0000000000235265
AUTHOR
J. Mallet
Evidence for Muon Neutrino Oscillation in an Accelerator-Based Experiment
We present results for muon neutrino oscillation in the KEK to Kamioka (K2K) long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment. K2K uses an accelerator-produced muon neutrino beam with a mean energy of 1.3 GeV directed at the Super-Kamiokande detector. We observed the energy dependent disappearance of muon neutrino, which we presume have oscillated to tau neutrino. The probability that we would observe these results if there is no neutrino oscillation is 0.0050% (4.0 sigma).
Measurement of neutrino oscillation by the K2K experiment
We present measurements of nu_mu disappearance in K2K, the KEK to Kamioka long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment. One hundred and twelve beam-originated neutrino events are observed in the fiducial volume of Super-Kamiokande with an expectation of 158.1^{+9.2}_{-8.6} events without oscillation. A distortion of the energy spectrum is also seen in 58 single-ring muon-like events with reconstructed energies. The probability that the observations are explained by the expectation for no neutrino oscillation is 0.0015% (4.3sigma). In a two flavor oscillation scenario, the allowed Delta m^2 region at sin^2(2theta) is between 1.9 and 3.5 x 10^{-3} eV^2 at the 90% C.L. with a best-fit value o…
Interpretation of the Anomalous NaI Events
Anomalous events, with scintillation decay times shorter than nuclear recoils, have been observed by the UKDMC and Saclay NaI experiments. By using the event categories observed in the EDELWEISS experiment, we propose to interpret the anomalous NaI events as surface nuclear recoils accompanied with a small energy loss of an escaping alpha particle. The discrimination performances of the NaI experiments which have not taken into account these events in their analysis, notably for axial WIMP interactions, must then be reevaluated.
Status of the EDELWEISS experiment
The Edelweiss Dark Matter Experiment is installed in the Modane Underground Laboratory since 1994. In 1997 the first detector of a 70 g heat and ionization Ge low-temperature detector built by the collaboration showed its discrimination capabilities. During the last two years the installation was upgraded, and a new generation of 70 g Ge detectors is operational. The detector environment is drastically controlled to avoid radioactive contamination. A test run with two new 70 g detectors shows a reduction by a factor of ten in the background level before 7-ray rejection which is now around 2 events/kg/keV/day. Three 320 g Ge cryogenic detectors have been constructed and are now being tested …
Background discrimination capabilities of a heat and ionization germanium cryogenic detector
The discrimination capabilities of a 70 g heat and ionization Ge bolometer are studied. This first prototype has been used by the EDELWEISS Dark Matter experiment, installed in the Laboratoire Souterrain de Modane, for direct detection of WIMPs. Gamma and neutron calibrations demonstrate that this type of detector is able to reject more than 99.6% of the background while retaining 95% of the signal, provided that the background events distribution is not biased towards the surface of the Ge crystal. However, the 1.17 kg.day of data taken in a relatively important radioactive environment show an extra population slightly overlapping the signal. This background is likely due to interactions o…
Search for coherent charged pion production in neutrino-carbon interactions
We report the result from a search for charged-current coherent pion production induced by muon neutrinos with a mean energy of 1.3 GeV. The data are collected with a fully active scintillator detector in the K2K long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment. No evidence for coherent pion production is observed and an upper limit of $0.60 \times 10^{-2}$ is set on the cross section ratio of coherent pion production to the total charged-current interaction at 90% confidence level. This is the first experimental limit for coherent charged pion production in the energy region of a few GeV.
Measurement of inclusive pi(0) production in the charged-current interactions of neutrinos in a 1.3-GeV wide band beam
In this paper we report on the measurement of the rate of inclusive $\pi^0$ production induced by charged-current neutrino interactions in a C$_8$H$_8$ target at a mean energy of 1.3 GeV in the K2K near detector. Out of a sample of 11,606 charged current neutrino interactions, we select 479 $\pi^0$ events with two reconstructed photons. We find that the cross section for the inclusive $\pi^0$ production relative to the charged-current quasi-elastic cross section is $$\frac{\sigma_{CC\pi^0}}{\sigma_{CCQE}}=0.426\pm0.032(stat.)\pm0.035(syst.)$$ The energy dependent cross section ratio is also measured. The results are consistent with previous experiments for exclusive channels on different ta…