall 2016, and has actively been taking data since Spring 2017. Since then, the 24kg fiducial volume target made the first low-N measurement of CEvNS in Spring 2020. The data used to make this measurement encompassed a year and a half of operation, a total of 6.12GWhr total integrated beam power. This talk will detail both the new work being done to analyze this data and set new NSI constraints as well as work being done to analyze the remaining data collected by the CENNS-10 data not included in the CEvNS measurement. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, November 1, 2020 9:54AM - 10:06AM |
RF.00008: Update on Work on CENNS-750 Max Hughes Coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEvNS) has been detected in a 24 kg single-phase liquid argon (LAr) scintillator detector. Further data collection and analysis for a 5$\sigma $ measurement is ongoing. To obtain an event rate 20 times that of the 24 kg detector, a 750 kg LAr scintillator detector has been designed by the COHERENT collaboration to be deployed at the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This tonne-scale detector is designed to operate at a low threshold to do a precision measurement of the CEvNS recoil spectrum, which can be used to probe other physics such as nuclear form factors or for non-standard neutrino interactions. The detector can also search for light accelerator-produced dark matter. The 750 kg detector will also sensitive to inelastic charged-current and neutral-current events. To meet these goals, work in competent testing and design must be done. This talk will be an update on current efforts in the light collection and cryogenics of the detector. [Preview Abstract] |
Sunday, November 1, 2020 10:06AM - 10:18AM |
RF.00009: Measuring COHERENT Elastic Neutrino Nucleus Scattering at the SNS with Germanium Matthew Green Since the COHERENT Collaboration reported the first measurement of Coherent Elastic Neutrino Nucleus Scattering (CE$\nu$NS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) in 2017, its members have been measuring CE$\nu$NS and other neutrino-nucleus cross section measurements in additional nuclei, including Ar, Na, Fe, and Pb. Recently, COHERENT has started construction of a 16-kg array of low-noise, low-threshold P-Type Point Contact (PPC) germanium detectors to measure the CE$\nu$NS recoil spectrum at the SNS with the lowest systematic uncertainties to date. We report on the design and physics reach of this detector array, and recent efforts to further constrain systematics through updated measurements of nuclear recoil quenching factors in germanium. [Preview Abstract] |
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