T2K Collaboration(Abe, K. et al), Antonova, M., Cervera-Villanueva, A., Fernandez, P., Izmaylov, A., & Novella, P. (2019). Search for neutral-current induced single photon production at the ND280 near detector in T2K. J. Phys. G, 46(8), 08LT01–16pp.
Abstract: Neutrino neutral-current (NC) induced single photon production is a sub-leading order process for accelerator-based neutrino beam experiments including T2K. It is, however, an important process to understand because it is a background for electron (anti)neutrino appearance oscillation experiments. Here, we performed the first search of this process below 1 GeV using the fine-grained detector at the T2K ND280 off-axis near detector. By reconstructing single photon kinematics from electron-positron pairs, we achieved 95% pure gamma ray sample from 5.738 x 10(20) protons-on-targets neutrino mode data. We do not find positive evidence of NC induced single photon production in this sample. We set the model-dependent upper limit on the cross-section for this process, at 0.114 x 10(-38) cm(2) (90% C.L.) per nucleon, using the J-PARC off-axis neutrino beam with an average energy of < E-v > similar to 0.6 GeV. This is the first limit on this process below 1 GeV which is important for current and future oscillation experiments looking for electron neutrino appearance oscillation signals.
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T2K Collaboration(Abe, K. et al), Antonova, M., Cervera-Villanueva, A., & Novella, P. (2021). Measurements of (nu)over-bar(mu) and (nu)over-bar(mu) + nu(mu) charged-current cross-sections without detected pions or protons on water and hydrocarbon at a mean anti-neutrino energy of 0.86 GeV. Prog. Theor. Exp. Phys., 2021(4), 043C01–28pp.
Abstract: We report measurements of the flux-integrated (nu) over bar (mu) and (nu) over bar (mu) + nu(mu) charged-current cross -sections on water and hydrocarbon targets using the T2K anti-neutrino beam with a mean beam energy of 0.86 GeV. The signal is defined as the (anti -)neutrino charged-current interaction with one induced mu(+/-) and no detected charged pion or 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 MeV/c and theta(mu) < 30 degrees, in the laboratory frame. An absence of pions and protons in the detectable phase spaces of p(pi) > 200 MeV/c, theta(pi) < 70 degrees and p(p) > 600 MeV/c, theta(p) < 70 degrees is required. In this paper, both the <(nu)over bar>(mu), cross-sections and (nu) over bar (mu) + nu(mu), cross-sections on water and hydrocarbon targets and their ratios are provided by using the D'Agostini unfolding method. The results of the integrated (nu) over bar (mu), cross-section measurements over this phase space are sigma(H2O) = (1.082 +/- 0.068(stat.)(+0.145)(-0.128)(syst.)) x 10(-39) cm(2)/nucleon, sigma(CH) = (1.096 +/- 0.054 (stat.)(+0.132)(-0.117)(syst.)) x 10(-39) cm(2) /nucleon, and sigma(H2O)/sigma(CH) = 0.987 +/- 0.078 (stat.)(+0.093)(-0.090)(syst.). The (nu) over bar (mu), + nu(mu), cross-section is sigma(H2O) = (1.155 +/- 0.064(stat.)(+0.148)(-0.129)(syst.)) x 10(-39) cm(2)/nucleon, sigma(CH) = (1.159 +/- 0.049(stat.)(+0.129)(-0.115)(syst.)) x 10(-39) cm(2)/nucleon, and sigma(H2O)/sigma(CH) = 0.996 +/- 0.069(stat.)(+0.083)(-0.078)(syst.).
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DUNE Collaboration(Abi, B. et al), Antonova, M., Barenboim, G., Cervera-Villanueva, A., De Romeri, V., Fernandez Menendez, P., et al. (2021). Searching for solar KDAR with DUNE. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 10(10), 065–28pp.
Abstract: The observation of 236 MeV muon neutrinos from kaon-decay-at-rest (KDAR) originating in the core of the Sun would provide a unique signature of dark matter annihilation. Since excellent angle and energy reconstruction are necessary to detect this monoenergetic, directional neutrino flux, DUNE with its vast volume and reconstruction capabilities, is a promising candidate for a KDAR neutrino search. In this work, we evaluate the proposed KDAR neutrino search strategies by realistically modeling both neutrino-nucleus interactions and the response of DUNE. We find that, although reconstruction of the neutrino energy and direction is difficult with current techniques in the relevant energy range, the superb energy resolution, angular resolution, and particle identification offered by DUNE can still permit great signal/background discrimination. Moreover, there are non-standard scenarios in which searches at DUNE for KDAR in the Sun can probe dark matter interactions.
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T2K Collaboration(Abe, K. et al), Antonova, M., Cervera-Villanueva, A., Fernandez, P., Izmaylov, A., & Novella, P. (2019). Measurement of the muon neutrino charged-current cross sections on water, hydrocarbon and iron, and their ratios, with the T2K on-axis detectors. Prog. Theor. Exp. Phys., (9), 093C02–30pp.
Abstract: We report a measurement of the flux-integrated v(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(H2O)(CC) = (0.840 +/- 0.010(stat.)(0.08)(+0.10)(syst.)) x 10 (38) cm(2)/nucleon, sigma(CH)(CC) = (0.817 +/- 0.007(stat.)(0.08)(+0.11)(syst.)) x 10 (38) cm(2)/nucleon, and sigma(Fe)(CC) = (0.859 +/- 0.003(stat.)(0.10)(+0.12)(syst.)) x 10 (38) cm(2)/nucleon, respectively, for a restricted phase space of induced muons: theta(mu) < 45 degrees and p(mu) >0.4 GeV/c in the laboratory frame. The measured cross section ratios are sigma(H2O)(CC)/sigma(CH)(CC) = 1.028 +/- 0.016(stat.) +/- 0.053(syst.), sigma(Fe)(CC)/sigma(H2O)(CC) = 1.023 +/- 0.012(stat.) +/- 0.058(syst.), and sigma(Fe)(CC)/sigma(CH)(CC) = 1.049 +/- 0.010(stat.) +/- 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.
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T2K Collaboration(Abe, K. et al), Antonova, M., Cervera-Villanueva, A., Fernandez, P., Izmaylov, A., & Novella, P. (2020). Measurement of the charged-current electron (anti-)neutrino inclusive cross-sections at the T2K off-axis near detector ND280. J. High Energy Phys., 10(10), 114–43pp.
Abstract: The electron (anti-)neutrino component of the T2K neutrino beam constitutes the largest background in the measurement of electron (anti-)neutrino appearance at the far detector. The electron neutrino scattering is measured directly with the T2K off-axis near detector, ND280. The selection of the electron (anti-)neutrino events in the plastic scintillator target from both neutrino and anti-neutrino mode beams is discussed in this paper. The flux integrated single differential charged-current inclusive electron (anti-)neutrino cross-sections, d sigma/dp and d sigma/d cos(theta), and the total cross-sections in a limited phase-space in momentum and scattering angle (p 300 MeV/c and theta <= 45 degrees) are measured using a binned maximum likelihood fit and compared to the neutrino Monte Carlo generator predictions, resulting in good agreement.
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DUNE Collaboration(Abi, B. et al), Antonova, M., Barenboim, G., Cervera-Villanueva, A., De Romeri, V., Fernandez Menendez, P., et al. (2021). Prospects for beyond the Standard Model physics searches at the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment DUNE Collaboration. Eur. Phys. J. C, 81(4), 322–51pp.
Abstract: The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) will be a powerful tool for a variety of physics topics. The high-intensity proton beams provide a large neutrino flux, sampled by a near detector system consisting of a combination of capable precision detectors, and by the massive far detector system located deep underground. This configuration sets up DUNE as a machine for discovery, as it enables opportunities not only to perform precision neutrino measurements that may uncover deviations from the present three-flavor mixing paradigm, but also to discover new particles and unveil new interactions and symmetries beyond those predicted in the Standard Model (SM). Of the many potential beyond the Standard Model (BSM) topics DUNE will probe, this paper presents a selection of studies quantifying DUNE's sensitivities to sterile neutrino mixing, heavy neutral leptons, non-standard interactions, CPT symmetry violation, Lorentz invariance violation, neutrino trident production, dark matter from both beam induced and cosmogenic sources, baryon number violation, and other new physics topics that complement those at high-energy colliders and significantly extend the present reach.
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T2K Collaboration(Abe, K. et al), Antonova, M., Cervera-Villanueva, A., Fernandez, P., Izmaylov, A., & Novella, P. (2020). Constraint on the matter-antimatter symmetry-violating phase in neutrino oscillations. Nature, 580(7803), 339–344.
Abstract: The charge-conjugation and parity-reversal (CP) symmetry of fundamental particles is a symmetry between matter and antimatter. Violation of this CP symmetry was first observed in 1964(1), and CP violation in the weak interactions of quarks was soon established(2). Sakharov proposed(3) that CP violation is necessary to explain the observed imbalance of matter and antimatter abundance in the Universe. However, CP violation in quarks is too small to support this explanation. So far, CP violation has not been observed in non-quark elementary particle systems. It has been shown that CP violation in leptons could generate the matter-antimatter disparity through a process called leptogenesis(4). Leptonic mixing, which appears in the standard model's charged current interactions(5,6), provides a potential source of CP violation through a complex phase dCP, which is required by some theoretical models of leptogenesis(7-9). This CP violation can be measured in muon neutrino to electron neutrino oscillations and the corresponding antineutrino oscillations, which are experimentally accessible using accelerator-produced beams as established by the Tokai-to-Kamioka (T2K) and NOvA experiments(10,11). Until now, the value of dCP has not been substantially constrained by neutrino oscillation experiments. Here we report a measurement using long-baseline neutrino and antineutrino oscillations observed by the T2K experiment that shows a large increase in the neutrino oscillation probability, excluding values of dCP that result in a large increase in the observed antineutrino oscillation probability at three standard deviations (3 sigma). The 3 sigma confidence interval for delta(CP), which is cyclic and repeats every 2p, is [-3.41, -0.03] for the so-called normal mass ordering and [-2.54, -0.32] for the inverted mass ordering. Our results indicate CP violation in leptons and our method enables sensitive searches for matter-antimatter asymmetry in neutrino oscillations using accelerator-produced neutrino beams. Future measurements with larger datasets will test whether leptonic CP violation is larger than the CP violation in quarks.
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DUNE Collaboration(Abi, B. et al), Antonova, M., Barenboim, G., Cervera-Villanueva, A., De Romeri, V., Fernandez Menendez, P., et al. (2021). Supernova neutrino burst detection with the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment. Eur. Phys. J. C, 81(5), 423–26pp.
Abstract: The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), a 40-kton underground liquid argon time projection chamber experiment, will be sensitive to the electron-neutrino flavor component of the burst of neutrinos expected from the next Galactic core-collapse supernova. Such an observation will bring unique insight into the astrophysics of core collapse as well as into the properties of neutrinos. The general capabilities of DUNE for neutrino detection in the relevant few- to few-tens-of-MeV neutrino energy range will be described. As an example, DUNE's ability to constrain the nu(e) spectral parameters of the neutrino burst will be considered.
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DUNE Collaboration(Abud, A. A. et al), Antonova, M., Barenboim, G., Cervera-Villanueva, A., De Romeri, V., Fernandez Menendez, P., et al. (2022). Scintillation light detection in the 6-m drift-length ProtoDUNE Dual Phase liquid argon TPC. Eur. Phys. J. C, 82(7), 618–29pp.
Abstract: DUNE is a dual-site experiment for long-baseline neutrino oscillation studies, neutrino astrophysics and nucleon decay searches. ProtoDUNE Dual Phase (DP) is a 6 x 6 x 6 m(3) liquid argon time-projection-chamber (LArTPC) that recorded cosmic-muon data at the CERN Neutrino Platform in 2019-2020 as a prototype of the DUNE Far Detector. Charged particles propagating through the LArTPC produce ionization and scintillation light. The scintillation light signal in these detectors can provide the trigger for non-beam events. In addition, it adds precise timing capabilities and improves the calorimetry measurements. In ProtoDUNE-DP, scintillation and electroluminescence light produced by cosmic muons in the LArTPC is collected by photomultiplier tubes placed up to 7m away from the ionizing track. In this paper, the ProtoDUNE-DP photon detection system performance is evaluated with a particular focus on the different wavelength shifters, such as PEN and TPB, and the use of Xe-doped LAr, considering its future use in giant LArTPCs. The scintillation light production and propagation processes are analyzed and a comparison of simulation to data is performed, improving understanding of the liquid argon properties.
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DUNE Collaboration(Abud, A. A. et al), Amedo, P., Antonova, M., Barenboim, G., Cervera-Villanueva, A., De Romeri, V., et al. (2023). Reconstruction of interactions in the ProtoDUNE-SP detector with Pandora. Eur. Phys. J. C, 83(7), 618–25pp.
Abstract: The Pandora Software Development Kit and algorithm libraries provide pattern-recognition logic essential to the reconstruction of particle interactions in liquid argon time projection chamber detectors. Pandora is the primary event reconstruction software used at ProtoDUNE-SP, a prototype for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment far detector. ProtoDUNE-SP, located at CERN, is exposed to a charged-particle test beam. This paper gives an overview of the Pandora reconstruction algorithms and how they have been tailored for use at ProtoDUNE-SP. In complex events with numerous cosmic-ray and beam background particles, the simulated reconstruction and identification efficiency for triggered test-beam particles is above 80% for the majority of particle type and beam momentum combinations. Specifically, simulated 1 GeV/c charged pions and protons are correctly reconstructed and identified with efficiencies of 86.1 +/- 0.6% and 84.1 +/- 0.6%, respectively. The efficiencies measured for test-beam data are shown to be within 5% of those predicted by the simulation.
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