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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). Identification and reconstruction of low-energy electrons in the ProtoDUNE-SP detector. Phys. Rev. D, 107(9), 092012–22pp.
Abstract: Measurements of electrons from ?e interactions are crucial for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) neutrino oscillation program, as well as searches for physics beyond the standard model, supernova neutrino detection, and solar neutrino measurements. This article describes the selection and reconstruction of low-energy (Michel) electrons in the ProtoDUNE-SP detector. ProtoDUNE-SP is one of the prototypes for the DUNE far detector, built and operated at CERN as a charged particle test beam experiment. A sample of low-energy electrons produced by the decay of cosmic muons is selected with a purity of 95%. This sample is used to calibrate the low-energy electron energy scale with two techniques. An electron energy calibration based on a cosmic ray muon sample uses calibration constants derived from measured and simulated cosmic ray muon events. Another calibration technique makes use of the theoretically well-understood Michel electron energy spectrum to convert reconstructed charge to electron energy. In addition, the effects of detector response to low-energy electron energy scale and its resolution including readout electronics threshold effects are quantified. Finally, the relation between the theoretical and reconstructed low-energy electron energy spectra is derived, and the energy resolution is characterized. The low-energy electron selection presented here accounts for about 75% of the total electron deposited energy. After the addition of lost energy using a Monte Carlo simulation, the energy resolution improves from about 40% to 25% at 50 MeV. These results are used to validate the expected capabilities of the DUNE far detector to reconstruct low-energy electrons.
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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). Low exposure long-baseline neutrino oscillation sensitivity of the DUNE experiment. Phys. Rev. D, 105(7), 072006–32pp.
Abstract: The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) will produce world-leading neutrino oscillation measurements over the lifetime of the experiment. In this work, we explore DUNE's sensitivity to observe charge-parity violation (CPV) in the neutrino sector, and to resolve the mass ordering, for exposures of up to 100 kiloton-megawatt-calendar years (kt-MW-CY), where calendar years include an assumption of 57% accelerator uptime based on past accelerator performance at Fermilab. The analysis includes detailed uncertainties on the flux prediction, the neutrino interaction model, and detector effects. We demonstrate that DUNE will be able to unambiguously resolve the neutrino mass ordering at a 4 sigma (5 sigma) level with a 66 (100) kt-MW-CY far detector exposure, and has the ability to make strong statements at significantly shorter exposures depending on the true value of other oscillation parameters, with a median sensitivity of 3 sigma for almost all true delta(CP) values after only 24 kt-MW-CY. We also show that DUNE has the potential to make a robust measurement of CPV at a 3 sigma level with a 100 kt-MW-CY exposure for the maximally CP-violating values delta(CP) = +/-pi/2. Additionally, the dependence of DUNE's sensitivity on the exposure taken in neutrino-enhanced and antineutrino-enhanced running is discussed. An equal fraction of exposure taken in each beam mode is found to be close to optimal when considered over the entire space of interest.
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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). Design, construction and operation of the ProtoDUNE-SP Liquid Argon TPC. J. Instrum., 17(1), P01005–111pp.
Abstract: The ProtoDUNE-SP detector is a single-phase liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) that was constructed and operated in the CERN North Area at the end of the H4 beamline. This detector is a prototype for the first far detector module of the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), which will be constructed at the Sandford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in Lead, South Dakota, U.S.A. The ProtoDUNE-SP detector incorporates full-size components as designed for DUNE and has an active volume of 7 x 6 x 7.2 m3. The H4 beam delivers incident particles with well-measured momenta and high-purity particle identification. ProtoDUNE-SP's successful operation between 2018 and 2020 demonstrates the effectiveness of the single-phase far detector design. This paper describes the design, construction, assembly and operation of the detector components.
Keywords: Noble liquid detectors (scintillation, ionization, double-phase); Photon detectors for UV; visible and IR photons (solid-state) (PIN diodes, APDs, Si-PMTs, G-APDs, CCDs, EBCCDs, EMCCDs, CMOS imagers, etc); Scintillators; scintillation and light emission processes (solid, gas and liquid scintillators); Time projection Chambers (TPC)
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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), Antonova, M., Barenboim, G., Cervera-Villanueva, A., De Romeri, V., Fernandez Menendez, P., et al. (2022). Separation of track- and shower-like energy deposits in ProtoDUNE-SP using a convolutional neural network. Eur. Phys. J. C, 82(10), 903–19pp.
Abstract: Liquid argon time projection chamber detector technology provides high spatial and calorimetric resolutions on the charged particles traversing liquid argon. As a result, the technology has been used in a number of recent neutrino experiments, and is the technology of choice for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE). In order to perform high precision measurements of neutrinos in the detector, final state particles need to be effectively identified, and their energy accurately reconstructed. This article proposes an algorithm based on a convolutional neural network to perform the classification of energy deposits and reconstructed particles as track-like or arising from electromagnetic cascades. Results from testing the algorithm on experimental data from ProtoDUNE-SP, a prototype of the DUNE far detector, are presented. The network identifies track- and shower-like particles, as well as Michel electrons, with high efficiency. The performance of the algorithm is consistent between experimental data and simulation.
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Emmanuel-Costa, D., Simoes, C., & Tortola, M. (2013). The minimal adjoint-SU (5) x Z(4) GUT model. J. High Energy Phys., 10(10), 054–30pp.
Abstract: An extension of the adjoint SU (5) model with a flavour symmetry based on the Z(4) group is investigated. The Z(4) symmetry is introduced with the aim of leading the up-and down-quark mass matrices to the Nearest-Neighbour-Interaction form. As a consequence of the discrete symmetry embedded in the SU (5) gauge group, the charged lepton mass matrix also gets the same form. Within this model, light neutrinos get their masses through type-I, type-III and one-loop radiative seesaw mechanisms, implemented, respectively, via a singlet, a triplet and an octet from the adjoint fermionic 24 fields. It is demonstrated that the neutrino phenomenology forces the introduction of at least three 24 fermionic multiplets. The symmetry SU (5) x Z(4) allows only two viable zero textures for the effective neutrino mass matrix. It is showed that one texture is only compatible with normal hierarchy and the other with inverted hierarchy in the light neutrino mass spectrum. Finally, it is also demonstrated that Z(4) freezes out the possibility of proton decay through exchange of coloured Higgs triplets at tree-level.
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Escrihuela, F. J., Forero, D. V., Miranda, O. G., Tortola, M., & Valle, J. W. F. (2017). Probing CP violation with non-unitary mixing in long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments: DUNE as a case study. New J. Phys., 19, 093005–14pp.
Abstract: When neutrino masses arise from the exchange of neutral heavy leptons, as in most seesaw schemes, the effective lepton mixing matrix N describing neutrino propagation is non-unitary, hence neutrinos are not exactly orthonormal. New CP violation phases appear in N that could be confused with the standard phase delta(CP) characterizing the three neutrino paradigm. We study the potential of the long-baseline neutrino experiment DUNE in probing CP violation induced by the standard CP phase in the presence of non-unitarity. In order to accomplish this we develop our previous formalism, so as to take into account the neutrino interactions with the medium, important in long baseline experiments such as DUNE. We find that the expected CP sensitivity of DUNE is somewhat degraded with respect to that characterizing the standard unitary case. However the effect is weaker than might have been expected thanks mainly to the wide neutrino beam. We also investigate the sensitivity of DUNE to the parameters characterizing non-unitarity. In this case we find that there is no improvement expected with respect to the current situation, unless the near detector setup is revamped.
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Escrihuela, F. J., Forero, D. V., Miranda, O. G., Tortola, M., & Valle, J. W. F. (2015). On the description of nonunitary neutrino mixing. Phys. Rev. D, 92(5), 053009–16pp.
Abstract: Neutrino oscillations are well established and the relevant parameters determined with good precision, except for the CP phase, in terms of a unitary lepton mixing matrix. Seesaw extensions of the Standard Model predict unitarity deviations due to the admixture of heavy isosinglet neutrinos. We provide a complete description of the unitarity and universality deviations in the light-neutrino sector. Neutrino oscillation experiments involving electron or muon neutrinos and antineutrinos are fully described in terms of just three new real parameters and a new CP phase, in addition to the ones describing oscillations with unitary mixing. Using this formalism we describe the implications of nonunitarity for neutrino oscillations and summarize the model-independent constraints on heavy-neutrino couplings that arise from current experiments.
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Escrihuela, F. J., Tortola, M., Valle, J. W. F., & Miranda, O. G. (2011). Global constraints on muon-neutrino nonstandard interactions. Phys. Rev. D, 83(9), 093002–8pp.
Abstract: The search for new interactions of neutrinos beyond those of the standard model may help to elucidate the mechanism responsible for neutrino masses. Here, we combine existing accelerator neutrino data with restrictions coming from a recent atmospheric neutrino data analysis in order to lift parameter degeneracies and improve limits on new interactions of muon neutrinos with quarks. In particular, we reconsider the results of the E-815 experiment at Fermilab (NuTeV) in view of a new evaluation of its systematic uncertainties. We find that, although constraints for muon neutrinos are better than those applicable to tau or electron neutrinos, they lie at the few X 10(-2) level, not as strong as previously believed. We briefly discuss prospects for further improvement.
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Esteves, J. N., Joaquim, F. R., Joshipura, A. S., Romao, J. C., Tortola, M., & Valle, J. W. F. (2010). A(4)-based neutrino masses with Majoron decaying dark matter. Phys. Rev. D, 82(7), 073008–8pp.
Abstract: We propose an A(4) flavor-symmetric SU(3) circle times SU(2) circle times U(1) seesaw model where lepton number is broken spontaneously. A consistent two-zero texture pattern of neutrino masses and mixing emerges from the interplay of type-I and type-II seesaw contributions, with important phenomenological predictions. We show that, if the Majoron becomes massive, such seesaw scenario provides a viable candidate for decaying dark matter, consistent with cosmic microwave background lifetime constraints that follow from current WMAP observations. We also calculate the subleading one-loop-induced decay into photons which leads to a monoenergetic emission line that may be observed in future x-ray missions such as Xenia.
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