Dr Tomislav Vladisavljevic

Abstract:

A class of extensions of the Standard Model allows Lorentz and CPT violations, which can be identified by the observation of sidereal modulations in the neutrino interaction rate. A search for such modulations was performed using the T2K on-axis near detector. Two complementary methods were used in this study, both of which resulted in no evidence of a signal. Limits on associated Lorentz and CPT-violating terms from the Standard Model extension have been derived by taking into account their correlations in this model for the first time. These results imply such symmetry violations are suppressed by a factor of more than 1020 at the GeV scale.

Abstract:

T2K reports its first results in the search for CP violation in neutrino oscillations using appearance and disappearance channels for neutrino- and antineutrino-mode beams. The data include all runs from January 2010 to May 2016 and comprise 7.482×10^{20} protons on target in neutrino mode, which yielded in the far detector 32 e-like and 135  μ-like events, and 7.471×10^{20} protons on target in antineutrino mode, which yielded 4 e-like and 66  μ-like events. Reactor measurements of sin^{2}2θ_{13} have been used as an additional constraint. The one-dimensional confidence interval at 90% for the phase δ_{CP} spans the range (-3.13, -0.39) for normal mass ordering. The CP conservation hypothesis (δ_{CP}=0, π) is excluded at 90% C.L.

Abstract:

We report a measurement of the flux-integrated $\nu_{\mu}$ charged-current cross sections on water, hydrocarbon, and iron in the T2K on-axis neutrino beam with a mean neutrino energy of 1.5 GeV. The measured cross sections on water, hydrocarbon, and iron are $\sigma^{\rm{H_{2}O}}_{\rm{CC}}$ = (0.840$\pm 0.010$(stat.)$^{+0.10}_{-0.08}$(syst.))$\times$10$^{-38}$cm$^2$/nucleon, $\sigma^{\rm{CH}}_{\rm{CC}}$ = (0.817$\pm 0.007$(stat.)$^{+0.11}_{-0.08}$(syst.))$\times$10$^{-38}$cm$^2$/nucleon, and $\sigma^{\rm{Fe}}_{\rm{CC}}$ = (0.859$\pm 0.003$(stat.) $^{+0.12}_{-0.10}$(syst.))$\times$10$^{-38}$cm$^2$/nucleon respectively, for a restricted phase space of induced muons: $\theta_{\mu}<45^{\circ}$ and $p_{\mu}>$0.4 GeV/$c$ in the laboratory frame. The measured cross section ratios are ${\sigma^{\rm{H_{2}O}}_{\rm{CC}}}/{\sigma^{\rm{CH}}_{\rm{CC}}}$ = 1.028$\pm 0.016$(stat.)$\pm 0.053$(syst.), ${\sigma^{\rm{Fe}}_{\rm{CC}}}/{\sigma^{\rm{H_{2}O}}_{\rm{CC}}}$ = 1.023$\pm 0.012$(stat.)$\pm 0.058$(syst.), and ${\sigma^{\rm{Fe}}_{\rm{CC}}}/{\sigma^{\rm{CH}}_{\rm{CC}}}$ = 1.049$\pm 0.010$(stat.)$\pm 0.043$(syst.). These results, with an unprecedented precision for the measurements of neutrino cross sections on water in the studied energy region, show good agreement with the current neutrino interaction models used in the T2K oscillation analyses.

Abstract:

We report measurements of the flux-integrated $\bar{\nu}_\mu$ and $\bar{\nu}_\mu+\nu_\mu$ charged-current cross-sections on water and hydrocarbon targets using the T2K anti-neutrino beam, with a mean neutrino energy of 0.86 GeV. The signal is defined as the (anti-)neutrino charged-current interaction with one induced $\mu^\pm$ and no detected charged pion nor proton. These measurements are performed using a new WAGASCI module recently added to the T2K setup in combination with the INGRID Proton module. The phase space of muons is restricted to the high-detection efficiency region, $p_{\mu}>400~{\rm MeV}/c$ and $\theta_{\mu}<30^{\circ}$, in the laboratory frame. Absence of pions and protons in the detectable phase space of "$p_{\pi}>200~{\rm MeV}/c$ and $\theta_{\pi}<70^{\circ}$", and "$p_{\rm p}>600~{\rm MeV}/c$ and $\theta_{\rm p}<70^{\circ}$" is required. In this paper, both of the $\bar{\nu}_\mu$ cross-sections and $\bar{\nu}_\mu+\nu_\mu$ cross-sections on water and hydrocarbon targets, and their ratios are provided by using D'Agostini unfolding method. The results of the integrated $\bar{\nu}_\mu$ cross-section measurements over this phase space are $\sigma_{\rm H_{2}O}\,=\,(1.082\pm0.068(\rm stat.)^{+0.145}_{-0.128}(\rm syst.)) \times 10^{-39}~{\rm cm^{2}/nucleon}$, $\sigma_{\rm CH}\,=\,(1.096\pm0.054(\rm stat.)^{+0.132}_{-0.117}(\rm syst.)) \times 10^{-39}~{\rm cm^{2}/nucleon}$, and $\sigma_{\rm H_{2}O}/\sigma_{\rm CH} = 0.987\pm0.078(\rm stat.)^{+0.093}_{-0.090}(\rm syst.)$. The $\bar{\nu}_\mu+\nu_\mu$ cross-section is $\sigma_{\rm H_{2}O} = (1.155\pm0.064(\rm stat.)^{+0.148}_{-0.129}(\rm syst.)) \times 10^{-39}~{\rm cm^{2}/nucleon}$, $\sigma_{\rm CH}\,=\,(1.159\pm0.049(\rm stat.)^{+0.129}_{-0.115}(\rm syst.)) \times 10^{-39}~{\rm cm^{2}/nucleon}$, and $\sigma_{\rm H_{2}O}/\sigma_{\rm CH}\,=\,0.996\pm0.069(\rm stat.)^{+0.083}_{-0.078}(\rm syst.)$.

Abstract:

T2K is an experiment designed to study the ways in which neutrinos evolve as they propagate through space. The experiment uses an artificial beam of muon neutrinos, produced at the J-PARC facility in Japan. The spontaneous mixing of these beam neutrinos with other flavours is measured after 295 kilometres, at the location of the Super-Kamiokande detector. The initial beam composition is measured after 280 metres, using a combination of two near detectors. T2K is optimised for measurements of electron neutrino appearance, and muon neutrino survival. Essential for these measurements is a detailed knowledge of the initial beam composition, before neutrino oscillations had occurred. The production of intense neutrino beams at accelerator facilities is challenging, and requires exceptional understanding of chains of hadronic interactions initiated within thick targets. Most of T2K neutrinos are produced from in-flight decays of focused pions and kaons, emitted from an extended graphite target (90 cm) bombarded with a 30 GeV proton beam. Besides internal constraints from near detector data, T2K relies on hadron production measurements collected by other experiments, most importantly NA61, for accurate modelling of the initial neutrino flux.

This thesis presents a new T2K neutrino flux prediction, using the NA61 replica-target dataset from 2009. The earlier flux prediction relied on NA61 measurements collected with protons incident on a thin graphite target (2 cm). The following analysis incorporates NA61 data collected on the full length replica of the T2K target in 2009. In light of this new data, the flux calculation technique has been modified. A dramatic reduction in the unoscillated muon neutrino fractional flux uncertainty has been achieved, from ~10% to ~5% around the T2K flux peak. The impact of the improved flux prediction on oscillation measurements has been examined, by performing separate fits to ND280 data, and joint ND280 and Super-K data, in the well-established Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis framework.