First CNGS events detected by LVD

The CERN Neutrino to Gran Sasso (CNGS) project aims to produce a high energy, wide band ν_μ beam at CERN and send it toward the INFN Gran Sasso National Laboratory (LNGS), 732 km away. Its main goal is the observation of the ν_τ appearance, through neutrino flavour oscillation. The beam started its operation in August 2006 for about 12 days: a total amount of 7.6×10¹⁷ protons were delivered to the target. The LVD detector, installed in hall A of the LNGS and mainly dedicated to the study of supernova neutrinos, was fully operating during the whole CNGS running time. A total number of 569 events were detected in coincidence with the beam spill time. This is in good agreement with the expected number of events from Monte Carlo simulations. PACS 14.60.Pq; 29.27.Fh; 29.40.Mc; 95.55.Vj     

The OPERA experiment

The aim of the OPERA experiment is to provide unambiguous evidence for the ν _μ ↔ ν _τ oscillation by looking at the appearance of ν _τ in a pure ν _μ beam. This oscillation will be sought in the region of the oscillation parameters indicated by the atmospheric neutrino results. The experiment is part of the CNGS (CERN Neutrino beam to Gran Sasso) project. The ν μ beam produced at CERN will be sent towards the Gran Sasso underground laboratory, where the OPERA detector is under construction. The detector, the physics potential, and performance for neutrino oscillation studies including the subleading ν _μ ↔ ν _ε search are presented. The text was submitted by the author in English.     

C2GT: intercepting CERN neutrinos to Gran Sasso in the Gulf of Taranto to measure θ13

Today’s greatest challenge in accelerator-based neutrino physics is to measure the mixing angle θ₁₃ which is known to be much smaller than the solar mixing angle θ₁₂ and the atmospheric mixing angle θ₂₃. A non-zero value of the angle θ₁₃ is a prerequisite for observing CP violation in neutrino mixing. In this paper, we discuss a deep-sea neutrino experiment with 1.5 Mt fiducial target mass in the Gulf of Taranto with the prime objective of measuring θ₁₃. The detector is exposed to the CERN neutrino beam to Gran Sasso in off-axis geometry. Monochromatic muon neutrinos of ≈ 800 MeV energy are the dominant beam component. Neutrinos are detected through quasi-elastic, charged-current reactions in sea water; electrons and muons are detected in a large-surface, ring-imaging Cherenkov detector. The profile of the seabed in the Gulf of Taranto allows for a moveable experiment at variable distances from CERN, starting at 1100 km. From the oscillatory pattern of the disappearance of muon neutrinos, the experiment will measure sin²θ₂₃ and especially Δm² ₂₃ with high precision. The appearance of electron neutrinos will be observed with a sensitivity to P(ν_μ→ν_e) as small as 0.0035 (90% CL) and sin²θ₁₃ as small as 0.0019 (90% CL; for a CP phase angle δ=0° and for normal neutrino mass hierarchy).     

Search for ν<Subscript>μ</Subscript> → ν<Subscript>τ</Subscript> oscillations in appearance mode in the OPERA experiment

The OPERA experiment at the underground Gran Sasso Laboratory (LNGS) has to perform the first detection of neutrino oscillations in appearance mode through the direct observation of ν_μ → ν_τ. The apparatus consists of a lead/emulsion-film target complemented by electronic detectors. It is placed in the high-energy, long-baseline CERN neutrino beam (CNGS) 730 km away from the neutrino source. Runs with CNGS neutrinos were successfully carried out in 2008–2009 with the first candidate event ν_μ → gv_τ recently detected.     

The OPERA experiment

The OPERA (oscillation project with emulsion-tracking apparatus) experiment aims to observe an unambiguous ν_π?ν_τ oscillation in the parameter region allowed by previous experiments. The OPERA detector will be installed in the underground Gran Sasso Laboratory, 732 km away from CERN, where the CNGS (CERN neutrino beam to Gran Sasso) ν_π beam will be produced. The signature of the presence of ν_τ's in the ν_π beam will be the detection of τ leptons produced by ν_τ interactions. Nuclear emulsions will be used for precise event reconstruction, while electronic detectors will be used for triggering.     

A minimal Beta Beam with high-<Emphasis Type="Italic">Q</Emphasis> ions to address CP violation in the leptonic sector

In this paper we consider a Beta Beam setup that tries to leverage at most existing European facilities: i.e. a setup that takes advantage of facilities at CERN to boost high-Q ions (⁸Li and ⁸B) aiming at a far detector located at L=732 km in the Gran Sasso Underground Laboratory. The average neutrino energy for ⁸Li and ⁸B ions boosted at γ∼100 is in the range E _ν ∈[1,2] GeV, high enough to use a large iron detector of the MINOS type at the far site. We perform, then, a study of the neutrino and antineutrino fluxes needed to measure a CP-violating phase δ in a significant part of the parameter space. In particular, for θ ₁₃≥3°, if an antineutrino flux of 3×10¹⁹ useful ⁸Li decays per year is achievable, we find that δ can be measured in 60% of the parameter space with 3×10¹⁸ useful ⁸B decays per year.     

Neutrino hierarchy from CP-blind observables with high density magnetized detectors

High density magnetized detectors are well suited to exploit the outstanding purity and intensities of novel neutrino sources like neutrino factories and beta beams. They can also provide independent measurements of leptonic mixing parameters through the observation of atmospheric muon-neutrinos. In this paper, we discuss the combination of these observables from a multi-kT iron detector and a high energy beta beam; in particular, we demonstrate that even with moderate detector granularities the neutrino mass hierarchy can be determined for θ₁₃ values greater than 4°. PACS 14.60.Pq; 14.60.Lm     

Search for neutrino oscillations vμ → vτ in CERN → Gran Sasso high-energy neutrino beam (the OPERA experiment)

The main purpose of the OPERA experiment is the direct observation of neutrino oscillations (v_μ → v_τ) in the v_μ beam from the CERN accelerator through the direct detection of τ leptons in nuclear emulsions at the Gran Sasso National Underground Laboratory. Some aspects of the use of the Russian PAVICOM facility for processing and analyzing the data obtained from the OPERA experiment are discussed.     

The impact of solar and atmospheric parameter uncertainties * on the measurement of θ13 and δ

We present in this paper the analysis of the measurement of the unknown PMNS parameters θ₁₃ and δ at future LBL facilities performing complete three parameters fits, each time fully including in the fit one of the atmospheric and solar oscillation parameters within its present (future) error. We show that, due to the presence of degeneracies, present uncertainties on θ₂₃ and worsen significantly the precision on (θ₁₃,δ) at future LBL experiments. Only if a precision on the atmospheric parameters at least similar to what expected at T2K-I is reached, then the sensitivities to θ₁₃ and δ that have been presented in the literature for many facilities (where θ₂₃ and are generally considered as fixed external inputs) can indeed be almost recovered. On the other hand, the impact on this measurement of the uncertainties on the solar parameters, θ₁₂ and is already negligible. Our analysis has been performed using three reference setups: the SPL Super-Beam and the standard low-γ β-Beam, both aiming toward a Mton Water Čerenkov detector located at L = 130 km; the 50 GeV Neutrino Factory with a 40 kton Magnetized Iron Detector to look for the "golden channel" ν_e → ν_μ with baseline L = 3000 km and a 4 kton Emulsion Cloud Chamber to look for the "silver channel" ν_e → ν_τ with baseline L = 732 km. Received: 19 July 2005, Revised: 30 September 2005, Published online: 11 November 2005 PACS: 14.60.Pq, 14.60.Lm     

Final results on the search for νμ→νe oscillations in the NOMAD experiment

The results of the search for ν _μ →ν _e oscillations in the NOMAD experiment at CERN are presented. The experiment looked for the appearance of ν _e in a predominantly ν _μ wideband neutrino beam at the CERN SPS. No evidence for oscillations was found. The 90% confidence limits obtained are Δm ²<0.4 eV² for maximal mixing and sin²(2θ)<1.4×10⁻³ for large Δm ². This result excludes the LSND allowed region of oscillation parameters with Δm ²≳10 eV². From Yadernaya Fizika, Vol. 67, No. 11, 2004, pp. 1967–1972. Original English Text Copyright ? 2004 by Popov. This article was submitted by the author in English. The author represents the NOMAD Collaboration     

High energy beta beams without massive detectors

In this paper, the possibility to exploit a high energy beta beam without massive detectors is discussed. The radioactive ions are boosted up to very high with the neutrino beam pointing towards an instrumented surface located at a moderate baseline (e.g. from CERN to the Gran Sasso Laboratories). oscillations and their CP conjugate are tagged as an excess of horizontal muons produced in the rock and tracked by the low-mass instrumented surface installed in one of the LNGS experimental halls. We show that the performance of this complex for what concerns the determination of the angle of the leptonic mixing matrix is comparable with the current low- design based on a gigantic water Cherenkov at Frejus.Received: 13 September 2004, Published online: 9 November 2004PACS: 14.60.Pq, 14.60.Lm     

Phase shift analysis and extraction of structure functions for Coulomb distortion on (e, e'p) reactions at high electron energies

New results for the double beta decay of ⁷⁶ Ge are presented. They are extracted from data obtained with the HEIDELBERG-MOSCOW experiment, which operates five enriched ⁷⁶ Ge detectors in an extreme low-level environment in the Gran Sasso underground laboratory. The two-neutrino-accompanied double beta decay is evaluated for the first time for all five detectors with a statistical significance of 47.7 kg y resulting in a half-life of T _1/2 ^2ν = [1.55±0.01(stat)^+0.19 _-0.15(syst)]×10²¹ y. The lower limit on the half-life of the 0νββ decay obtained with pulse shape analysis is T _1/2 ^0ν > 1.9×10²⁵(3.1×10²⁵) y with 90% C.L. (68% C.L.) (with 35.5 kg y). This results in an upper limit of the effective Majorana-neutrino mass of 0.35 eV (0.27 eV) using the matrix elements of A. Staudt et al.'s work (Europhys. Lett. 13, 31 (1990)). This is the most stringent limit at present from double beta decay. No evidence for a majoron-emitting decay mode is observed. Received: 22 August 2001 / Accepted: 18 October 2001     

A new design for the CERN-Fréjus neutrino super-beam

We present an optimization of the hadron focusing system for a low-energy high intensity conventional neutrino beam (super-beam) proposed on the basis of the HP-SPL at CERN with a beam power of 4 MW and an energy of 4.5 GeV. The far detector would be a 440 kton Water Cherenkov detector (MEMPHYS) located at a baseline of 130 km in the Fréjus site. The neutrino fluxes simulation relies on a new GEANT4 based simulation coupled with an optimization algorithm based on the maximization of the sensitivity limit on the θ ₁₃ mixing angle. A new configuration adopting a multiple horn system with solid targets is proposed which improves the sensitivity to θ ₁₃ and the CP violating phase δ _CP.     

Liquid argon neutrino detectors

The Liquid Argon imaging technique, as proposed for the ICARUS detector, offers the possibility to perform complementary and simultaneous measurements of neutrinos, as those of CERN to Gran Sasso beam (CNGS) and those from cosmic ray events. For the currently allowed values of the Super—Kamiokande results, the combination of both CNGS and atmospheric data will provide a precise determination of the oscillation parameters. Since one can observe and unambiguously identify ν_e, ν_μ and ν_τ components, this technology allows to explore the full (3 x 3) mixing matrix. The same class of detector can be proposed for high precision measurements at a neutrino factory.     

Dark matter production at the LHC from black hole remnants

We study dark matter production at CERN LHC from black hole remnants (BHR). We find that the typical mass of these BHR at the LHC is ∼5–10 TeV which is heavier than other dark matter candidates, such as axion, axino, neutralino, etc. We propose the detection of this dark matter via single jet production in the process pp → jet + BHR (dark matter) at CERN LHC. We find that for zero impact parameter partonic collisions, the monojet cross section is not negligible in comparison to the standard model background and is much higher than the other dark matter scenarios studied so far. We also find that dσ/dp _T of jet production in this process increases as p _T increases, whereas in all other dark matter scenarios the dσ/dp _T decreases at CERN LHC. This may provide a useful signature for dark matter detection at the LHC. However, we find that when the impact parameter dependent effect of inelasticity is included, the monojet cross section from the above process becomes much smaller than the standard model background and may not be detectable at the LHC.     

The Θ13 and δ CP sensitivities of the SPL-Fréjus project revisited

An optimization of the CERN SPL beam line has been performed guided by the sensitivities to the Θ₁₃ mixing angle and to the δ_CP Dirac CP violating phase. A UNO-like 440 ktons water Čerenkov detector located at 130 km from the target in a new foreseen Fréjus laboratory has been used as a generic detector. Concerning the δ_CP independent Θ₁₃ sensitivity, a gain of about 20% may be reached using a 3.5 GeV proton beam with a 40 m long, 2 m radius decay tunnel compared to the up to now considered 2.2 GeV beam energy and 20 m long, 1 m radius decay tunnel. This may motivate new machine developments to upgrade the nominal SPL proton beam energy.     

Detecting an invisible Higgs boson at Fermilab Tevatron and CERN LHC

In this paper, we study the observability of an invisible Higgs boson at Fermilab Tevatron and CERN LHC through the production channel qq̄→ZH→ℓ⁺ℓ^-+P/_T, where/P_T is reconstructed from the ℓ⁺ℓ^- with ℓ=e or μ. A new strategy is proposed to eliminate the largest irreducible background, namely qq̄→Z(→ℓ⁺ℓ^-)Z(→νν̄). This strategy utilizes the precise measurements of qq̄→Z(→ℓ⁺ℓ^-)Z(→ℓ⁺ℓ^-). For m_H=120 GeV and with luminosity 30 fb^-1 at Tevatron, a 5σ observation of the invisible Higgs boson is possible. For m_H=114∼140 GeV with only 10 fb^-1 luminosity at LHC, a discovery signal over 5σ can be achieved. PACS 14.80.Cp     

Status report on theGALLEX experiment

Summary The GALLEX collaboration is performing an experiment for the detection of neutrinos coming principally from the p-p fusion reaction in the Sun, via the reaction ν_e+⁷¹Ga→⁷¹Ge+e⁻. The experiment is running in the Gran Sasso Underground Laboratory of INFN, using as a target 30.3 tons of gallium in the form of 8.13 molar aqueous GaCl₃ solution. A report is given of the status of GALLEX after the end of the operations devoted to the removal from the solution of the cosmogenically formed Ge isotopes, completed in the middle of 1991. The experiment is now collecting data on solar neutrinos and the data analysis is in progress. Preliminary results concerning the first year of measurement are presented. Paper presented at the V Cosmic Physics National Conference, S. Miniato, November 27–30, 1990.     

New CUORICINO results and status of CUORE

CUORICINO is an array of 62 TeO₂ bolometers with a total mass of 40.7 kg (11.2 kg of ¹³⁰Te), operated at about 10 mK to search for ββ(0ν) of ¹³⁰Te. The detectors are organized as a 14-story tower and intended as a slightly modified version of one of the 19 towers of the CUORE project, a proposed tightly packed array of 988 TeO₂ bolometers (741 kg of total mass of TeO₂) for ultralow-background searches on neutrinoless double-beta decay, cold dark matter, solar axions, and rare nuclear decays. Started in April 2003 at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS), CUORICINO data taking was stopped in November 2003 to repair the readout wiring system of the 62 bolometers. Restarted in spring 2004, CUORICINO is presently the most sensitive running experiment on neutrinoless double-beta decay. No evidence for ββ(0ν) decay has been found so far and a new lower limit, T ₁ ^2/0ν ≥ 1.8 × 10²⁴ yr (90% C.L.), is set, corresponding to 〈m _ν〉 ≤ 0.2–1.1 eV, depending on the theoretical nuclear matrix elements used in the analysis. Detector performance, operational procedures, and background analysis results are reviewed. The expected performance and sensitivity of CUORE is also discussed. CUORE Collaboration The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Virtual effects of split-SUSY in Higgs productions at linear colliders

In split supersymmetry, gauginos and higgsinos are the only supersymmetric particles possibly accessible at foreseeable colliders like the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and the International Linear Collider (ILC). In order to account for the cosmic dark matter measured by WMAP, these gauginos and higgsinos are stringently constrained and could be explored at the colliders through their direct productions and/or virtual effects in some processes. The clean environment and high luminosity of the ILC render the virtual effects at percent level meaningful in unraveling the new physics effects. In this work we assume split supersymmetry and calculate the virtual effects of the WMAP-allowed gauginos and higgsinos in the Higgs productions e⁺e^-→Zh and e⁺e^-→ν_eν̄_eh through WW fusion at the ILC. We find that the production cross section of e⁺e^-→Zh can be altered by a few percent in some part of the WMAP-allowed parameter space, while the correction to the WW fusion process e⁺e^-→ν_eν̄_eh is below 1%. Such virtual effects are correlated with the cross sections of chargino pair productions and can offer complementary information in probing split supersymmetry at the colliders. PACS 14.80.Ly; 95.35.+d