S. J. Brice

A method for measuring coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering at a far off-axis high-energy neutrino beam target

We present an experimental method for measuring the process of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CENNS). This method uses a detector situated transverse to a high-energy neutrino beam production target. This detector would be sensitive to the low-energy neutrinos arising from decay-at-rest pions in the target. We discuss the physics motivation for making this measurement and outline the predicted backgrounds and sensitivities using this approach. We report a measurement of neutron backgrounds as found in an off-axis surface location of the Fermilab Booster Neutrino Beam (BNB) target. The results indicate that the Fermilab BNB target is a favorable location for a CENNS experiment.

nuSTORM - Neutrinos from STORed Muons: Letter of Intent to the Fermilab Physics Advisory Committee

The idea of using a muon storage ring to produce a high-energy ({approx_equal} 50 GeV) neutrino beam for experiments was first discussed by Koshkarev in 1974. A detailed description of a muon storage ring for neutrino oscillation experiments was first produced by Neuffer in 1980. In his paper, Neuffer studied muon decay rings with E{sub {mu}} of 8, 4.5 and 1.5 GeV. With his 4.5 GeV ring design, he achieved a figure of merit of {approx_equal} 6 x 10{sup 9} useful neutrinos per 3 x 10{sup 13} protons on target. The facility we describe here ({nu}STORM) is essentially the same facility proposed in 1980 and would utilize a 3-4 GeV/c muon storage ring to study eV-scale oscillation physics and, in addition, could add significantly to our understanding of {nu}{sub e} and {nu}{sub {mu}} cross sections. In particular the facility can: (1) address the large {Delta}m{sup 2} oscillation regime and make a major contribution to the study of sterile neutrinos, (2) make precision {nu}{sub e} and {bar {nu}}{sub e} cross-section measurements, (3) provide a technology ({mu} decay ring) test demonstration and {mu} beam diagnostics test bed, and (4) provide a precisely understood {nu} beam for detector studies. The facility is the simplest implementation of the Neutrino Factory concept. In our case, 60 GeV/c protons are used to produce pions off a conventional solid target. The pions are collected with a focusing device (horn or lithium lens) and are then transported to, and injected into, a storage ring. The pions that decay in the first straight of the ring can yield a muon that is captured in the ring. The circulating muons then subsequently decay into electrons and neutrinos. We are starting with a storage ring design that is optimized for 3.8 GeV/c muon momentum. This momentum was selected to maximize the physics reach for both oscillation and the cross section physics. See Fig. 1 for a schematic of the facility.

Measurement ofνμ-induced charged-current neutral pion production cross sections on mineral oil atEν∈0.5–2.0GeV

The authors would like to acknowledge the support of Fermilab, the Department of Energy, and the National Science Foundation in the construction, operation, and data analysis of the Mini Booster Neutrino Experiment.

Improved measurement of neutral current coherent {pi}{sup 0} production on carbon in a few-GeV neutrino beam

The SciBooNE Collaboration reports a measurement of neutral current coherent {pi}{sup 0} production on carbon by a muon neutrino beam with average energy 0.8 GeV. The separation of coherent from inclusive {pi}{sup 0} production has been improved by detecting recoil protons from resonant {pi}{sup 0} production. We measure the ratio of the neutral current coherent {pi}{sup 0} production to total charged current cross sections to be (1.16{+-}0.24)x10{sup -2}. The ratio of charged current coherent {pi}{sup +} to neutral current coherent {pi}{sup 0} production is calculated to be 0.14{sub -0.28}{sup +0.30}, using our published charged current coherent pion measurement.

Measurement ofνμandν¯μinduced neutral current singleπ0production cross sections on mineral oil atEν∼O(1 GeV)

MiniBooNE reports the first absolute cross sections for neutral current single {pi}{sup 0} production on CH{sub 2} induced by neutrino and antineutrino interactions measured from the largest sets of NC {pi}{sup 0} events collected to date. The principal result consists of differential cross sections measured as functions of {pi}{sup 0} momentum and {pi}{sup 0} angle averaged over the neutrino flux at MiniBooNE. We find total cross sections of (4.76 {+-} 0.05{sub stat} {+-} 0.40{sub sys}) x 10{sup -40} cm{sup 2}/nucleon at a mean energy of = 808 MeV and (1.48 {+-} 0.05{sub stat} {+-} 0.14{sub sys}) x 10{sup -40} cm{sup 2}/nucleon at a mean energy of = 664 MeV for {nu}{sub {mu}} and {bar {nu}}{sub {mu}} induced production, respectively. In addition, we have included measurements of the neutrino and antineutrino total cross sections for incoherent exclusive NC 1{pi}{sup 0} production corrected for the effects of final state interactions to compare to prior results.

Measurement ofνμandνeEvents in an Off-Axis Horn-Focused Neutrino Beam

We report the first observation of off-axis neutrino interactions in the MiniBooNE detector from the NuMI beam line at Fermilab. The MiniBooNE detector is located 745 m from the NuMI production target, at 110 mrad angle (6.3 degrees) with respect to the NuMI beam axis. Samples of charged-current quasielastic numicro and nue interactions are analyzed and found to be in agreement with expectation. This provides a direct verification of the expected pion and kaon contributions to the neutrino flux and validates the modeling of the NuMI off-axis beam.

Measurement of numicro and nue events in an off-axis horn-focused neutrino beam.

We report the first observation of off-axis neutrino interactions in the MiniBooNE detector from the NuMI beam line at Fermilab. The MiniBooNE detector is located 745 m from the NuMI production target, at 110 mrad angle (6.3 degrees) with respect to the NuMI beam axis. Samples of charged-current quasielastic numicro and nue interactions are analyzed and found to be in agreement with expectation. This provides a direct verification of the expected pion and kaon contributions to the neutrino flux and validates the modeling of the NuMI off-axis beam.

Search for Electron Antineutrino Appearance at theΔm2∼1eV2Scale

The MiniBooNE Collaboration reports initial results from a search for

Addendum to the MiniBooNE Run Plab: MinneBooNE Physics in 2006.

\bar{\nu}_{\mu}\to\bar{\nu}_e

The MiniBooNE Collaboration

oscillations. A signal-blind analysis was performed using a data sample corresponding to