Accelerator Neutrinos

Abstract:

The existence of three distinct neutrino flavours, νe, νμ and ντ, is a central tenet of the Standard Model of particle physics1,2. Quantum-mechanical interference can allow a neutrino of one initial flavour to be detected sometime later as a different flavour, a process called neutrino oscillation. Several anomalous observations inconsistent with this three-flavour picture have motivated the hypothesis that an additional neutrino state exists, which does not interact directly with matter, termed as ‘sterile’ neutrino, νs (refs. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8–9). This includes anomalous observations from the Liquid Scintillator Neutrino Detector (LSND)3 experiment and Mini-Booster Neutrino Experiment (MiniBooNE)4,5, consistent with νμ → νe transitions at a distance inconsistent with the three-neutrino picture. Here we use data obtained from the MicroBooNE liquid-argon time projection chamber10 in two accelerator neutrino beams to exclude the single light sterile neutrino interpretation of the LSND and MiniBooNE anomalies at the 95% confidence level (CL). Moreover, we rule out a notable portion of the parameter space that could explain the gallium anomaly6, 7–8. This is one of the first measurements to use two accelerator neutrino beams to break a degeneracy between νe appearance and disappearance, which would otherwise weaken the sensitivity to the sterile neutrino hypothesis. We find no evidence for either νμ → νe flavour transitions or νe disappearance that would indicate non-standard flavour oscillations. Our results indicate that previous anomalous observations consistent with νμ → νe transitions cannot be explained by introducing a single sterile neutrino state.

Abstract:

A measurement of the top-quark pole mass mtpole is presented in tt¯ events with an additional jet, tt¯ + 1-jet, produced in pp collisions at s=13 TeV. The data sample, recorded with the ATLAS experiment during Run 2 of the LHC, corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb−1. Events with one electron and one muon of opposite electric charge in the final state are selected to measure the tt¯ + 1-jet differential cross-section as a function of the inverse of the invariant mass of the tt¯ + 1-jet system. Iterative Bayesian Unfolding is used to correct the data to enable comparison with fixed-order calculations at next-to-leading-order accuracy in the strong coupling. The process pp→tt¯j2→3, where top quarks are taken as stable particles, and the process pp→bb¯l+νl−ν¯j2→7, which includes top-quark decays to the dilepton final state and off-shell effects, are considered. The top-quark mass is extracted using a χ2 fit of the unfolded normalized differential cross-section distribution. The results obtained with the 2 → 3 and 2 → 7 calculations are compatible within theoretical uncertainties, providing an important consistency check. The more precise determination is obtained for the 2 → 3 measurement: mtpole=170.7±0.3stat.±1.4syst.±0.3scale±0.2PDF⊕αS GeV, which is in good agreement with other top-quark mass results.

Abstract:

Charged-current neutrino interactions with final states containing zero mesons and at least one proton are of high interest for current and future accelerator-based neutrino oscillation experiments. Using the Booster Neutrino Beam and the MicroBooNE detector at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, we have obtained the first double-differential cross-section measurements of this channel for muon neutrino scattering on an argon target with a leading proton momentum threshold of $0.25\mathrm{GeV}/c$ . We also report a flux-averaged total cross section of $\sigma =(11.8\pm 1.2)\times {10}^{-38}{\mathrm{cm}}^2/\mathrm{Ar}$ and several single-differential measurements which extend and improve upon previous results. Statistical and systematic uncertainties are quantified with a full treatment of correlations across 359 kinematic bins, including correlations between distributions describing different observables. The resulting dataset provides the most detailed information obtained to date for testing models of mesonless neutrino-argon scattering.

Abstract:

A search for single production of a vector-like quark Q, which could be either a singlet T, with charge 23, or a Y from a (T, B, Y) triplet, with charge −43, is performed using data from proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The data correspond to the full integrated luminosity of 140 fb−1 recorded with the ATLAS detector during Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider. The analysis targets Q → Wb decays where the W boson decays leptonically. The data are found to be consistent with the expected Standard Model background, so upper limits are set on the cross-section times branching ratio, and on the coupling of the Q to the Standard Model sector for these two benchmark models. Effects of interference with the Standard Model background are taken into account. For the singlet T, the 95% confidence level limit on the coupling strength κ ranges between 0.22 and 0.52 for masses from 1150 to 2300 GeV. For the (T, B, Y) triplet, the limits on κ vary from 0.14 to 0.46 for masses from 1150 to 2600 GeV.

Abstract:

We present the first measurement of differential cross sections for charged-current muon neutrino interactions on argon with one muon, two protons, and no pions in the final state. These final states are dominated by two-nucleon knockout interactions, which are complicated to model and for which there is currently limited information about the characteristics of these interactions in existing neutrino-nucleus scattering data. Detailed investigations of two-nucleon knockout are vital to support upcoming experiments exploring the nature of the neutrino. Among the different kinematic quantities measured, the opening angle between the two protons, the angle between the total proton momentum and the muon, and the total transverse momentum of the final state system are most sensitive to the underlying physics processes as embodied in various theoretical models.