Experimental limits on the production of fractionally charged particles in proton-nucleus and neutrino-nucleus collisions

A search for fractionally chargedQ=1/3 (2/3) particles of different properties of interaction produced in (anti)neutrino-nucleus and in protonnucleus collisions was performed using the scintillator system of the CHARM neutrino detector at the CERN SPS. No events of the cases considered were found. In (anti)neutrino beams production was found to be less than a few times 10^?5 per interaction of a beam particle. In a proton beam an upper limit on the production cross section of ～10^?40 cm² was obtained.     

Direct search for the neutrino mass in the beta decay of tritium: Status of the “Troitsk ν-mass” experiment

The results of the “Troitsk ν-mass” experiment on the search for the neutrino rest mass in tritium beta decay are presented. The investigation of the time dependence of the anomalous, bumplike structure at the end of the beta spectrum, reported earlier, gives an indication of the periodic shift of its position with respect to the endpoint with a period of 0.5 yr. An upper limit on the electron-antineutrino rest mass (m _ν<2.5eV/c ²) is derived after taking the bump into account.     

Results of dark matter search using the full PandaX-II exposure

We report the dark matter search results obtained using the full 132 ton·day exposure of the PandaX-II experiment, including all data from March 2016 to August 2018. No significant excess of events is identified above the expected background. Upper limits are set on the spin-independent dark matter-nucleon interactions. The lowest 90% confidence level exclusion on the spin-independent cross section is 2.2 × 10^?46 cm² at a WIMP mass of 30 GeV/c².     

Search for highly charged particles in cosmic rays

The recently obtained results on e⁺e^? → hadrons and multigamma production in pp collisions provide some support for a previously made argument that heavy, highly charged subnucleons may exist, and a search for such particles in cosmic rays has been made. In 620 hours no candidates were detected, and an upper limit for the unaccompanied particle flux of 7 · 10^?10 cm^?2 sec^?1 sr^?1 at sea level under 600 g/cm² concrete is obtained with 90% confidence.     

A study of wrong-sign single muon production inv μ-nucleon interaction

We report on a search forv _μ-induced events where the single emerging muon carries lepton number opposite that of the incident neutrino. The rate and kinematic quantities of the candidate events are compared with known backgrounds from \(\bar v_\mu \) -induced charged current interactions and ν-induced interactions that produce dileptons. We derive an upper limit on the rate of wrong-sign single muon production relative to the rate ofv _μ charged current interactions to be 1.6×10^?4 fory<0.5 and 3.1×10^?4 fory>0.5 (90% CL). These upper limits enable us to constrain exotic sources of wrong-sign muons such as the charm component of the nucleon sea, flavor changing neutral currents and lepton number violating processes. Finally, the rate and kinematic properties of these events are compared with those of the neutrino-induced opposite-sign dimuon events.     

Search for new phenomena using single photon events at LEP1

Data are presented on the reaction e⁺e^? → γ + no other detected particle at centre-of-mass energies of 89.48, 91.26 and 93.08 GeV. The cross-section for this reaction is related directly to the number of light neutrino generations which couple to the Z° boson, and to several other possible phenomena such as the production of excited neutrinos, the production of any invisible ‘X’ particle, and the magnetic moment of the tau neutrino. Based on the observed number of single photon events, the number of light neutrinos that couple to the Z° is measured to be N_v = 2.89 ± 0.38. No evidence is found for anomalous production of energetic single photons, and upper limits at 95% confidence level are determined for excited neutrino production (BR < 4 ? 8 × 10^?6 depending on its mass), production of an invisible ‘X’ particle (σ, < 0.1 pb for masses below 60 GeV), and the magnetic moment of the tau neutrino (< 5.1 × 10^-6 μB).     

The LVD experiment at Gran Sasso

Summary The Large-Volume Detector (LVD) in the Gran Sasso underground Laboratory is a multipurpose detector consisting of a large volume of liquid scintillator (at present 562 tons are in data taking) interleaved with limited-streamer tubes. Several physical problems are investigated with LVD, the major being the search for neutrino bursts from gravitational stellar collapses in our Galaxy. In this paper we discuss some results on cosmic neutrinos and cosmic-ray muons obtained with the first of the five towers of LVD (operational since June 1992) and part of the second tower (operational since June 1994). The results of the search for supernovae neutrinos show that LVD is a neutrino observatory able to detect neutrinos of different flavours from gravitational stellar collapses in all our Galaxy, over a wide range of burst durations. Indeed, the carbon-based liquid-scintillator target gives a unique possibility to directly detect neutral- and charged-currents neutrino interactions with a very good signature. This characteristic of LVD allows us to make an indirect estimate of the neutrino rest mass and of neutrino oscillations from supernovae in our Galaxy. No evidence for burst candidates has been found in the data recorded from June 1992 to March 1995, for a total live time of 682 days and a total exposure of 613 tons per year. We present the results of a time coincidence analysis between low-energy signals, eventually due to neutrinos of different flavours, and γ-ray bursts (GRBs) detected by the BATSE experiment. This search covers the period from June 1993 to March 1995, during which 41 GRBs have been selected from the BATSE data. Since no excess of events in LVD has been found, upper limits on the neutrino fluxes are reported for (ν_e, p), and for neutral- and charged-currents neutrino interactions of different flavours with the C-nuclei of the scintillator. The muon intensity as a function of slant depth is presented. These measurements, obtained during a live time period of 11.556 hours, cover a slant depths range from about 3000 to about 20 000 hg/cm² of standard rock and extend over five decades of intensity. An interesting result is that the muon flux is independent of slant depth beyond a depth of about 14 000 hg/cm² of standard rock, and corresponds to near horizontal muons. This is direct evidence that this flux is due to atmospheric neutrinos interacting in the rock surrounding LVD.     

Search for finite-mass neutrinos in the decay π+→μ+vμ

If neutrinos possess non-zero mass, pion decay might have small decay branches to neutrino states with large masses. We have searched for such branches in the decay of pions produced at the Indiana University Cyclotron. The energy spectrum of decay muons shows no evidence for such neutrino branches and if these decays do exist, their branching ratios must be less than 10^?2 to 10^?3 for neutrino masses in the ranFge 7–33 MeV.     

First evidence of pep solar neutrinos by direct detection in Borexino

We observed, for the first time, solar neutrinos in the 1.0-1.5 MeV energy range. We determined the rate of pep solar neutrino interactions in Borexino to be 3.1±0.6{stat}±0.3{syst} counts/(day·100 ton). Assuming the pep neutrino flux predicted by the standard solar model, we obtained a constraint on the CNO solar neutrino interaction rate of <7.9 counts/(day·100 ton) (95% C.L.). The absence of the solar neutrino signal is disfavored at 99.97% C.L., while the absence of the pep signal is disfavored at 98% C.L. The necessary sensitivity was achieved by adopting data analysis techniques for the rejection of cosmogenic {11}C, the dominant background in the 1-2 MeV region. Assuming the Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein large mixing angle solution to solar neutrino oscillations, these values correspond to solar neutrino fluxes of (1.6±0.3)×10{8} cm{-2}?s^{-1} and <7.7×10{8} cm{-2}?s{-1} (95% C.L.), respectively, in agreement with both the high and low metallicity standard solar models. These results represent the first direct evidence of the pep neutrino signal and the strongest constraint of the CNO solar neutrino flux to date.     

Status of an experiment aimed at laboratory searches for the electron-antineutrino magnetic moment at a level of μ ν ≤3±10− μ B

An experiment aimed at directly detecting antineutrino-electron scattering by using a 40-MCi tritium β-active source will make it possible to lower the present-day laboratory limit on the neutrino magnetic moment by two orders of magnitude. The experiment brings together novel unique technologies in studying rare processes of neutrino-electron scattering: (i) an artificial source of antineutrinos from tritium decay of 40-MCi activity with the antineutrino flux density of about 6×10¹⁴ cm^?2 s^?1 and (ii) new types of detectors capable of detecting electrons of energy down to about 10 eV, namely, a silicon cryogenic detector based on the ionization-into-heat conversion effect and a high-pure germanium detector with an internal signal amplification in the electric field. A compact installation located at a specially equipped underground laboratory (≤100 mwe) will provide favorable background conditions for running the experiment. With a background level of about 0.1 event/(kg keV d) and detector assembly masses of 3 and 5 kg for the silicon and germanium ones, respectively, a limit of μ _ν ≤3±10^? μ _B on the electron-antineutrino magnetic moment will be obtained within 1 to 2 years of data acquisition. The status of the experiment and the state of the art are presented.     

Solar neutrino flux measurements by the Soviet-American gallium experiment (SAGE) for half the 22-year solar cycle

We present measurements of the solar neutrino capture rate on metallic gallium in the Soviet-American gallium experiment (SAGE) over a period of slightly more than half the 22-year solar cycle. A combined analysis of 92 runs over the twelve-year period from January 1990 until December 2001 yields a capture rate of 70.8 _?5.2 ^+5.3 (stat) _?3.2 ^+3.7 (sys) SNU for solar neutrinos with energies above 0.233 MeV. This value is slightly more than half the rate predicted by the standard solar model, 130 SNU. We present the results of new runs since April 1998 and analyze all runs combined by years, months, and bimonthly periods beginning in 1990. A simple analysis of the SAGE results together with the results of other solar neutrino experiments gives an estimate of (4.6±1.2)× 10¹⁰ neutrinos cm^?2 s^?1 for the flux of the electron pp neutrinos that reach the Earth without changing their flavor. The flux of the pp neutrinos produced in thermonuclear reactions in the Sun is estimated to be (7.6 ± 2.0) × 10¹⁰ neutrinos cm^?2 s^?1, in agreement with the value of (5.95±0.06)×10¹⁰ neutrinos cm^?2 s^?1 predicted by the standard solar model.     

Active to sterile neutrino mixing limits from neutral-current interactions in MINOS

Results are reported from a search for active to sterile neutrino oscillations in the MINOS long-baseline experiment, based on the observation of neutral-current neutrino interactions, from an exposure to the NuMI neutrino beam of 7.07×10(20) protons on target. A total of 802 neutral-current event candidates is observed in the Far Detector, compared to an expected number of 754 ± 28(stat) ± 37(syst) for oscillations among three active flavors. The fraction f(s) of disappearing ν(μ) that may transition to ν(s) is found to be less than 22% at the 90% C.L.     

Novel search for heavy nu mixing from the beta+ decay of 38mK confined in an atom trap

A new technique, full neutrino momentum reconstruction, is used to set limits on the admixture of heavy neutrinos into the electron neutrino. We measure coincidences between nuclear recoils and positrons from the beta decay of trapped radioactive atoms and deduce the neutrino momentum. A search for peaks in the reconstructed recoil time-of-flight spectrum as a function of positron energy is performed. The admixture upper limits range from 4 x 10(-3) to 2 x 10(-2) and are the best direct limits for neutrinos (as opposed to antineutrinos) for the mass region of 0.7 to 3.5 MeV.     

Search for a new light gauge boson in π0, η and η′ decays

Upper limits for the production of new light gauge bosons in π⁰, η and η′ decays have been obtained with the Crystal Barrel detector. The kinematically well-constrained reactions p?p → π⁰π⁰ P have been studied, where P ? π ⁰, η, η′ decays through the emission of a single photon recoiling against a missing state X. X can be a long-lived weakly interacting particle or it decays into ???. The resulting branching ratio upper limits (90 % C.L.) are: 6 × 10^?5 for masses M _X of the missing particle X lying between 65 MeV/c² and 125 MeV/c² (π⁰ decay), 6 × 10^?5 for M _X between 200 MeV/c² and 525 MeV/c² (gh decay), and 4 × 10^?5 for M _X between 50 MeV/c² and 925 MeV/c² (η′ decay). The π⁰-decay limit represents an improvement by a factor of 4 to 8 (depending on M _X) when compared to the existing limit, whereas the η and η′ decay limits have been measured for the first time, thereby extending the M _X range from 125 MeV/c² up to 925 MeV/c².     

A search for heavy neutrino decays in a neutrino beam

A search has been made for the decays of heavy (≈200–500 MeV/c²) neutrinos, ν_H→νμe, in a 23 m long detector, in the wide-band neutrino beam at the Brookhaven AGS. No significant excess of such events was found and limits are set on the neutrino mixing matrix elements, |U_eH|² and |U_μH|². Results of a more general search for anomalous μe events are also reported.     

Experimental study of neutrino oscillations at a fission reactor

The electron-antineutrino spectrum has been measured at a position 8.75 m from the “point-like” core of the ILL ²³⁵U fission reactor, using the reaction $\text{ν}$_e + p → e⁺ + n. Positrons and neutrons were detected in coincidence by means of a low-background liquid scintillator and a ³He detector system. The observed neutron correlated positron spectrum is consistent with theoretical predictions assuming no neutrino oscillations. Upper limits for the oscillation parameter are presented.     

Limits for two-photon ande + e − decay widths of positron-electron scattering resonances for√s=1.78 to 1.92 MeV

Motivated by the observation of energy- and momentum-correlatede ⁺ e ^? pairs in heavy ion collisions, a search for resonances ine ⁺ e ^? scattering at the corresponding energies has been made. Thee ⁺ e ^? decay channel is analyzed in a time window from ～ 10^?13 s to ～ 10^?11 s with a set-up optimized for low-background detection of delayede ⁺ e ^? decays. The two-photon decay channel of a hypothetical resonance is investigated by measuring the two-photon annihilation-in-flight excitation function. New upper limits for the partiale ⁺ e ^? decay width Γ_ee of a few meV are derived for total centre-of-mass energies √s between 1.78 and 1.92 MeV, taking into account the dilepton as well as the two-photon decay of a neutral resonance.     

Muo-production of neutrino pairs and the number of generations

The cross section for production of neutrino pairs by high energy muons in the nuclear Coulomb field is calculated analytically. For right (left)-handedμ ^?(μ ⁺) helicity, the process is only mediated by neutral currents, which opens the possibility to look for the number of generations. Assuming three generations, the calculated cross section turns out to be 1.1×10^?40 cm² for⁵⁶Fe and 6.6×10^?40cm² for²⁰⁸Pb at an incident muon energy of 300 GeV. Some comments about the equivalent photon approximation are made.     

Sensitive detection of acrolein and acrylonitrile with a pulsed quantum-cascade laser

We report on spectroscopic measurements of acrolein and acrylonitrile at atmospheric pressure using a pulsed distributed feedback quantum-cascade laser in combination with intra- and inter-pulse techniques and compare the results. The measurements were done in the frequency region around 957 cm^?1. In the inter-pulse technique, the laser is excited with short current pulses (5–10 ns), and the pulse amplitude is modulated with an external current ramp resulting in a ～2.3 cm^?1 frequency scan. In the intra-pulse technique, a linear frequency down-chirp during the pulse is used for sweeping across the absorption line. Long current pulses up to 500 ns were used for these measurements which resulted in a spectral window of ～2.2 cm^?1 during the down-chirp. These comparatively wide spectral windows facilitated the measurements of the relatively broad absorption lines (～1 cm^?1) of acrolein and acrylonitrile. The use of a room-temperature mercury-cadmium-telluride detector resulted in a completely cryogen-free spectrometer. We demonstrate ppb level detection limits within a data acquisition time of ～10 s with these methodologies.     

Cross sections for charged current ν and\bar v interactions in the energy range 10 to 50 GeV

Charged-current neutrino and antineutrino interaction cross sections have been measured in the energy range 10 to 50 GeV using BEBC filled with a neon-hydrogen mixture. At these energies, σ/E was measured to be (0.73±0.08) 10^?38 cm²/GeV per nucleon for neutrinos and (0.32±0.06) 10^?38 cm²/GeV per nucleon for antineutrinos.