Measurement of neutrino oscillation with KamLAND: evidence of spectral distortion

We present results of a study of neutrino oscillation based on a 766 ton/year exposure of KamLAND to reactor antineutrinos. We observe 258 nu (e) candidate events with energies above 3.4 MeV compared to 365.2+/-23.7 events expected in the absence of neutrino oscillation. Accounting for 17.8+/-7.3 expected background events, the statistical significance for reactor nu (e) disappearance is 99.998%. The observed energy spectrum disagrees with the expected spectral shape in the absence of neutrino oscillation at 99.6% significance and prefers the distortion expected from nu (e) oscillation effects. A two-neutrino oscillation analysis of the KamLAND data gives Deltam(2)=7.9(+0.6)(-0.5)x10(-5) eV(2). A global analysis of data from KamLAND and solar-neutrino experiments yields Deltam(2)=7.9(+0.6)(-0.5)x10(-5) eV(2) and tan((2)theta=0.40(+0.10)(-0.07), the most precise determination to date.     

Improved search for nu(mu) --> nu(e) oscillation in a long-baseline accelerator experiment

We performed an improved search for nu(mu) --> nu(e) oscillation with the KEK to Kamioka (K2K) long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment, using the full data sample of 9.2 x 10(19) protons on target. No evidence for a nu(e) appearance signal was found, and we set bounds on the nu(mu) --> nu(e) oscillation parameters. At Deltam(2)=2.8 x 10(-3) eV(2), the best-fit value of the K2Knu(mu) disappearance analysis, we set an upper limit of sin(2)2theta(mue) < 0.13 at a 90% confidence level.     

Evidence for an oscillatory signature in atmospheric neutrino oscillations

Muon neutrino disappearance probability as a function of neutrino flight length L over neutrino energy E was studied. A dip in the L/E distribution was observed in the data, as predicted from the sinusoidal flavor transition probability of neutrino oscillation. The observed L/E distribution constrained nu(micro)<-->nu(tau) neutrino oscillation parameters; 1.9x10(-3)0.90 at 90% confidence level.     

Precision measurement of neutrino oscillation parameters with KamLAND

The KamLAND experiment has determined a precise value for the neutrino oscillation parameter Deltam21(2) and stringent constraints on theta12. The exposure to nuclear reactor antineutrinos is increased almost fourfold over previous results to 2.44 x 10(32) proton yr due to longer livetime and an enlarged fiducial volume. An undistorted reactor nu[over]e energy spectrum is now rejected at >5sigma. Analysis of the reactor spectrum above the inverse beta decay energy threshold, and including geoneutrinos, gives a best fit at Deltam21(2)=7.58(-0.13)(+0.14)(stat) -0.15+0.15(syst) x 10(-5) eV2 and tan2theta12=0.56(-0.07)+0.10(stat) -0.06+0.10(syst). Local Deltachi2 minima at higher and lower Deltam21(2) are disfavored at >4sigma. Combining with solar neutrino data, we obtain Deltam21(2)=7.59(-0.21)+0.21 x 10(-5) eV2 and tan2theta12=0.47(-0.05)+0.06.     

Measurement of the total active 8B solar neutrino flux at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory with enhanced neutral current sensitivity

The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory has precisely determined the total active (nu(x)) 8B solar neutrino flux without assumptions about the energy dependence of the nu(e) survival probability. The measurements were made with dissolved NaCl in heavy water to enhance the sensitivity and signature for neutral-current interactions. The flux is found to be 5.21 +/- 0.27(stat)+/-0.38(syst) x 10(6) cm(-2) s(-1), in agreement with previous measurements and standard solar models. A global analysis of these and other solar and reactor neutrino results yields Deltam(2)=7.1(+1.2)(-0.6) x 10(-5) eV(2) and theta=32.5(+2.4)(-2.3) degrees. Maximal mixing is rejected at the equivalent of 5.4 standard deviations.     

Search for neutrino oscillations at the palo verde nuclear reactors

We report on the initial results from a measurement of the antineutrino flux and spectrum at a distance of about 800 m from the three reactors of the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station using a segmented gadolinium-loaded scintillation detector. We find that the antineutrino flux agrees with that predicted in the absence of oscillations excluding at 90% C.L. nu;(e)-nu;(x) oscillations with Deltam(2)>1.12x10(-3) eV(2) for maximal mixing and sin (2)2straight theta>0.21 for large Deltam(2). Our results support the conclusion that the atmospheric neutrino oscillations observed by Super-Kamiokande do not involve nu(e).     

Measurement of neutrino oscillations with the MINOS detectors in the NuMI beam

This Letter reports new results from the MINOS experiment based on a two-year exposure to muon neutrinos from the Fermilab NuMI beam. Our data are consistent with quantum-mechanical oscillations of neutrino flavor with mass splitting |Deltam2| = (2.43+/-0.13) x 10(-3) eV2 (68% C.L.) and mixing angle sin2(2theta) > 0.90 (90% C.L.). Our data disfavor two alternative explanations for the disappearance of neutrinos in flight: namely, neutrino decays into lighter particles and quantum decoherence of neutrinos, at the 3.7 and 5.7 standard-deviation levels, respectively.     

Determining neutrino mass from the cosmic microwave background alone

Distortions of cosmic microwave background temperature and polarization maps caused by gravitational lensing, observable with high angular resolution and high sensitivity, can be used to measure the neutrino mass. Assuming two massless species and one with mass m(nu), we forecast sigma(m(nu))=0.15 eV from the Planck satellite and sigma(m(nu))=0.04 eV from observations with twice the angular resolution and approximately 20 times the sensitivity. A detection is likely at this higher sensitivity since the observation of atmospheric neutrino oscillations requires Deltam(2)(nu) greater, similar (0.04 eV)(2).     

Observation of muon neutrino disappearance with the MINOS detectors in the NuMI neutrino beam

This Letter reports results from the MINOS experiment based on its initial exposure to neutrinos from the Fermilab NuMI beam. The rates and energy spectra of charged current nu(mu) interactions are compared in two detectors located along the beam axis at distances of 1 and 735 km. With 1.27 x 10(20) 120 GeV protons incident on the NuMI target, 215 events with energies below 30 GeV are observed at the Far Detector, compared to an expectation of 336+/-14 events. The data are consistent with nu(mu) disappearance via oscillations with |Delta(m)2/32|=2.74 +0.44/-0.26 x10(-3)eV(2) and sin(2)(2theta(23))>0.87 (68% C.L.).     

Search for nu(mu)-->nu(e) and nu(mu)-->nu(e) oscillations at NuTeV

Limits on nu(mu)-->nu(e) and nu(mu)-->nu(e) oscillations are extracted using the NuTeV detector with sign-selected nu(mu) and nu(mu) beams. In nu(mu) mode, for the case of sin(2)2alpha = 1, Delta(m)(2)>2.6 eV(2) is excluded, and for Delta(m)(2)>1000 eV(2), sin(2)2alpha>1.1 x 10(-3). The NuTeV data exclude the high Delta(m)(2) end of nu(mu)-->nu(e) oscillation parameters favored by the LSND experiment without the need to assume that the oscillation parameters for nu and nu are the same. We present the most stringent experimental limits for nu(mu)(nu(mu))-->nu(e)(nu(e)) oscillations in the large Delta(m)(2) region.     

Mikheyev-smirnov-wolfenstein effects in vacuum oscillations

We point out that for solar neutrino oscillations with the mass-squared difference of Deltam(2) approximately 10(-10)-10(-9) eV(2), i.e., in the so-called vacuum oscillation range, the solar matter effects are non-negligible, particularly for the low energy pp neutrinos. One consequence of this is that the values of the mixing angle straight theta and pi/2-straight theta are not equivalent, making it necessary to consider the entire physical range of the mixing angle 0相似文献   

Forward-backward asymmetries of lepton pairs in events with a large-transverse-momentum jet at hadron colliders

We discuss forward-backward charge asymmetries for lepton-pair production in association with a large-transverse-momentum jet at hadron colliders. The lepton charge asymmetry relative to the jet direction A(j)(FB) gives a new determination of the effective weak mixing angle sin((2)theta(lept)(eff)(M(2)(Z)) with a statistical precision after cuts of approximately 10(-3) (8x10(-3)) at LHC (Tevatron). This is to be compared with the current uncertainty at LEP and SLD from the asymmetries alone, 2x10(-4). The identification of b jets also allows for the measurement of the bottom-quark-Z asymmetry A(b)(FB) at hadron colliders, the resulting statistical precision for sin((2)theta(lept)(eff)(M(2)(Z)) being approximately 9x10(-4) (2x10(-2) at Tevatron), also lower than the reported precision at e(+)e(-) colliders, 3x10(-4).     

Independent measurement of the total active 8B solar neutrino flux using an array of 3He proportional counters at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory

The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) used an array of 3He proportional counters to measure the rate of neutral-current interactions in heavy water and precisely determined the total active (nu_x) 8B solar neutrino flux. This technique is independent of previous methods employed by SNO. The total flux is found to be 5.54_-0.31;+0.33(stat)-0.34+0.36(syst)x10(6) cm(-2) s(-1), in agreement with previous measurements and standard solar models. A global analysis of solar and reactor neutrino results yields Deltam2=7.59_-0.21;+0.19x10(-5) eV2 and theta=34.4_-1.2;+1.3 degrees. The uncertainty on the mixing angle has been reduced from SNO's previous results.     

Observation of parity nonconservation in møller scattering

We report a measurement of the parity-violating asymmetry in fixed target electron-electron (M?ller) scattering: A(PV)=[-175+/-30(stat)+/-20(syst)] x 10(-9). This first direct observation of parity nonconservation in M?ller scattering leads to a measurement of the electron's weak charge at low energy Q(e)(W)=-0.053+/-0.011. This is consistent with the standard model expectation at the current level of precision: sin((2)theta(W)(M(Z))((-)MS)=0.2293+/-0.0024(stat)+/-0.0016(syst)+/-0.0006(theory).     

Measurement of the neutrino mass splitting and flavor mixing by MINOS

Measurements of neutrino oscillations using the disappearance of muon neutrinos from the Fermilab NuMI neutrino beam as observed by the two MINOS detectors are reported. New analysis methods have been applied to an enlarged data sample from an exposure of 7.25×10(20) protons on target. A fit to neutrino oscillations yields values of |Δm(2)|=(2.32(-0.08)(+0.12))×10(-3) eV(2) for the atmospheric mass splitting and sin(2)(2θ)>0.90 (90% C.L.) for the mixing angle. Pure neutrino decay and quantum decoherence hypotheses are excluded at 7 and 9 standard deviations, respectively.     

Indication of electron neutrino appearance from an accelerator-produced off-axis muon neutrino beam

The T2K experiment observes indications of ν(μ) → ν(e) appearance in data accumulated with 1.43×10(20) protons on target. Six events pass all selection criteria at the far detector. In a three-flavor neutrino oscillation scenario with |Δm(23)(2)| = 2.4×10(-3) eV(2), sin(2)2θ(23) = 1 and sin(2)2θ(13) = 0, the expected number of such events is 1.5±0.3(syst). Under this hypothesis, the probability to observe six or more candidate events is 7×10(-3), equivalent to 2.5σ significance. At 90% C.L., the data are consistent with 0.03(0.04) < sin(2)2θ(13) < 0.28(0.34) for δ(CP) = 0 and a normal (inverted) hierarchy.     

Complete two-loop electroweak fermionic corrections to the effective leptonic weak mixing angle sin2theta(lept)eff and indirect determination of the Higgs Boson Mass

We present a complete calculation of the contributions to the effective leptonic weak mixing angle, sin((2)theta;(lept)(eff), generated by closed fermion loops at the two-loop level of the electroweak interactions. This quantity is the source of the most stringent bound on the mass M(H) of the standard model Higgs boson. The size of the corrections with respect to known partial results varies between -4 x 10(-5) and -8 x 10(-5) for a realistic range of M(H) from 100 to 300 GeV. This translates into a shift of the predicted (from sin((2)theta;(lept)(eff) alone) central value of M(H) by +19 GeV, to be compared with the shift induced by a recent change in the measured top quark mass which amounts to +36 GeV.     

Precise determination of electroweak parameters in neutrino-nucleon scattering

The NuTeV Collaboration has extracted the electroweak parameter sin(2)theta(W) from the measurement of the ratios of neutral current to charged current nu and (-)nu cross sections. Our value, sin(2)theta((on-shell))(W) = 0.2277 +/- 0.0013(stat) +/- 0.0009(syst), is 3 standard deviations above the standard model prediction. We also present a model independent analysis of the same data in terms of neutral-current quark couplings.     

Measurement of atmospheric neutrino flux consistent with tau neutrino appearance

A search for the appearance of tau neutrinos from nu(mu) <--> nu(tau) oscillations in the atmospheric neutrinos has been performed using 1489.2 days of atmospheric neutrino data from the Super-Kamiokande-I experiment. A best fit tau neutrino appearance signal of 138+/-48(stat)-32(+15)(syst) events is obtained with an expectation of 78+/-26(syst). The hypothesis of no tau neutrino appearance is disfavored by 2.4 sigma.     

How sensitive is a neutrino factory to the angle theta(13)?

We consider the impact of nonstandard interactions (NSI) of neutrinos on the determination of neutrino mixing parameters at a neutrino factory using nu(-)(e)-->nu(-)(mu) "golden channels" for the measurement of theta(13). We show how a small residual NSI leads to a drastic loss in sensitivity in theta(13), of up to 2 orders of magnitude. This can be somewhat overcome if two baselines are combined.